I've been trying to lose weight and working really hard at it.

I can feel that I've lost weight but am not going to step on the scales until I can comfortably fit the next size smaller from what I am now (and the current size is starting to fit looser!!!! yea!).

Why not step on the scales? Well, if I weigh myself and I have lost weight, then I'll overeat to celebrate... If I weigh myself and have gained weight, then I'll overeat my way out of the funk.

Is anyone else like this or am I alone in the world? The scale is truly my enemy and remains shoved in the back of my closet. I haven't always been like this but after losing a lot of weight in my 30's and then putting it back on AND suffering through anorexia with my niece, I've developed a lot of anxiety about stepping on the almighty scale.

I'm coming to you all because it is a daily struggle for me and misery loves company, LOL.

I can relate. For years I had to weigh myself daily, and every day I would see that number and it would set the mood for how my entire day would go. Now, I weigh myself once a week (Friday mornings). I have set a *danger* zone for me. It is the weight that I know I should try not to go above. If I find that the number is higher than that....I try to diet, and exercise more until I get it back below my *danger* zone. I think the most difficult thing for me is trying to maintain my weight ( lost about 18 lbs last winter). It is so much harder now to maintain than when I was younger. I also find that I have to keep up with my six days of exercise, if not...I start gaining again. I went to the doctor the other day and she asked me how I was able to keep my weight down, I told her that I work my butt off, and I try to eat healthy. I am not a naturally thin person and it is very hard work to maintain my weight.
My daughter can eat whatever she wants.....I envy her!
Sometimes.....I love the scales, sometimes I hate them.

Neither friend or foe. I don't go by a number...I go by how my clothes fit. Everyone is built differently and numbers run differently on each of us. For example, if my hubby went by the scale, he would be overweight per all the "experts" out there. Let me tell you, he has some of the lowest body fat percentage in his muscle pump class at the gym and looks good. Everytime I mention my weight here, I get called a liar because people say my weight number and size do not match up. Well excuse me but it's not a lie...it's how I am built. When my clothes feel tighter, I will weigh myself to see how much I have gained but I do not gauge my self esteem or progress by the scale...it's all in how my body feels and how my clothes fit. I lost over 35 lbs a few years ago and I'll tell, 3-5 lbs lost can feel like 10 in your clothes and it can feel like none, depending on where it's lost. For me, it was hard to see "yeah, you've lost 5 lbs" but not "feel" like I had lost it (meaning everything fit the same and I looked the same to me). Maybe I am just crazy though

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

There are too many fluctuations to really trust a scale on a regular basis. I gain 7-10 lbs every month that goes away when Cousin Sally leaves.
If I ate too much salt yesterday or am bloated I don't want to weigh. I weighed myself once six wks after changing my eating habits and swore I would wait at least six more weeks before I step on a scale.
I think measuring your body in inches is a better idea and using your clothes for a reference. A scale should only be used rarely in my opinion.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Enemy right now, I don't have the problem of being over weight, I am under weight. In the last month I have lost 10 pounds. I got on the scales last week to weigh and I weighed 120. I'm 5ft10 so I really need to gain instead of lose.

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Brenda

GO #24 JEFF GORDON

I never weigh myself, except at the dr's office and even then, I almost immediately forget what it read. Why? because it's misleading. When I was trying to lose weight, I joined a gym and got a trainer. The trainer told me never to go by the scale, because while working out, the number does not mean anything. Muscle is leaner than fat, but weighs more. So technically, even if you've trimmed down in size, you could weigh the same or even MORE if it's all been muscle. I am a very muscular person and if I shared how much I weigh, you'd think I was pudgy, but I'm not. So I never weigh myself.

Friend, I weigh myself everyday to keep on track.

Ditto.
When I get to thinking the scale is the enemy, it's an enemy I truly need to get me back on track.

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Cuthie,

I do my best "maintaining" when I do weigh in daily. But, unfortunately, I'm not in that trend right now. I fluctuate between my "happy weight" and my "happy weight plus 13 or so"

My advice - it works for me, at least - pick your weigh-in time based solely on whether you're having a GREAT morning. If you're having the very best kind of morning - and nothing anyone says, and no red digits on the scale could really negatively impact, then weight yourself! My theory is that if everything is so good that the number isn't going to hurt so much in comparison, it's a good time to do it. If the number is great (which I'll bet it is), then you're already happy, so it's not likely to send you into a celebratory food fest. Does that make sense? (This is also how I used to approach taking pregnancy tests while I was trying to become pregnant the last three times!)

By the way, when preparing myself to read a potentially horrific number, I always take a deep breath, and I tell myself that whatever that number is, I'm committed to never seeing it again after this morning. And then I stick to it.

I'm going to have my 25th HS reunion next year. So that's my latest motivator.

Let us know when you do it! I'm waiting to hear

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"The errors of faith are better than the best thoughts of unbelief." - Thomas Russell

Although I weigh myself once a week, not everyday, I do think that it helps keep me on track. I honestly don't believe I would have gained the 18lbs I lost last year....if I had weighed myself. I had made a decision to not get on the scales and it backfired on me. I thought just the way my clothes fit would be enough, but it wasn't. Now, keeping an eye on my *danger* zone has helped me keep control. I made my danger zone 4lbs above the weight I really like to be at, that way it would allow for my monthly weight gain during my visitor or also allow a little for water weight gain. So far, I have been able to keep my weight within the four pound range. Having the summer off from work has created a challange for me. I have a much easier time with my eating patterns when I am working. Just the opposite is true for exercise. Now, I have more time to donate to the treadmill/lifting weights.
I have a few tricks...wearing a pedometer and getting in 12,000 steps daily, eating frozen grapes, I also try to stick to 1,200 calories during the week, but I allow Saturday to be my free day and I eat whatever I want! I think the key is find what works for you, and stick with it!

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

Cecilia I love this picture!

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Thanks! I was buying birthday cards and I found this. I would never send it to anyone but I thought it was so funny I had to get it for myself. I think I'm going to hang it inside the linen closet where I keep the scale.

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

I actually prefer the #'s on the scale rather than trying on clothes constantly to see if they fit (I'm trying to loose preg. weight, my son's 2 months old now). Once I get to a #, then I know I can try my clothes without feeling like crap when they don't fit yet.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply!

To all, I think that I've picked up some really helpful tips and advice in your responses. If I put it all together, maybe I can pull through this and figure out a way to make friends with the scales.

Yngsto6, that is sooo funny! I love it.

We have a scale in our bathroom, and only on occasion do I step on it. The other day, I could not fit into the capris that I have worn weekly for the past few years-I mean in a one week period, they did not fit at all! I had gained 7lbs. Went w/ my mom on a trip to Iowa where we were eating ham loaf and fried chicken, and just sitting in a car and driving. I don't really care about the scales-I just want my pants to fit!