I know I've discussed this at length with some of you and some of you are fine doing what you do. This isn't directed at you and it's not meant to open a discussion of what's right and what's wrong. The fact in the matter is The Scale Mentality isn't right for some. It does more harm than good.

This is a reply I made to someone earlier today that I thought some of you might find some usefulness in.

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First man, you've got to ditch the scale mentality. This process and lifestyle doesn't have to be frustrating. It can actually be a fun ride! But again, you've got to let go of that mentality where 2 lbs up = catastrophe.

Become more physique-minded opposed to scale-minded. You aren't doing this to look like a scale, are you?

No.

You're doing this to look good naked.... and the scale.... EVEN THE NUMBER ON THAT SCALE.... has nothing to do with what you look like naked.

Of course you're doing this to be healthy and fit too.... but that also has nothing to do with the scale.

There's a hierarchy of importance when it comes to metrics used to measure success.

1. One, I'd say, is the reflection in the mirror. If you're happy with what you see there, who gives a flying f- about anything else?

2. Is measurements. Get yourself a soft tape measure and start tracking. Again, you should be worried about your physique, not some arbitrary number on the scale. Measure your neck, arms, chest, navel, waist, butt/hips, and thighs every 2 weeks or so.

3. Start taking monthly pictures for comparison purposes, realizing you aren't always going to see a change.

4. Use a scale to weigh yourself just as a general gauge.... It's incredibly defeating and frustrating if you put this metric high on the list though b/c it's not measuring what you're looking for. It doesn't measure improvements in physique and it sure as hell doesn't measure fat loss. You're interested in a good physique and losing fat, right? So wouldn't you agree it's INSANE to put so much faith in a metric that doesn't even measure progress in what you desire?

I know there are good number of people who weigh daily around here. They say it keeps them focused. With the above in mind.... I don't quite get it, but it's not my job to 'get it' nor should they care if I 'get it' or not. And even those who say it doesn't affect them mentally or negatively, many of them are still part of that group that make a big deal when the scale upticks a few pounds.

Logically it's not something to worry about. But the scale seems to make people think illogically.

If you blew it way up in proportion, it'd be like someone saying, "Even though I am studying physics, I'm not going to do any work outside of class related to physics. Instead, I'm going to spend all my time learning economics. I'm even going to take tests regarding economics to test my proficiency."

Then, when they take their final exam in physics and fail, they scream and clammer about being a failure. What sense does that make?

Message: Pay attention to the right things.

A scale-focus also tends to establish an all-or-nothing mentality. What do I mean by that? This focus establishes the tendency in people to evaluate personal qualities and success in extreme black-or-white categories. An example would be a straight A student getting one B and saying, “I’m a failure.” People step on the scale. Even if their measurements and pictures are all looking fantastic, an uptick in the scale sends their heart and hopes to the deep, dark shallows of that pit known as a stomach. All-or-nothing thinking forms the basis for perfectionism. It causes you to fear any mistake or imperfection no matter how illogical and it sends your world into a spiral.

A scale-focus also tends to establish a mental-filter. I just spoke of this in someone else's journal. Mental-filtering is when you pick out a negative detail in any situation and dwell on it exclusively, thus perceiving that the whole situation is negative. You step on the scale, see a number that's higher than you expected, and your mental filter only focuses on this aspect, thus leading to the conclusion that your fat loss is a failure b/c your weight up-ticked. No logic there. When you get in this mode, you wear a pair of eyeglasses that filter out anything positive. All that you allow to enter your conscious mind is negative. Because you are not aware of this filtering process, you conclude that everything is negative.

I could go on and on about more mental-distortions this scale-focus establishes and none of them work to your advantage.

I know you directed a statement or question to me. Truth be told, I have no clue why you gain a few lbs. Nobody is going to be able to answer that. But if I were your trainer and you asked me, I'd completely ignore you and have you focus on the stuff that translates to fat loss; ya know, exercise and healthy/controlled eating. That's what matters to me, not an uptick on the scale of 3 lbs that could simply be bowel matter.

