How often do you weigh yourself?
Photo Credit :: foshydog
“This may be a bit personal, but I’m wondering if you can talk about how often you weigh yourself?”
This is the question I presented to Bernie Salazar, at-home winner of The Biggest Loser’s Season 5, in our recent interview. (Make sure to check out the full interview with Bernie on the Me Movement blog!) I was curious how tied someone whose game-playing livelihood depended on the digital contraption might be to this machine.
Bernie acknowledged that it was initially difficult to disengage from the scale as a measure of progress. “I’ve been off the show two and a half years. It was really bad in the beginning, like once every two days. But then I started slowly backing off.”
“What about now?” I asked him. “How is it different?”
“Well, I go through phases,” Bernie noted. “Right now I haven’t weighed myself in a month. But when I have a big event coming up, I notice myself creeping towards the scale.”
He went on say, “But really, I know where I’m at. I don’t need to step on a scale. I know when my belt’s a little tighter. Right now I’m probably over where I feel my best, but that’s okay.”
Bernie and I talked about this for a while longer and he shared that his definition of progress has shifted. “I know when I feel healthy and strong,” he says. “I don’t need a scale to tell me that.”
What I loved about speaking to Bernie, besides his thoughtful self-reflection and abundant passion for helping others get well, was his generally healthy perspective on weight. He realizes, like many of us should, that health is composed of much more than a blinking digit in a bathroom.
It’s understandable, however, that we would be pulled to define ourselves by weight. Consider just how often that magic number is made the focus of our lives. We see the magazine covers with promises minimizing it and the television shows highlighting just how much a given celebrity has gained or lost. We’re even asked by our doctors, our trusted professional caregivers, to step on a scale when we walk in the door.
But what does that number really tell us, or them?
Sure, dramatic changes in your weight since your last visit to your primary care doctor might signal an issue, such as hypothyroidism or a side effect of a medication.
But a change of several pounds even from one day to the next often says extremely little. Common reasons that your weight might fluctuate daily include the following:
- Your body is retaining water. (Consider the fact that a gallon of water weighs about eight pounds!)
- You’ve used up your glycogen stores and your body replaces them quickly after eating. (This is totally normal!)
- You’ve eaten or drank recently. (You wouldn’t weigh yourself holding a pizza in your hand, so consider how not having digested would effect the scale.)
- Your hormones are changing. (Your menstrual cycle can cause weight gain, even when you aren’t prone to cravings.)
- You’ve eaten something you’re sensitive to. (Our bodies can have all sorts of reactions to foods that we’re not used to, including bloating, water retention, and weight gain.)
These are just a few of the myriad of potential causes of weight fluctuation. But the bottom line is that one’s “best weight” is not confined to a single number, particularly one that can change on a regular basis. And the Land of Skinny isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. As I recently wrote in response to Charlotte’s thought-provoking post on this topic,
Our best weight is the one at which we are the most happy physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Along these lines, Bernie himself has an excellent suggestion for fighting the overwhelming influence of the scale. He suggested, “We need to develop a scale that says ‘You deserve better than this.’”
I couldn’t agree more.
Tina @ Faith Fitness Fun
526 days ago
This is exactly why I don’t care for scale weight. Too many things can affect it. I love how he says he knows when he feels good and when he’s treating his body well. That’s what matters.
Tina @ Faith Fitness Fun recently posted..Love it!
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
526 days ago
Tina, I’m curious if you monitor your weight during pregnancy? I know people that feel strongly both ways… if you’re open to sharing!
maria
526 days ago
I weigh myself maybe 3-4 times a year? Once at a doctor, and once in a while when i see a scale, like in Ikea store. But I don’t have one at home, and I can tell more by how my clothes fit. I.E. if my stomach is full of pizza, my butt still fits into my jeans, even if i temporarily weigh more.
