Scale Haters Unite!

A.J. I am with ya' too:) Your post and several others on this thread really made me think.

I have always hated the scale!!!!! What made me think was the post of how a negative scale reading can put you into such a bad binge cycle.

I thought back to my past 2 weeks and realized it was probably exactly that which impacted my eating so negatively over the past couple weeks. It was 2 weeks ago I got on the scale at the club to realize I had only lost 3 more lbs in 4 weeks and I had been following my diet and working out very smart and consistently. It was right after that that I again just sort of sub-consciously gave up. (Plus PMS came along) and I lost all control with my cravings. This past week I turned it back around with the help of all of you and your support and great ideas for how to control the cravings.....

However, it really made me think! Even though I had lost wt. according to my clothes! I now am in a size 8 again in most clothes (other than jeans:(( and am starting to see more muscle:) However, my DH still can't believe how much I "weigh". I had to go buy all new pants because none of my good ones fit anymore and all my skinnier ones are totally out of style or worn out. So it really stinks that the scale didn't go down at all. I know I ahve been doing more wt. training and have increased muscle mass, so that's probably part of it.

Anyway, maybe I should just throw out my scale too? I am seriously considering it!!!!! :-hmmm

However, sometimes the gratification of that "perfect" wt. is what still sits in the back of our mind. Maybe we need to just focus on removing it because there are so many other things that matter so much more..... like being able to make it thru IMAX, MIC, stick to a clean eating diet, or just have fun every day working out and being fit. I hate it that our society puts these thought deep in our heads. We just need to take control and push them back out!!!

Deep thoughts I know..... however, I guess you expected it from this gang and this topic:)

I love these types of threads because it enables us to look deep inside ourselves and realize there are many others out there thinking the same thing as we!!

-Pammer
 
Sorry I have been really slow in joining this as I was in too minds. But after my comments to KayM I have to add my voice. Scales have unfortunetly become the tool by which many women judge themselves therefore I too must pick up the banner and say "Down with Scales".

Babs
 
RE: Briee - personal motivators . . .

Hi, Briee! This is your liberal, poetry-spouting Aquajock here -

My personal motivators for working out have changed over the years, especially since becoming a group fitness instructor back in 1997. The motivation used to be strictly for the lean-bod results. Now, they are as follows, in no particular order:

1. Intellectually knowing that I cannot store fitness, that I need to practice it week in and week out or I will lose my fitness gains;

2. Also intellectually, and experientially, knowing that my strongest days are still ahead of me;

3. MOOD MANAGEMENT: I am one of the moodiest cusses I know, and nothing makes me feel better and act better than a good kick-butt productive workout;

4. BODY FAT MANAGEMENT: yes, I do acknowledge that I pay attention to body composition, and working out is the ONLY thing that manages it;

5. EGO: When I think of how weak I was ten years ago, and then compare what I couldn't do then to what I can do now, both in terms of cardio AND strength at my age, I get a little smug, and smug's a pretty fun feeling;

6. I simply enjoy the exercise modes and workouts that I do; I sincerely enjoy the practice of exercise as well as the results.

That's it for now.

Annette Q. Aquajock
Closet Tree-Hugger
 
RE: Wow ! Annette .....

I LOVE your 'motivators' - would you mind if I copied them down and stuck them in my food journal, please ? They are BRILLIANT ! :D

Many thanks

Anna
 
I do not necessarily think I am overweight, but I do have alot of extra layering around my middle, and on my thighs. If I pinch the fat on my belly, there is quite a handful there. I would just like to lose some of that.
Lori S.
 
You guys are such a blessing!! I have been encouraged once again by each of your comments. Thanks to Cathe and all of your support (and a wonderful dh that pays for Cathe vid's and lots of weights)!!! I am truly addicted now, and hopefully won't lose it with your help!!!

Annette, I'm printing your motivators, I really like #2, the strongest days are ahead of me. Very interesting to note that many (or most it seems) women who participate in ironman-type events are in their upper 30's and 40's. IMHO it seems to be that wisdom and perseverance come with age, these can be helpful in the area of athletic endurance, anyone else find this to be true?

