There's been a lot of talk on the boards lately about the evils of the scale and how misleading the numbers it spits out can be.

Many of us have read Why The Scales Lie.

Many of us lift weights and know what an influence that can have on scale readings (although I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that muscles is not heavier than fat. It's more dense - roughly 22% more dense - but it's not heavier!!!).

Many of us have started campaigns calling for solidarity echewing the hourly, daily, weekly ritual of weighing ourselves.

Campaign I, The Uprising
Campaign II, Inching To War
Campaign III, The War of the Ketostix
Campaign IV, The Body Composition Crusade
Campaign V, Insurrection
Campaign VI, The Uprising Reprise
Campaign VII, The Body Composition Crusades Continue

And yet, for the most part, we mark progress by pounds lost. That's what most of us update in our profiles. That's how many of us define our goals.

Ever wonder why that is?

It's just a number.

Then again, we live in a time when numbers are everything.

If I lived on Mercury I'd weigh 66.5 lbs. I wonder if that would make me a better human being?

Your weight on other planets

Nat

Very True Nat

Since I've been able to exercise again (getting back on track was difficult after a back problem) even although I am not seeing great results on the scale.... I do:

• Feel More Graceful (there are still a FEW klutzy moment's)
• Feel more like I am back in my body - when I gained my body felt strange to me
• see a difference in how I look - smaller - tighter - firmer-
• and have lost my muscle and joint aches and pains

Thanks for reminding us

I've decided I am a number.

the number 8

I always liked that number.

Jon

Nat,

Good points all. I'm really glad that you and Lisa have been talking about this. Nevertheless, I do have one answer for your question.
For me, at my size, that changing number (unreliable as it may be) is the only visible indication of change that I'm likely to have for a very long time. I could lose another 50 lbs and still not have it show.

I've been working on this since the beginning of the year. The scale tells me that I've dropped 20 pounds. My clothes tell me nothing. The tape measure tells me something different every time I pick it up. (You try measuring a beach ball consistently!) The way I feel changes from day to day. I think I'm doing better, overall, but it's not something that's easy to quantify. The scale may be a liar, but at least it's a tangible liar!

That being said, though, I agree with everything that's been said about the unreliability of the scale as the sole arbiter of success. I'm looking forward to the time when I can judge my progress based on the tape measure and body composition, as well as scale weight. In the mean time, though, I'm taking what I can get.

--Ruth

Hi Nat:

Wow, lots of information.

When I first joined here, the stats were (and still are) mandatory. I remember thinking "am I a number?". Of course, I wasn't as saavy as some of the others and didn't realize I could get around those mandatory numbers by typing in something else. As you can see, I've since learned.

My opinion is that in the scheme of things, it all comes down to eating healthy, exercising and respecting your body. The rest will take care of itself. That realization requires a lot of de-programming.

Wanda

Nat,

I just wanted to say you look marvelous!!!


And I am MORE than a number

But....I do still put a lot of "weight" in those numbers...maybe that will change in time...I hope so

Point taken, Ruth. I remember well what it was like to lose 24 lbs, and be so excited, and have no one notice

I have to think, though, that adopting a LC WOL, feeling better physically and having that sense of control (that was a big one for me) helps. You know you're doing something that is good for yourself. Doesn't that count toward seeing a change? Knowing that eventually you're going to be at that point where you won't need the tangible lies - that has to count too, right?

Wanda I almost did not recognize you You're right - deprogramming is necessary. The more you read / see / hear / are exposed to new ideas the easier they are to accept. So lets spread the word!

omgiam30, Thank you. Good luck to you!


KoKo, if you lose the part after ... a back problem) and you've taken two big steps forward

Jon, I've always been partial to 3!

Nat

I want to second what Ruth said -- for those of us who weigh a lot, those numbers really do matter. Have you ever looked at a chair and wondered if it would hold your weight? Most manufacturers design chairs that will hold up to 300 pounds. Yes, body composition does matter, but I need that number on the scale to go down whatever my body composition is -- putting on more muscles is not going to solve my problem.

It is a luxury not to be able to worry about the number on the scale and I don't have that luxury. When I get below 200 pounds, I will stop worrying about the number.

Of course, I measure my success in other ways -- the speed at which I can walk, the ease with which I can climb hills, the way my clothes fit, and how I feel. However, I know that high number on the scale makes it harder for me to walk, harder for me to climb hills, and harder for me to buy clothes that fit. I consider every pound lost a victory and I will continue to think that way until the first digit in my weight is a "1."

Even when I get down below 200, I will continue to track those pounds because I know how easily I can put them on. I avoided weighing myself for most of the last 20 years and look where I ended up. I don't intend to repeat that mistake again.

Yes, there are probably some people on the forum who spend way too much energy worrying about the number on the scale. However, you can't generalize from that and say that none of us should worry about it. I don't worry about the day-to-day fluctuations, but I sure do worry about the long-term trend in my weight.

Oh yes, of course those things count. It's just that you seemed to be asking (at least rhetorically) why trust an unreliable indicator? And I thought I'd give a shot at an answer -- right now I'm using it because it seems to be telling me something I need to know.

Thanks again for starting an interesting discussion.

--Ruth

Liz, I was not generalizing. I was questioning. I want to know why we keep doing this. Did you read the links I posted by the other members? We all talk about throwing out our scale, but I don't think anyone ever has.

These support forums are frought with members with eating disorders, histories of ED, and unhealthy body images. My post was not directed at you, or anyone, in particular.

Ruth, Yes, I was asking - those reading as well as myself. Thanks for making this more interesting

Nat

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as defensive and I didn't take your post as directed personally at me. There have just been a lot of posts and threads lately about how we should give up weighing ourselves regularly and some of them have come off sounding somewhat preachy. I think my reply was generated out of general frustration and not from what you actually said. I am a firm believer in the fact that nothing works for everyone and that includes the decision about whether or not to weigh regularly. I need to weigh regularly; for other people weighing regularly may do more harm than good.

I know I'm stating the obvious, but I think a lot of the discussion we've been seeing lately is directed to the psychology of weighing. Towards those who base their moods on what the number on the scale says each morning and use it as their only tool to gauge success.

OTOH, I think there are also many people who use the scale responsibly. They are the ones that don't let that number devastate them when the scale shows water gain, and realize that it is only one of many tools for judging success.

Wanda

Jon,

If I were a number I should think that I would like to be 42...

Mark

Szar-

42 is a good number! I was extremely saddened when Adams died. I like 3.14159.

Nat-As one of the scale obsessed, I hear you and I think you are right. As someone already mentioned, we have been brainwashed to a certain extent. There are weight charts that you are supposed to fit into and there is the BMI that doctors use which is also not entirely accurate as it does not take into consideration muscle mass. I have tried to set reasonable goals for myself, not all of which are based upon the number on the scale. Actually, my weight goal is at the upper end of the range for my height and I chose that because I wanted more muscle mass. Having multiple goals is important for me because I can see progress and measure success on any number of levels. I have noticed that my actual weight has become less important to me in respect to some of my other goals-but I think that is because I have come closer to my goal weight than I ever thought I would. Perhaps we should begin to list other goals we have that take focus away from just being a number on a scale.

I have a:
waist size goal
hip size goal
clothes size goal
fitness goal (I want bigger biceps, more cardio endurance, more flexability, to be able to do boy push ups...)
body fat percentage goal-I want to see all those cool muscles

Many of these are also numbers, but I am a quantitative kind of girl. I like to track numbers and graph them.