Number Snobs!

I've been reading a lot of posts about numbers. 

• I'm a size THIS and I want to be a size THAT
• I weigh THIS and I want to weight THAT

I think the numbers are meaningless, unless they are numbers on a measuring tape.   Accordingly, the image in your mirror (the picture!) is worth a thousand.........numbers. ;)

I think the number 'snobs' would benefit tremendously if they worried more about what they look like and how they feel, rather than some potentially bogus number.

The measuring tape does not lie -- and neither does the mirror (OR your significant other... maybe... ahahah)

Thoughts???

mary

I'm a number snob.

It comes from a very very deep rooted issue from when I was a kid and having to do with my mom.  

You're right...the measuring tape doesn't lie, but when you look into the mirror and you don't see what is depicted there....it doesn't help.  The measuring tape is simply another number...what's a 19" waist...a 22" waist...a 36" waist...when it comes right down to it...they're numbers too...just not on a scale and not on a pair of jeans. 

I do worry about what I look like and how I feel...mostly though...what i look like...but I don't look the same to me as I would look to you.

 

While I agree that the benefits of eating healthier and getting regular exercise manifest themselves in far more important ways than numbers, I think the term "snob" might not be so accurate.

I don't think people are being so high and mighty about it (as the word "snob" denotes), but some have a tendency to focus on them instead of the big picture, more out of habit than anything else, probably.

just my .02  :-)

I agree! I'm about to just throw out my scale! It's all about how you feel, how you look in your clothes, and I for one would love to get away from the numbers. They are driving me crazy!

I can't seem to push past 129 lbs and I was working so hard to get the number on the scale to go down that I was hyperfocused on it. Couldn't think of anything else. Now, I'm like "Why the heck am I trying so hard to lose ten lbs that my body obviously doesn't want to give up?" I'm at a perfectly good weight. My BMI is like 21.6, which is great.  Forget the numbers, the name of this game is health and longevity, right?! I'm ready to focus on new goals, healthy goals.

I think the mirror DOES lie. 

I look in the mirror every day and I still see the bulges all in the same places even though I have lost some weight.  I measure myself and see the numbers changing, I weigh myself and see those numbers changing but I can't see those changes in the mirror.

My dh sees them.  My friends and family see them, I see them when I wear some clothes but not all.  I definitely don't see them when I'm naked in front of my mirror.

I am not a number snob, just a person trying to lose weight and track the progress I'm making even though my mind still sees the same me.

I weighed 287 (probably more because that's when I stopped weighing myself) and I want to weigh 135-140.  I honestly don't know what size I want to be because I've never been that weight.

i dont think you should calls those people "number snobs". i find it very rude.

I agree with you.  I used to be all wrapped up in how much I weigh and what the scale says, but I know that it is not a true measure of my fitness, health, or how I look.  I still weigh myself, but don't really rely on it too often.  When I don't see the scale budge or if it starts creeping back up I will pull out the tape and take some measurements. 

When I first started this journey of mine I actually gained weight (from all the weight lifting).  Then I dropped about 5 pounds and was stuck there for several weeks.  The whole time I was shrinking though.  I weigh maybe 8 pounds less then when I started, but I have lost a little over two inches off my waist alone.  To me that feels better then to see the number on the scale move down.

I hear ya!    Afterall, a shytty body image is mostly what brings us all together here, if not a health issue (for the morbidly obese.)

But, I will respectfully disagree that the measuring tape is just another number.

The scale (especially for women) can indicate a weight gain of up to 5# on any given day and in reality, it's just water ... or who the HAIL knows what?!    It's not real.

The measuring tape is a constant.  It tells you what SIZE you are; if you really have lost or gained.

The point I'm trying to make is ........ many people start their day either very happy OR depressed, depending on what that mechanical thAng says ... and it is more often than not, a big fat lie.

Make sense?!    *.-

~mary

I am a big number snob. My 1st goal is based on dropping a whole pant size by Thanksgiving. We all have to find a way to measure our goals. Some with the tape, some with the scale, and others with size. What does it matter how we measure as long as we are all making the best choices we can to meet the goals we have for ourselves.

Good luck with all your goals.

i dont think you should calls those people "number snobs". i find it very rude.

I think you need to lighten up.  It's not all about you or your bad mood today (or is that....... a lack of a sense of humor?)  Go have a fat-free fudge bar or somethin', k?
:)

I think the mirror DOES lie. 

I look in the mirror every day and I still see the bulges all in the same places even though I have lost some weight.  I measure myself and see the numbers changing, I weigh myself and see those numbers changing but I can't see those changes in the mirror.

