"Dieting" without a scale?

I am a college sophmore just beginning to think about changing my eating/exercise habits to work off the little bit of weight that I've gained since I left for college. The thing is, my family has never owned a scale. I'm living away from home now, but I still don't have one (and as far as I can tell our fitness center doesn't have one either?). That means I get weighed only about every six months - one year at the doctor's office. (I also peek at other people's home scales when I use their bathrooms, but I know that doesn't really count because they are calibrated differently.) It also means I am not completely sure of my current weight or how much I would need to lose to get back to "normal".

I am about 5'3" and I believe that I was between 100-105 when I left for college last year. My best guess for my weight now would be 110-120? So, I don't want to lose a huge amount of weight (and I definitely don't want to get all the way down to 100 because I was pretty bony in highschool as a 98 pounder - not attractive). Just 5-10 pounds by the end of the semester in addition to getting back on top of my eating habits.

So my real question is: with such a small weight loss goal, is it going to hurt me that I don't have a scale? It is my first "diet" and I don't want to do it "wrong" and hurt myself in the long run.

 

 

Why don't you just buy some scales? They're not that expensive.

Anyway, you're still a healthy weight.

Sorry, I didn't clarify. I'm kind of happy we never used scales in my house. I know I could just go buy a scale, but I am afraid that I would look at it 20 times a day, or still look at it even when I reached my goal and get stressed. And because I AM a healthy weight, I really don't want to be stressed about it. It is a personal goal, not something that is imperitive to my health, so it is really not an urgent thing. If I can, I'd like to avoid having one in my room. I just want to see if more experienced dieters think that it is essential that I have one.

Well I personally have one cuz I can't trust my eyes to judge properly! But if it's just a personal thing for yourself why not just go by how you look and how your clothes feel?

My family never had a scale either, I think its probably wise

I'm a college student also, and wanted to lose a little weight that I had put on last year (like you I'm still healthy but I just am used to being a bit smaller than the weight I had reached) and its looking like I'm going to need to start doing that again this year too haha. But I lost a good 3-5 lbs the first semester without using a scale. I weighed myself the day that I left and not again until thanksgiving break. we have a scale in the gym, but I don't feel comfortable using it, so I don't. I went alot by how my clothes fit (although I realize this isn't always the best indicator) and basically just did my best to make good decisions and work out. I lost another 3-4 lbs the following semester, again not weighing myself for a good 4 months at a time. I think this system works well for me for a few reasons. I, like you, do not want to get a scale for my apartment. It would drive me up a wall. I know I would weigh myself when I shouldn't-days after drinking and eating pizza, after downing some ice cream while stressing for a test-and so on and get upset by it. Also, this way gives me plenty of time to lose the extra weight. when you are already healthy, it takes awhile to lose 5 lbs. Now I have until thanksgiving to get back to my 110 goal. I like that thought. It gives me room to have fun, mess up every now and then, but basically make good decisions for the next months, and hopefully see the scale go down. I can usually feel extra weight on myself. So it can be done. Also counting calories helped me a ton the second semester, you can basically make sure you lose weight/do not gain weight. Good luck!

You can give blood every 8 weeks and they will weigh you for free! Give and Get!

No way! I have lost an entire amount of weight this way. I still to this day don't have a scale. I simply go on how I look and feel. I have always done that. Plus if I have aton of sodium one day I wont know that I retained water and added a couple pounds, if I don't know I gained the weight then theres nothing to be depressed about! ahah.

Original Post by darkbeam:

No way! I have lost an entire amount of weight this way. I still to this day don't have a scale. I simply go on how I look and feel. I have always done that. Plus if I have aton of sodium one day I wont know that I retained water and added a couple pounds, if I don't know I gained the weight then theres nothing to be depressed about! ahah.

good point!

You're not supposed to weigh yourself everyday (daily weight naturally fluctuates) but instead by regular intervals. For some a weekly weigh-in is best, for others like you every six months may be best.  Ask around campus though, there must be a scale somewhere.

Original Post by sixb:

You're not supposed to weigh yourself everyday

Says who?  It all depends on your personality.  I prefer to weigh daily because it evens out the fluctuations.  If I weighed once a week and was fluctuating up on weigh-in day of one week and fluctuation down on weigh-in day of another, it would annoy me.  And I'm by no means alone in feeling that way.  If people want to weigh weekly, monthly or never, then that's fine - but there's nothing wrong with weighing daily.

To the OP, just go by how your clothes fit and you'll be fine.

I didn't read all of the replys so I hope I'm not repeating something already said. But I had an ED when I was younger so I still avoid the scale because those numbers can make me obsess over the number as opposed to how I fit in my clothes. You don't have to have a scale, just eat healthy, stop when you are full and pay attention to what you are putting in your mouth. Stay out of the mirror too. You can base your success on the way your clothes fit and as a menstrating female you are probably going to have 'thin and fat days', as I like to call them. I too am within a normal weight but tend to fluctuate 10 lbs throughout the yr. I'm always trying to get back to the smaller end of the spectrum for me and sometimes if it's Christmas etc. it's just not going to happen, other times I can diet & lose w/o even thnking about it. If you don't want to use a scale, then don't.

I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for. I'm just saying you don't have to have a scale to lose weight!! Although the downfall to not having a scale is there are times when I just feel fat and then go and eat a bunch of bad crap because in my mind I'm fat again anyway, then come to find out I hadn't actually gained anything. It was just me feeling fat that day. Make sense?

If a daily weigh-in seems healthy to you then hey more power to you, but its really not healthy for most people to so fixate on their daily weight. Probably better to throw the scale away all together.

Is there a nurse's station at the college?  Go in once a month and ask if you can use their scale.  I am sure that they won't mind.
I weigh myself about once a week on my Wii.  I would never do it everyday because it is sort of a pita to have to set everything up all of the time.

Since you don't have a lot to lose, and you feel motivated enough to eat right and exercise, I say don't bother with the scales.

 

It's a double edged sword: scales can give you a good tool to measure how you are doing (doing some averaging!), or damage you self-esteem if you get upset about day-to-day fluctuations.

 

You know what? My opinion is not to get scales. Not because ignorance is bliss, but you're not in bad shape. Enjoy your youth, and let your clothes be your guide.