Yesterday (Saturday) was my official weigh-in day; the
day to document my weight and body fat % and evaluate my progress. It's a big week because I think I'll break a
barrier than I haven't seen in 20 or more years. I'm not excited or anxious or fretting,
though, because I pretty much know what the readings are going to be. Why? Because I'm a scale-aholic. There, I admitted it. Despite all admonitions, I hop on the scale more than just the
once-a-week check-in. And I'm not just
talking about maybe a peek here and there either; I check at least daily and sometimes
more. I even break my own rules and
check on more than one scale; including the one at the gym. Yes, I'm a scale addict. Some of the rest of you might be this same
way too. It may be what drew you to the
title of the blog.
This behavior doesn't surprise me. It's just an extension of my commitment to
fitness right now (sic: symptom of my obsessive compulsive tendencies). But most importantly, though, is that I'm
perfectly okay with this practice, at least for myself. I recognize that it could be destructive for
some and I'm not advocating this for anyone, but I've come to terms with it (acceptance
is the first step) based on the following:
1.
I take
the readings more out of scientific curiosity than determination of progress -
you can call BS on me if you'd like, and I'd be lying if I said there wasn't
some small component of measuring progress, but I started these multiple
readings early on in my weight loss journey out of curiosity of the factors
that influenced the fluctuations in weight throughout the day and week. As a scientist and health care professional,
I'm fascinated by human physiology and wanted to observe how my weight varied
under different conditions. At one
point, I even contemplated tracking every weigh-in with notes on the variables
(time of day, proximity to meals and exercise, weight vs. BF%, etc.) and
sharing my findings here in what would have been the dullest blog ever. In the end, I decided my OCD wasn't quite
that intense. Right now, I continue the frequent readings to get a handle on
variations in BF%. That curiosity led me
to observation number 2:
2.
Taking
multiple readings throughout the week does nothing to help track progress -
if you take nothing else away from this blog, remember that statement. The fluctuations in my weight from day to day
and throughout any given day were so unpredictable that they lacked any real
meaning regarding my path to fitness. My
lowest weight for the week could be the day after my highest, and my final
weigh-in would be somewhere in the middle, and the next week everything would
flip. Also, exercise and meals had
little to do with weigh-ins, except, of course, that I weighed more immediately
following a meal. I had one of my
biggest losses a day and half after a Cheesecake Factory dinner and a blow out
the top of my daily calorie allowance.
This is why I still only track progress with the one official weigh-in a
week. And tracking body fat percentage
is even worse, those readings are all over the place. Fortunately, through all the fluctuations,
the trend is still steadily downward. This
observation, thought, has also allowed me to:
3.
Stay
emotionally unattached to the frequent weigh-ins - I have successfully
removed any (OK, most) emotional connection with the results of these frequent
hops on the scale. If I got upset by a
high reading or too excited by a low one, I'd be a wreck after just a few
days. Likewise, I try to remove any
emotions with the weekly measurements as well because I know this is a long
term commitment to fitness, not a weekly dash, and it’s the sustained progress
over months and years that's truly important.
I also don't let it change my behavior.
I've had great success with my food and fitness plan and I'm not going
to make any changes in my daily routine because of a few midweek measurements.
Please note, I'm not advocating this behavior for
anyone. The professional recommendations
to weigh yourself only once a week under similar conditions are very sound and will give you the best indication of progress. Maybe soon I'll be bored with observing fluctuations and variables, but until then, I'm perfectly happy replacing the batteries in the scale a
little more often.
Stay healthy and happy!
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