Does your scale have too much power over you????

I wanted to share a little trick I accidentally discovered while vacationing in Mexico over Christmas.  In the hotel we were in there was a scale in the bathroom- I decided to get on it knowing that after the holidays I would be so bummed at the number and it would probably ruin my day- I can be self destructive that way.

Funny thing happened, the scale was in kilograms. I had no idea what that number meant when I stepped on the scale (although I resisted the urge to find a calculator and convert to lbs).  It was really freeing- no judgment, no self loathing, just a number that said how much I weighed. After a week the number went down a bit and I thought "well, I'm going in the right direction".

When I got back I looked at the back of my bathroom scale and discovered a little switch that changes the readings to kg's.  I switched it and I've never switched it back. I signed up for cc and listed my weight in kg's and I've been tracking it that way since.

I've found a few good reasons to list my weight in kg's

1) There's not all the emotional baggage wrapped around that number, like "I remember when I weighed x pounds and now I weigh xx pounds and I hate myself."  It's just a non judgmental reading of how much you weigh...no psychological baggage attached.

2) 2.2 pound equals 1 kg. Which means moving in either direction is slower. Which is good because you don't see dramatic changes in numbers if you have a bad weekend and eat too much. The flip side is it does feel like the numbers going down are small (last week I lost .4 kg) BUT, that slowness does fit well with cc's philosophy that less speedy weight loss yields more permanent loss.

3) The most important thing is the direction, as long as it's going down that's what you need to care about.

If you decide to do this RESIST the urge to convert your weight to lb's, at least for a little bit, I think it defeats the purpose and gets your mind back on that number that seems to be so psychologically powerful.

Maybe this helps someone- try it and see!

That sounds like a really good idea for those of us who weigh in lbs.

This sounds like a good idea! I'm totally gonna try it for a week. lol Thanks!

That's very interesting.  You are correct though, in terms of emotional baggage.  I mean, there is so much throwing of numbers around, over 200 being "huge" and under 100 being "slim" etc etc.  When we don't have those numbers engrained into us, it goes a lot smoother.  Its something I will think about doing.

Funny! I accidentally bought a scale that was only in kilograms, but I returned it for one with pounds. Maybe I shouldn't have done that! 

That sounds like a really good idea - especially for me. My self worth is determined by that number on the scale. Doesn't matter how much my family cares about me, how much my boyfriend loves me, how many wonderful friends I have - what I'm worth comes from that number on the scale. I guess when you've struggled with your weight your entire life and finally start to get a hand on it, it just becomes part of the emotional baggage.

I notice it a lot on these forums, the pounds number is central to people's postings.  Now I realize that you have to have some form of measuring to determine if you're being successful, but those pound readings seem to hold so much power over people.

Doesn't it feel different when you get on the scale and it says, say 202 versus 198 or 161 versus 159? It's only a few pounds difference yet it can determine the way you feel for the rest of the day. Now think about it if you weighed in kilograms, it would be 91.8 kgs versus 90 kgs (no big deal!) or 73.2 kgs versus 72.2 kgs...just a number, going down which is the direction you want to go, but no emotional baggage to sabotage all your hard work.

what a thoughtful post. thank you.

I really don't get caught up in the numbers game.  I don't own a scale and rely on the Wii Fit body test once a week to determine my weight.  I only do this once a week b/c weight fluctuates too much throughout the course of a day to be accurate.  I gauge my progress on the way I feel and the way my clothes fit.  Whatever works to help you and others putting too much stock in the numbers, go for it! 

it is so easy to get caught up in numbers ~ that is why i am here, lol.

when i triage a patient ~ if they are my height i am always checking out their weight to compare it to mine ~

i just am always wondering if my numbers are normal...