Why I Don’t Weigh Myself

Let’s talk about the scale again. I know this is a sticking point for many of you.

When I first rejected dieting and began to build my thin mentality, I was nervous that I would gain weight. So, at first, I did weigh myself every few days. I actually think that this slowed me down, but hey, maybe you are worried like I was so I want to tell you how I handled it.

Now- let me review why weighing yourself is counterproductive. Let’s say you get on the scale and you weigh less than you thought. What happens? In my case, if I weighed less I would think things like, “well, I guess I didn’t eat as much as I thought I did, I have to remember that I can eat more and not gain.” Or I would think, “wow, I guess today I can be a little less strict on myself.” And then if I had gained weight I would think, “Damn, I must have eaten too much- ugh,” or “I am so mad that I weigh more- I worked out so much, that doesn’t seem fair,” etc. etc.

Does this kind of response sound at all familiar to you?

But all of these responses are absolutely silly because they treat that number on the scale as an accurate measurement of your progress. Please remember, that your scale doesn’t deserve so much respect. Over time, a scale can certainly show a pattern of loss or gain. But from one day to the next, a scale can make you think you gained, when you are really just swollen from drinking a lot from working out, or make you think you lost weight when you really are just dehydrated. Etc.! There are lots of things that influence what your weight, from day to day!!

So weighing yourself interferes with what should be the only relevant question when you are deciding if and what to eat, “Am I hungry?” In other words, if you weigh more and you are upset, you may not eat what you need because you are focused on the number on your scale. Or if you weigh less, you may shove some extra food in as a “reward.” Both of these are silly.

Also, when you have the crutch of a daily weigh in, you feel like your weight won’t get out of hand because you are checking it everyday. At least that is how I thought!! So that is why I was really reticent to give up the scale.

But, when I finally did stop weighing myself, I can tell you that this is when my ability to really hear my body’s voice took off. Instead of saying to myself, well, I will eat this tonight and if I don’t weigh more tomorrow, I will know that it was an okay thing to eat, I had to listen to my body and ask the tough question, “Am I truly hunger for this right now?”

Do you see the difference here and how weighing yourself can distract you from that question?

So my advice to you- give up the scale as soon as you can. If you occasionally peek, okay, but please remember that peeking can lead to over and under eating, BOTH of which are bad because they disconnect you from….YOU!