Has it occurred to you, that if you're not able to see the changes yourself, that you may be in some psychological turmoil? I mean .. you're either smaller or you aren't.  And if you are (as you say you are) and if you cannot see it in the mirror, there are other issues, IMO.   Why can't you celebrate your obvious success?

 dont think you should calls those people "number snobs". i find it very rude.


I think you need to lighten up.  It's not all about you or your bad mood today (or is that....... a lack of a sense of humor?)  Go have a fat-free fudge bar or somethin', k?
:)

Go have a fat free fudge bar???? I dont need fat free things at 5'8 and 110lbs k thanks :).Im not here to lose weight im here to maintain. Btw i dont have a bad mood, i just find it rude that you call these types of people snobs.

My doctor said I was obese when I weighed 200# on his scale.  He didn't say, "ok, since your hips are xx inches around, you are in the category of obese.

That's why I'm watching the scale, since my doctor goes by that and the whole purpose of this new lifestyle for me is to be healthier.

I'm due to get a new drivers license soon.  Unfortunately the BMV also asks my weight, not inches.  This yr I won't be embarrassed to state my weight as opposed to previous yrs, when I leaned over the counter and whispered it.

There are times when you just need to know the weight. 

But I understand what you're saying and think 'pounds' is just more commonly used. 

Original Post by marymarymary:

I think the mirror DOES lie. 

I look in the mirror every day and I still see the bulges all in the same places even though I have lost some weight.  I measure myself and see the numbers changing, I weigh myself and see those numbers changing but I can't see those changes in the mirror.

Has it occurred to you, that if you're not able to see the changes yourself, that you may be in some psychological turmoil? I mean .. you're either smaller or you aren't.  And if you are (as you say you are) and if you cannot see it in the mirror, there are other issues, IMO.   Why can't you celebrate your obvious success?

 

Nope, that has never occured to me.  What has occured to me is that you want people to agree that people who watch the scale number are snobs or not post a disagreement. 

I never said I didn't celebrate.  I celebrate everytime my SCALE tells me I've achieved a particular NUMBER.  I have learned to realize what will make my scale show a false gain.  Not everyone here at CC is at terms with that.  I do not discount their emotions over a scale reading nor will I label it.

I find it funny that you boast the measuring tape as constant.  Do you mark the exact spot on your body that you measure.  Who is to say the tape didn't slip slightly up or down and gave you a false number because of that?  Mismeasuring.  How can one be sure you are measuring the EXACT same spot each and every time and that the tape is perfectly aligned on your backsides?

Hence, my use of different gauges.  If tapes work for you then that is great.  If scales work for others then that is great too.

I'm a huge number snob. 

I'm a snob about the numbers my doctor sent me - like my 73 HDL and 72 LDL, for example. 

I'm a snob about the number of miles I can run without stopping, or the number of miles I cycle to work each week.

I'm a snob about the number of pushups I can do now after tearing a ligament in my elbow.

I'm a snob about aiming for 18% body fat, doing everything I can to work towards that goal. 

And most of all I'm a snob about the number of pounds that I have lost, about the size that I wear now.  None of my numbers lie to me, and I'm proud of every one of them. 

Oh yeah, and why is it that the rule of thumb for many a professions is measure twice and cut once...because of how easy it is to mismeasure something.

Pandajenn...I guess we're all some sort of snob!  LMAO! 

I'm a huge number snob.  I can look at my own pictures to see that I'm changing, but numbers help me to set goals and work towards accomplishing them.  I get a sense of satisfaction when I set a goal and then reach it.  I have several spreadsheets I use to track my weight, spot trends, and even validate the data that I've entered.  I guess that makes me sort of a number pimp?

Seriously, there's nothing wrong with setting a tangible accomplishment as long as it's a healthy one.  My goal is 160 and I'm currently at 168.  Am I a failure because I haven't reached 160 yet?  NO!  I'm feeling really good about the progress I've made.  It's just a number that I'm working towards.

Go have a fat free fudge bar???? I dont need fat free things at 5'8 and 110lbs k thanks :).Im not here to lose weight im here to maintain. Btw i dont have a bad mood, i just find it rude that you call these types of people snobs.




Great! Then I stand by my second suggestion that you need to get a sense of humor.  To quote Madonna ... I'm not your b*tch - don't hang your **** on me.

;-D

I find it funny that you boast the measuring tape as constant.  Do you mark the exact spot on your body that you measure.  Who is to say the tape didn't slip slightly up or down and gave you a false number because of that?  Mismeasuring.  How can one be sure you are measuring the EXACT same spot each and every time and that the tape is perfectly aligned on your backsides?

Um .. because I'm adept and I can tell by measuring CLOTHING that matches my arse and waist.  Too simple an answer for you?

Pandajenn...I guess we're all some sort of snob!  LMAO! 

Indeed!  Some of us are ...... logical.  ;-p

Sorry mary but you are no one to tell me what to do :).