Weight a Minute! Obsessing Over the Scale

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

28 Apr 2008 06:43 PM

I have a love/hate relationship with my bathroom scale. Okay, let's be completely honest - I have a resignation/hate relationship with my scale. I have gained back eleven of the pounds I lost a few months ago, and there are days when I'd just as soon throw my scale out the window than step on it. Although, depending on my self-esteem on any given day, I admit that standing on the scale is pretty good punishment for it. Take that, you scale!

However, despite the fact that the numbers are higher than I would like, several people over the last couple of weeks have told me that I'm looking thinner. These are people who do not owe me money, who are not trying to get something from me, and have no vested interest in my weight loss. I smile and thank them, all the while saying in my mind, "But I've gained eleven pounds back! Are you blind?"

The thing is, they're not blind. Our bodies reapportion themselves and while we may see higher numbers on the scale, our bodies can appear thinner. What does this tell us? We should end our endless obsessions with the bathroom scale. It can only give us a vague idea of how we're doing. The real test is, how do we look? And other people are the best judges of that. We see ourselves every day. The changes are gradual and we can't see them. But friends who haven't seen us for several days can look at us and see the differences we can't.

I'm willing to accept the compliments. I'm even willing to admit that I have days where I look totally cute. Most of all, I'm willing to end my dependency on my scale for my self worth. After all, it doesn't know everything.

Tristi Pinkston is a full-time blogger in LDS, Media and Movies. Click here to read more of her blogs.

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Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

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DavidAAAAAA (6) 07 May 2008 11:00 AM

Tristi -- you're defintitely on to som,ething -- how can you look slimmer and weigh more?

A given volume of muscle weighs more than the same voulume of fat. Get it? Fat takes up more space. So you can actually lose fat, gain muscle, look better, feel better, be stronger, live longer, while you put on a little weight by eating right and weight training. It's all explained in this incredible book that recently came out, Strength for Life. This book is life changing, world changing, and it's very encourgaging.

From David in New York

Lisa P (24013) 08 May 2008 08:25 AM

Good for you, Tristi! David is right and I've been saying the same thing for years in my blogs. Muscle, although it weighs more than fat, is more dense and compact so even though we aren't losing weight, we're losing inches of fat. This is why I always recommend taking measurements of bust, waist, hips, thighs, calves and biceps. This way, if you weigh yourself at the end of the week and don't have anything from the scale to celebrate, you may still very well have lost inches and that is what we should really be celebrating!

mariannah (10) 12 May 2008 11:08 PM

Hahahahah….I know exactly how you feel. I was desperate to lose weight and had tried all the diets. My scale still hated me. I sometimes thought my scale was like Garfield’s, kept mocking me. I started yoga for weight loss by Franz Andrini. It’s a great programme and I learnt a lot about my body. Just after few weeks people I knew began complimenting how I looked. I couldn’t make out but my energy levels are better and I definitely feel lighter. I don’t hate my scale that much anymore.