Monday, October 13, 2008

Why I broke up with my scale

I haven't weighed myself in almost a month now. Why? Because I never react in a sane manner to my weight. If it's a good weight (less than 135 or 136) I want to celebrate by eating. And if it's a bad weight (more than 137) I want to eat to console myself. And why should any of those numbers be labeled "good" or "bad"? I know it's easy to measure your weight, and maybe if I could just treat weight as information, it would be fine to weigh. But so many things affect your weight, which is why it can fluctuate so wildly within a few days or even in a single day (water weight, anyone?) So I've given up weighing. But right now, all my close are loose, even my "skinny clothes." My rings are loose. Running is going well, and I'm feeling strong, energetic and alive. So I guess if I did weigh, it would be a "good" number, right?

5 comments:

Irene said...

I think more people need to break up with their scales! Perhaps they should not weigh in so often. I suggested to someone that she stop weighing daily and stop obsessing over one friggin' pound up or down! I mean, come one! She tried to justify weighing daily by saying that it works for her. If it did, then she wouldn't freak out over one pound. That doesn't even take into consideration muscle mass. The clothes-o-meter works great, doesn't it? (You can tell this sparked a chord in me!) Good for you, Leslie!

Julianne said...

I broke up with my scale too. I didn't like the direction we were going and decided we had to end the relationship. He's still living with me but I am ignoring him COMPLETELY.

HAHA.

Why did you guys break up when even your skinny clothes are loose? I don't get it. My fat girl clothes are kinda tight right now... :-(

Aron said...

i completely agree with you... it should all be a good number right now... esp when skinny clothes are loose! chris (my hub) wont let me have a scale at home... but sometimes i really want one :)

Tracy Reifkind said...

When I feel lean and then step on the scale and it registers higher than I feel, the let down happens instantly. I'm still on the fence about the scale, I go back and forth.

I'm on the fence because ultimately it's not the scale, the scale is just an innocent victim the judgements we put on ourselves.

To be honest with you Leslie, I was suprised you mentioned 135-137lbs, because I want to look as good as you look (I know you're taller than me), and I would've never guessed we weighed the same.

ColeC said...

Wonderful post Leslie!

To many people (including me) do the same thing with food and the scale. People don't realize that what the scale says is usually water loss/gain or worse...muscle loss/gain.