Putting the scale away when dieting to lose weight...

[largemansmay***]

I think I have decided to do this. I have been eating healthy for about a month and half and probably lost about 25 pounds. I still have about 100 pounds to go until I am going to be in good shape. I was weighing myself every day and it was just annoying me because my scale is not extremely accurate and my weight would fluctuate from day to day. I think the scale seems to discourage me a bit so I think I'm going to put it away. I am losing weight pretty steadily and I am so overweight it is unlikely that will stop any time soon, as long as I stick to my diet. So what are your thoughts about the scale?

 

[dropshot001]

i think that weighing in every day is excessive. once a week on the same day and same time should be fine. there are so many variables that go into your daily weight that i don't think it is worth the stress to weigh in so often

 

[N-do]

I thinks it's useful, as long as you don't become too obsessed with the daily numbers, and just think of daily weigh ins more as a progress report on your weekly goal.

Whether it's diet, exercise, business, what have you, what gets measured gets improved.

 

[largemansmay***]

I thinks it's useful, as long as you don't become too obsessed with the daily numbers, and just think of daily weigh ins more as a progress report on your weekly goal.

Whether it's diet, exercise, business, what have you, what gets measured gets improved.

Right now I am eating about as healthy as I can get without cravings for bad food. If I tried to tighten up my diet or eat less I think it would just backfire and I might abandon my diet altogether (it has happened before). I figure I'm not in any serious rush to lose weight and the longer the journey the easier it will be to transition to maintenance at a lower weight.

 

[IronMaidenfan#1]

I think that unless you have a specific reason for being a certain weight then it's best to leave the scales alone and just eat healthily, exercise, whilst sleeping well. If you do it that way then you will meet find your weight.

I got weighed earlier as it happens! - but that's the first time in about 5-6 months so I could do a challenge in the S+C forum.

 

[Ironpants]

Well since scales don't tell body comp I find them useless. You shouldn't live by the scale to determine your overall "fitness" either. If you know your cutting back and making better eating choices you should not need to be obsessed with a scale reading too much other then a once a week check up on it.

 

[IgnorantBloke]

I weigh my self Monday and Friday morning.

I don't watch what I eat on Fri/Sat. Monday's weigh in is more to see what I'm dealing with as far as excess water weight and Friday is my true progress report.

I used to weigh my self twice everyday back when I was competing though. My general rule was to never go to sleep until I was under a certain weight.

I.E. When I was competing at 70kg (154lbs), I'd try to stay at 160lbs before my water weight cut.

 

[CardinalLaw]

I know that most experts say that you shouldn't weight yourself daily when dieting, but I find it highly motivational. If I'm heavier than I was the day before, that is great motivation to work even harder. If I'm lighter, it feels great and I am motivated to continue working hard.

Obviously your weight will change from day to day for reasons other than fat loss, but I've always found it to be a nice motivational trick. That being said, I may be an outlier, as my body tends to shed excess weight very easily.

 

[mtruitt76]

Right now I am eating about as healthy as I can get without cravings for bad food. If I tried to tighten up my diet or eat less I think it would just backfire and I might abandon my diet altogether (it has happened before). I figure I'm not in any serious rush to lose weight and the longer the journey the easier it will be to transition to maintenance at a lower weight.

Very good attitude and I agree with your sentiment. If you avoid extremes, then I think you will help minimize any possible rebound effect or major diet lapse.

 

[largemansmay***]

Very good attitude and I agree with your sentiment. If you avoid extremes, then I think you will help minimize any possible rebound effect or major diet lapse.

My real test is going to come in a couple weeks. I am going to vegas and I am going to eat like garbage for a week. I am confident that I will get back on my diet once I come back home, but there is a part of me that is a bit scared that I won't. I just have to man up and do it.

 

[Blood Python]

Try to find this book online called "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle"

It's great and explains why you should be only looking at other things rather than the scale when losing weight.

 

[Ironpants]

Try to find this book online called "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle"

It's great and explains why you should be only looking at other things rather than the scale when losing weight.

Tom Venuto. Great stuff.

This is right from BTFTM and needs to be shown for the "lose x lbs" crowd

With this in mind, your goal should never be weight loss. Your goal should be
losing fat while maintaining muscle. As long as your body is solid muscle, then youshouldn’t worry about what the scale says. Your ratio of muscle to fat is what really
counts. Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle will explain to you all the common methods ofbody fat testing and teach you how to use body fat to measure your results and chart yourprogress. You will also learn how to break a plateau and adjust your approach when your
body fat isn’t decreasing at the rate you want it to.

^ This. Oh so much this....

If you eat more calories than you burn, you will store the excess as body fat.If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose fat. Simple mathematics, right? Well, not exactly.
If fat loss were as black and white as calories in vs. calories out,then how do youexplain why some overweight people eat less than lean people, yet they still can’t lose anounce? And how is it possible for someone with a 2200-calorie maintenance level to eat
only 800 to 1000 calories a day without losing any weight?

^ More people need to understand this one aswell.

 

[mtruitt76]

My real test is going to come in a couple weeks. I am going to vegas and I am going to eat like garbage for a week. I am confident that I will get back on my diet once I come back home, but there is a part of me that is a bit scared that I won't. I just have to man up and do it.