If you are 100% certain that you're calories are correct (hint: nobody is), then the weight will come off. Instead of looking at the acute fluctuations though, focus in on the chronic, longer-term trends. Month-to-month preferably. This tends to paint a much brighter, truer picture of what's REALLY happening.

If the trend is heading in the wrong direction, that's the clue for a problem. Not the acute fluctuations.

We've had this discussion here before -and it was a thread you started... And I agree totally with what you're saying nd I have changed my mind about the importance of the scale.. Yes I am aware of the number but that's it -I care more about what I'm seeing and even more so about how I"m feeling.

But with a lot of people -they can tell you - exactly how much tehy weighed when they graduated from high school, when they got married, when they did XXX - that number is embedded in their brain -- and I've now come over to the fact that -- it's dumb thinking like that... You do not wear a sign on your back with your weight on it... Who's gonna know what you weigh...

How many comments are posted in the pictures forum - YOU DON"T LOOK YOUR WEIGHT!!!! Shouldn't that tell us something? What does a specific weight look like?

This is something I am incredibly guilty of - not scale focussed but fitness focussed and am working on correcting -or at least becoming more aware of -- my bathroom mirror reminds me of stop focussing on what I haven't done - and remember what you have done...

I used to belong to an organization that used weight as the only real way to measure progress. I ended up leaving because I started really gaining muscle and having a person say, "Oh, sorry. You have a plan to make it better next week?" when I knew the difference was muscle, not fat.

So I gave up. Sorta the wrong way to deal with things, but at least I'm not paying $40 a month anymore, right?

And I've since started back. I checked out that free weight loss thing on pasty's profile and it's simple enough-counting calories. I can handle that. ;-)

Thanks for the posts, though, guys. I heartily agree!

haha you just described me completely. i don't let the scale bother me but i have to admit i am addicted to the damn thing!!!

x

It deserves repeating.

I'd start a dozen more to get my point across, maybe it should just be stickied.

Exactly.

Do you think Ronnie Coleman goes around fretting b/c he weighs 300+ lbs?

http://www.cheapuksupplements.co.uk/ronnie1.jpg

It's not about the weight. It's about the feeling and the image.

I dont disagree..

STUCK...

He's kinda creepy looking though... muscles are good -that's unnatural looking...

Haha, that's unnatural looking b/c it's not natural.

He's a cop believe it or not.

Would you say the most accurate quantitative measurement of progress is using a measuring tape? Scales have so many potholes as it doesn't just weigh fat, but there is no reason why my waist or thighs would ever be bigger if I measured them every 2 weeks when I'm in a calorie deficit, would they? If I was numbers-driven and want to record progress, would that be the best method?

back 20 months ago -when i was close to my heaviest weight -or the highest recorded weight anyhow -t here were really no visible changes until I was down at least 75lbs... my clothes size might have changed a little bit but there's very little difference between a size 32 and a size 26 - it's still big.. the scale was my only indicator of progress... of whatever I was doing was 'working' or not...

In certain weight ranges, I think the scale is important because a little bit of effort can make a big difference in the scale, the closer a person gets to a more realistic weight for their body.. .then there are other indicators that are much more important.

I beleive he said that in the first post or he's said it so often in other posts that I expect the words to be there

I tend to do measurements every month becuase every 2 weeks I wasnt seeing any measurable progress... or at least a measurement that mattered to me (1/4 inches aren't real enough for me)

Hell, some of the people I work with can't even use a scale b/c they are too heavy and can't afford a bariatric grade scale.

In that case, all they can use is measurements.

Measuring fat mass compared to fat free mass is most accurate. There are many ways of doing this, some more reliable than others. But the thing is, it's not feasible for most to get this tested every other week or even every single month as it requires another person who knows what he/she is doing..... namely a trainer.

And the fatter you are, the more off these measurements tend to be.

With that in mind, I'd resort to measurements as your next best option. They can certainly be misleading. You could gain some muscle in your calf while dieting (it's not likely but it depends) and that could skew the perception of what's really going on.

But one measurement should kill ya.

With all metrics, it's about the long-term trends. And if you are dieting, the trends in a majority of your measurements should be downward.

Maybe everybody should change their weight tracking ticker to WAIST tracking ticker lol...