With every weight loss attempt comes frequent weighing. It is a popular recommendation to weigh yourself daily so you stay on track and don't slip. Waiting for those numbers to appear feels oddly similar to waiting for your lottery numbers to be called. Am I a winner (or a loser really- haha)? Or did I come up short today?
Truthfully, it is completely unnecessary and promotes thinking that is counter-productive to the lifestyle changes that leads to real and lasting results.
We use the scale as an indicator for success, yet it doesn't give feedback for the real reasons you started the journey. It tells you nothing about fat loss, clothes size, energy, confidence, physical strength, blood sugar control, heart function, etc. How can you ever know if you are really succeeding if the tool you use to monitor success doesn't actually tell you if you are achieving what you really want?
Not only is the scale a bad indicator of long term success, it fosters a mindset that often undermines your efforts here and now.
An unexpected gain makes you want to quit. You did everything right all week, and the scale didn't budge. It's cruel! You aren't getting the results you want so why try? Now you have to deal with frustration and resentment before you get back on track. Or, you "cheated" and are delighted that the scale didn't go up as much as you expected. Haha! Now you can "cheat" more!
Using the scale also fosters a false association of what it takes to succeed. They trick you into thinking highly restrictive and regimented diets are the key- because those make the numbers on the scale move. But in reality, making a few changes that you stick to most of the time for the rest of your life is what produces life changing results.
So if the scale is a bad tool to track success what should we do? Come back next week when I discuss ways to gauge success and stay on track.
Do you think you could give up checking your weight on the scale? Share below why or why not!