Just approach it for what it is a break from your normal routine. Have fun, hit the buffets, and enjoy the food. Just don't weigh yourself for a couple of weeks once you get back lol. Taking breaks from a routine can be beneficial. Last year I was basically dieting for 6 months straight since I was hitting weight for one IBJJF tournament after another. Having to be so strict about my diet for so long actually made any lapse worse since I would really fall off the wagon.

After worlds I took a break from worrying about my weight and I actually found the break to be beneficial for my mental health and made sticking to my diet easier. Just take the approach that the trip is a well deserved reward for your dedication and efforts and that your continued dedication and efforts affords you the luxury of saying f**k it and having some fun for a week since you will be back on track once it is over.

 

[RevXwise]

Usually when I lose weight, I don't look at scales. I typically just go through the day feeling slightly hungry -- just hungry enough to eat maybe an apple or something.

I find that I lose the most weight this way as it keeps my blood sugar in check which keeps me from pigging out, while at the same time burning body fat.

 

[cooks1]

i think that weighing in every day is excessive. once a week on the same day and same time should be fine. there are so many variables that go into your daily weight that i don't think it is worth the stress to weigh in so often

This is excellent advice.

If you get a good weekly routine going, you can weigh the same time every week, mornings before eating are my personal favorite.

I weigh myself on Saturday mornings after my workout before eating. One Saturday this summer, I went straight from my work out to mowing the lawn as I had a ton of stuff going on that day. You can shed a lot of water weight mowing a big lawn in Florida in the summer time.

THEN I went to the Scale. Obviously I was very happy with the reading. Unfortunately, I broke my rule of never weighting myself again and weighed myself after dinner on Sunday night after a weekend of gluttony. I had gained 12 lbs from my Saturday'weight cut'. The disappointment sent me to the candy aisle.

Stepping on the scale too frequently can definitely mess with the noggin.

 

[FBlue]

I weigh myself every morning. Do it right after I pee so I know water weight isn't playing too much of a role in my over all numbers. I also have a pretty decent electronic scale that reads the same number every time I get on it. You would be surprised how bad some scales are when it comes to consistently displaying the same number. I actually took scales out packages and tested them multiple times. I also weigh myself every night just to make sure my numbers are not too low. I don't think I obsess over it. So I see no problem in doing it. Not sure if every should weigh themselves every day though.

 

[Nemesis48]

I know that most experts say that you shouldn't weight yourself daily when dieting, but I find it highly motivational. If I'm heavier than I was the day before, that is great motivation to work even harder. If I'm lighter, it feels great and I am motivated to continue working hard.

Obviously your weight will change from day to day for reasons other than fat loss, but I've always found it to be a nice motivational trick. That being said, I may be an outlier, as my body tends to shed excess weight very easily.

Exactly. What this guy said.

Weighing yourself daily is essential. But you also need to understand WHY your weight fluctuates, otherwise you may think you are gaining true weight when you're not.

For instance, I often gain 1-3 lbs of water weight over the 2 days following a cheat meal. My response is to drink more water so I piss it out, and to not get too depressed. It'll eventually come off.

If you chart your weight on a daily basis you can visually see trends in weight loss. Look at how the chart moves over weeks.

Something like this (this is my chart):

See july 31? I gained 18 lbs of water weight in like 3 days! This is from a food binge from having my overbearing father visit from florida and demanding to eat out and pig out constantly.

But as you can see, almost all of it was water weight and i pissed it out over a week.

 

[largemansmay***]

Damn, you started out at 440? Congrats on the progress.

I guess how often you use a scale or how it effects your progress depends on the type of person you are. I was weighing myself every day but it just seemed like too much. If my scale is put away I won't use my scale at all, but if it is on my bathroom floor I will weigh myself every day. To be honest it would just piss me off to see the numbers on the scale not show the work I put in (and sometimes it would show more work than I put in). I think putting the scale away will help me in the long run.

 

[Nemesis48]

Damn, you started out at 440? Congrats on the progress.

I guess how often you use a scale or how it effects your progress depends on the type of person you are. I was weighing myself every day but it just seemed like too much. If my scale is put away I won't use my scale at all, but if it is on my bathroom floor I will weigh myself every day. To be honest it would just piss me off to see the numbers on the scale not show the work I put in (and sometimes it would show more work than I put in). I think putting the scale away will help me in the long run.

What you need to keep in mind though is that work usually doesn't show up the next day - there is a lag. And food can take up to 2 days to fully "kick in" (water weight or otherwise).

 

[Black Gi]

My scales are consistent but then so are my eating habits.

I weigh my-self first thing in the morning every morning unless I forget.

I never vary more than a couple of pounds.

If I'm a couple of pounds up, I'm more mindfull to make the best food choices that day, so it keeps me on track.

You got to do what works for you.

My real test is going to come in a couple weeks. I am going to vegas and I am going to eat like garbage for a week. I am confident that I will get back on my diet once I come back home, but there is a part of me that is a bit scared that I won't. I just have to man up and do it.

There's no reason why you can’t have a good time stuffing yourself on good foods.

You feel just as good at the end of it if not better.

You could do the Atkins out there, just go all protein and plenty of water.