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
526 days ago
I think a good rule of thumb for most of us is to leave the weighing to the physical exam each year. I figure that if I have a yearly physical and a yearly OBGYN appt., that’s generally enough to know where I’m at. I have to laugh at the Ikea store one! ;-)
Johnnie
526 days ago
We don’t own a scale. Before I had children I was barely 107 lbs, by the time I arrived at the hospital to deliver our 4th child I was a round 220. I had managed to double in size. Now to be fair a large portion of this was baby. All of our children were around the 9lb mark. However, even after delivery I was still not the 107 I once was. I exercise and try to eat well, but I’m far from perfect. While I am not obese, I am not in the best shape I could be. I know this, and I will work on it. But I am not going to beat myself up and obsess about it. There are so many other things in life that are more important. One of them being making sure my 3 daughters don’t learn to hate their bodies or food.
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
526 days ago
Yay for not owning a scale! It’s awesome that you are focused on teaching your daughters such healthy messages. Thanks for sharing, Johnnie!
Michele @ Healthy Cultivations
526 days ago
Boy oh boy!! This is a hot topic… and a timely one for me. I was just thinking early this morning that it might be time to give up the scale again. I weigh every day. There have been times when I’d weigh three or four times per day and track it on a graph. Not good. But then I gave up the scale and became a healthier, happier person… both emotionally and physically. The scale is just a tool — a good one for some, a less than good one for others — it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. But if it’s used as a torture device or sets the tone for the entire day (or week), then it’s not a useful tool.
How poignant that this post went up this morning. I think it’s official that I’m giving up the scale again… I am the one who gets frustrated with others when they ask me how much weight I’ve lost. If I’m going to get frustrated with them for focusing on objective numbers instead of subjective health and well-being, then perhaps I shouldn’t focus on them either.
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
526 days ago
I’m so glad that this showed up at the right time for you! Funny how we get “signs” like that, huh?
Andrea
526 days ago
I haven’t weighed myself in a long time and I can’t really see the need for it, even at my yearly check up. What if I did gain weight, due to age for example, I am not about to go on a diet so what is the point. If I eat healthy most of the time, exercise and feel good about myself, I don’t want to chance my self-esteem by stepping on the scale. To me it is unnecessary. You can not deduce one’s level of overall health by a number.
Andrea
Katie @ Health for the Whole Self
526 days ago
Good topic, Ashley! I did a post a long time ago called “The Great Scale Debate,” in which I said that while some people may be able to have a healthy relationship with the scale, for me it just spells trouble and so I choose to avoid it. Interestingly, MANY people commented that they weigh themselves pretty often (at least once a week if not more), but that they didn’t see anything problematic about it. And maybe in their cases it isn’t an issue…but for me that would be a recipe for disaster! I think it’s one of those things that has become so normalized that we don’t even realize when it’s controlling us.
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
526 days ago
I totally agree, Katie! I would go out on a limb here and say that there is no “healthy” way of weighing yourself daily or even every few days (or weekly) unless it’s being required by a doctor (such as restoring weight from an ED). If the number “doesn’t affect you” then why weigh one’s self in the first place. It would be a non-issue if that were true. I’ll stop so I don’t end up writing another post here!
KCLAnderson (Karen)
526 days ago
I haven’t weighed myself in over a year. When the spirit moves me, I measure my waist. And like Andrea, I don’t allow myself to be weighed at the doctor’s office any more. At first it was because it was too emotional for me, but at this point, what’s more important is my cholesterol, blood pressure and other health indicators. They’re all excellent and/or getting better so I don’t need a number on the scale to tell me if I am okay, I KNOW I am.
KCLAnderson (Karen) recently posted..The Myth Of Imperfection
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
526 days ago
Other health indicators are so much more important, but perhaps what’s most important is what you mentioned – how you feel.