Janice what a great thing to replace alcohol. Keep it up you Cathe-holic, I enjoy your posts. Maybe you'll get some converts among your friends!!

Thanks for your examples of continuing on this course despite life's up's and down's!!

And one more thing for my liberal, poetry spouting, underground treehugging bud, I thought of you around 2 am this morning and this popped into my head: I'll call it "Ode to Sit N Stands"

Went to the loo, 'bout a quarter past two
when what did my eyes behold,
The roll it was bare, eliminator unaware,
The kids in the morn I shall scold.

Preserving position, I move slowly ahead
where the rolls are kept in the drawer,
N'er a tip from the hip, to avoid a drip,
I'll thank Cathe for sit n stands evermore.

From the conservative, poetically incorrect, openly treehugging Briee. :) :) :) :)
 
Unfortunately every time I've ignored the scales in spite of clean eating and regular exercise I've tended to gain weight. I just eat too much good clean food if I don't keep an eye on the scale at least 2-3 times a month.

Edith
 
RE: personal motivators . . .

Hey Annette,
I love your motivators. I am going to copy those down too if that is okay. I have an exercise journal and those will be great on my front page.

Joanne
 
Bumping this thread 11/26/02; thought it would be interesting to revisit it in the wake of the "Will I Allow Myself To Be Thin?" thread!

Annette Q. Aquajock
 
I'm with you Annette, I don't even own a scale, I get weighed every year at the doctors, and sometimes I weigh myself at my sister's house (maybe twice a year). SO MUCH less stressful becasue you don't see the day to day fluctuations. I just stick to my goals, check out how I feel, how my clothes fit and that is it. They are just numbers!
 
I'm with you all the way!!!!
I rarely look at the scale. And this is after years of weighing myself daily! The idea of being depedent on a number to decide if one healthy or not can be dangerous. It can ruin your day if you let it control you!

Judy
Live by the golden rule: treat others as yourself :)
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-27-02 AT 10:04AM (Est)[/font][p]Well, I really don't WANT to throw out my scale because it is SO COOL LOOKING. It is a clear square tile (made of glass, I think) and you can see the workings under it.

Seriously,
I have not gotten on the scale in a while (since July, I think) First it was because I was AFRAID of what it would say. Now I'm not caring so much. (I'm hoping I can keep this attitude)

When I got interested in working out/eating better I made up my mind that I would eat in a style that I could live with and work out in a style/intesity/frequency that I could enjoy, and wherever my weight ended up would be what it is. That actually works pretty well. I just need to remind myself every once in a while.

So I am with you - throw away the scales. Change the focus to feeling good.

-joy
 
Don't own any scales, never use them, wouldn't know where to find one, not interested, I just know how my clothes fit, that's all that matters. I can feel internally if my body is in good shape or not: do I have energy? Am I running about loving the world? Am I throwing myself into my Cathe tapes with gay abandon? Am I completing each one with better stamina and stregth or the same as usual at least? Am I making fitness baby steps or have I slipped back?

All of the above is what matters to me: a number on a machine is just so arbitrary. The doctor weighs me at my annual gyne exam, and I am always surprised by the necessity of this. I want to say to them, forget the macghine: look at me! Ask me how I feel! Why do you have to have numbers to write on a chart for a healthy person?

When I was pregnant, I refused to succumb to the tyranny of the scales (and they used to write in my notes "patient refused to be weighed", yeah, whatever) after a doctor chastized me for putting on more weight "than I should have" one month: I told her she should look at my body and realize, that as an ecto person, it was weight I needed to gain and my baby's health depended on it. But how many other more-intimidated women does she routinely upset with such disciplinary arbitrariness?

And, having suffered an eating disorder while a teenager, I will never have one of those in my house so my daughters will not be leaping on it every five minutes when they are teenagers and obsessing about how "fat" they may be getting after eating a healthy dinner. Just not gonna have that bad example in the house.

Sending all my encouragement to people to not trust the scales: use them sparingly if you must. Trust how your body feels and your energy levels.

Clare
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top