Weighing In
For a period in my life I avoided the scale like it was my job. Weigh myself? No way! Where is the fun in knowing how big I am? Yet, as of late, I find myself weighing in on a daily basis. I’ve even graphed it!* (Nerd alert.)
Now I’ve heard the pros and cons of weighing yourself daily. Most of the advice I’ve gotten in the past tells me to weigh in weekly so I don’t get upset about fluctuation. But I find that, at a weekly weigh-in, I don’t hold myself as accountable for my mediocre eating and exercising of the previous week. On a day to day basis I can look at the scale and see how I’ve been treating myself. Yes, my weight was up two pounds the other day, but I was able to calm my (somewhat irrational) nerves. I reminded myself that I had lifted weights vigorously the day before and my body was compensating. It probably didn’t hurt that I used a more positive thinking strategy. And of course it was back down the next day, so any negative thoughts could have thrown me off my trending.
So here is my issue. I get to look at my scale on a daily basis, which is fantastic, as long as I keep myself honest to my body and self. I’m looking for others to help keep me accountable, to ask me how I’m doing every once in a while. I may not throw a number in your direction, but every nudge is a kind reminder that this is a journey I wanted to embark on.
I wanna know: How frequently do you weigh yourself and why? Where do your theories come from and how do you keep yourself accountable?
*There is a chance this graph will be made viewable in the coming weeks, when I figure out to embed and update it…
On a pathetic funny note, my P90X DVD refused to function properly at 5am this morning and I was devastated. Cleaned it off at work and I’m hoping I can fit it in this afternoon (which just might make my day).
Update: My DVD still didn’t work. Thank goodness there was a Russian website that allowed me to stream it…
Posted on May 5, 2011, in Body and tagged Body, P90X, Scale, Weight. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
The Running Jewess 
I usually weigh myself once a week…sometimes I jump on the scale more than once a week, but only if I remember before showering and getting dressed. Otherwise I’m like, “Eh! Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.”
I’m on a weight-loss specific journey, so I’ve found that the best way to keep myself accountable is to track my weight on my blog. I officially weigh in once a week and post the cold, hard facts in a weekly weigh in post. Not everyone is comfortable with actually admitting the numbers, but I found that after I stopped hiding it, pretending I only weighed 199 pounds when I really weighed 283, and just put it out there–it was kind of freeing! That’s just me, though. :)
Can I mention how brave you are? I don’t have it in me to announce my weight to the world (maybe it is because some people I interact with on a daily basis read this?). One day, someday, I’ll be as brave as you and make my digits public (with some fancy graphs). We’ll see how quickly that happens.
On occasion I tell people I weigh 100 lbs (I’m 5’7, that would make me ridiculously tiny). One time a nurse believed me, for a second, it made me question her medical knowledge.
Well thanks. :) Yes, it was brave but once I did it, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It seems like a nurse, out of everybody, should be able to have a little better guess at what you weigh! Geez!
(Hey, it’s Steph! I was at a conference when you put out most of your posts, so now you’re going to get, like, a billion comments from me all at the same time.)
When I’m gymming a lot, I weigh myself every few days or every week, if I remember. I’m trying to focus on my body and how it looks and feels instead of the exact number on the scale. Plus, it’s always disappointing to do a lot of work at the gym and find that the number hasn’t changed!
I’ve started to weigh myself before doctors appointments because I’ve found that if you just tell them what you weigh, they won’t weigh you. I’ve been less embarrassed about being weighed recently, because a lot of the nurses who’ve weighed me are larger than I am, but I think there’s something about the whole “full dressed, post-breakfast weigh-in” that I can’t really get over.
And in the interests of feeling brave, I’ve been between 190 and 195 since graduation. I’m actually angry that my mom pressured me to lose weight when I weighed 130. I haven’t gotten any taller since then, either :\
Way to be brave Steph, I still don’t have it in me to admit my weight. I just want the darn scale to go down a few more pounds so I can be slightly more comfortable. I’ve started to realize that my weight is less a factor of working out (which I’ve always done constantly) and has everything to do with what I consume. Now to avoid the chocolate and go straight for the fruits and veggies…
Are you still doing that weight loss bet with your friend? How did that work out for you?
Nah, we all sort of gave up, for various reasons. She’s now doing Weight Watchers with her fiance, and it seems to be going pretty well for them!
I tend to not lose or gain much weight from food right now, so I know I need to work out on a regular basis. I need to come up with a core routine and an arm/back routine that can constitute about 20-30 minutes of cardio. I want to practice now so I can keep going after surgery.
In the meantime, though, I keep the scale out of sight. I know when my body changes, so I’m ignoring the number until I can get a solid cardio routine going … or until I can go running again!