The Scale: Friend or Foe?

When I was a little girl, at my pediatrician's advice my mother weighed me every Saturday morning. Let me tell you, I grew to hate that bathroom scale more than any other object. So, for years afterward I refused to own a scale or step on one unless it was absolutely necessary. For the first 10 years of our marriage, my husband agreed with me--no scale! Then, as I began to lose weight, I saw the value in owning a scale again. I wanted to start weighing myself first thing in the morning, in order to get a "true" weight not influenced by eating, drinking or exercise. I started weighing myself every day, and I still do. Now I know what the weight-loss experts all say: "Don't weigh yourself every day because you'll just get discouraged if the scale doesn't read the way you want it to." But for me, the scale was the perfect way to monitor how my eating plan was working. If I noticed the numbers creeping upward (as they sometimes did), I knew to pay closer attention to my diet, add more fiber-filled low-calorie foods or just trim my portions a bit for the next day or so. If I hit a plateau, I figured out what healthy change I could make to get those numbers to decrease again: do more challenging exercise, drink more water, try a new healthful food. Before long, the scale started to cooperate. I don't believe you should live and die by the scale, but use it as a tool to help you achieve your goals. It's not as easy to "cheat," eat "just a little bit more" or skip your workout when you know you have to step on the scale the next day. Of course, your commitment to weighing yourself is based on the honor system. But who are you doing this for anyway? Oh, and my husband weighs himself every day, too--and he's lost 20 lbs. on my eating plan himself. Just a little more incentive for you.