Ann
526 days ago
I haven’t weighed myself in well over a year and have no plans to do so in the future. I find the scale to be particularly triggering and now avoid it like toxic waste. I turn around when I’m weighed at the doctor’s office, and ask not to be told my weight. This isn’t useful information to me and I don’t think it should be useful information to a doctor either. If they want to determine my state of health there are much better measures, including discussing my lifestyle with me.
This is a good method one former disordered eater used for her doctor’s visits http://cat-and-dragon.com/stef/fat/hanne.html
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
526 days ago
Thanks for the link! This is definitely something that is difficult in working with people with EDs. Even when we (the treatment team) is clear and the person is clear that the weight shouldn’t be known, often the physician tells them the weight. It’s tough.
Dana Udall-Weiner
526 days ago
Great post and comments. When I had an ED, I weighed myself constantly and was obsessed. When I moved in with roommates, I had to ask them to put the scale in a cabinet, rather than in our shared bathroom, because it was too triggering. (They happily did.) I weigh myself when I go to the doctor, and that’s it. It’s so freeing not to worry about it! Having had two pregnancies, I was weighed (as are most women) throughout the process. At times it was triggering, but, as a wise woman once told me, dealing with weight during pregnancy is the first real experience of motherhood, because you have to consider how your needs (not to gain too much weight) impact the baby’s needs (for nutrition). I had to find a way to reconcile these two things and respect both the baby and myself.
Dana Udall-Weiner recently posted..The Dr Phil Effect
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
526 days ago
That is really powerful “advice” that this wise woman gave you. I’m still wrapping my head fully around it. I’m really fascinated by the focus on weight during pregnancy and wonder how important it is to “monitor” one’s weight along the way. Maybe you can shed some light on this if you have any thoughts.
charlotte
525 days ago
You know, I haven’t weighed myself since I put up my “I’m not weighing myself anymore for reals this time!!” post. I didn’t realize how proud of myself I am for that until I read this post:) I won’t lie: I still think about it often and wonder what the number is. And also a lot of my motivation to stay away from the scale is fear but regardless I’m still doing it and that in and of iteself is an accomplishment. Hopefully the feelings will align with my actions soon!
charlotte recently posted..When A Shopping Addiction Isnt a Joke
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
525 days ago
Just wanted to say I LOVED that post Charlotte! And glad this one could serve as an indicator of how far you’ve come ;-)
Nina
525 days ago
Great post and topic!
I was told several years ago that the scale was “mood altering” and should be avoided much like drugs. It seemed like a strange concept at first, but I started to notice how true it was in my life. I could go from ecstatic to deeply depressed based on a single number on the scale!
I have not weighed myself in a very long time and do not own a set of scales.Very grateful not to have this mood altering machine in my life today!
Nina recently posted..Binge Eating Mice Teach Us About Recovery
Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul
525 days ago
That’s a fantastic way of looking at the scale. For some people, it truly does become like an addiction.
Pam
523 days ago
I’ve been thinking about this lately – what about weighing yourself regularly to take power away from the number? I think that we avoid the scale for two reasons, either because we’re afraid of what we’ll see or because it just doesn’t matter to us what that number is. I think that to move from the first state to the second, it might be helpful to confront that number every day to remove its power over oneself. Kind of like exposure therapy. Is that totally off base?
yasmine (mypurplegrape)
522 days ago
wonderfull post!
I completly agree with you. there was a time when I would weight myself quite a bit (I work as a fashion model) so I would compare myself to other girls. it really stressed me out! Now I never weigh myself and I have such better things to think about! (I actaully think i’ve slimmed down without even trying now that im relaxed)
X
Janna
509 days ago
Great topic! My current thinking for myself is something along the lines of Pam, that checking my weight on a regular basis is a great practice to take the charge out of the number for myself. I’ve been able to watch my weight fluctuations as (mostly) just another data point. Am I happier when the number is lower? Yes, for sure, but I’m also not upset anymore when it’s a little higher, just a little more aware of my current physical state. But is it something everyone should do? Certainly not. Everyone’s path to loving and honoring our bodies is different.