Weighing yourself everyday vs once a week (quitting smoking, carbs, running)
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If you have a 2 story house, go up and down the steps a bunch of times. If you have a bicycle, get a bike trainer so you can ride it indoors. Or just wake up at 5 or 6 am and exercise in the morning. You may not like the early wake up call but it's totally worth it. There are some workouts available in Women's Health website that don't require much equipment, some don't require equipment at all! so you can start doing some exercise even if it's hot outside. Of course you can join a local gym - check to see if their rates fit your buget. Some also provide a pool which is great exercise.
If you have a 2 story house, go up and down the steps a bunch of times. If you have a bicycle, get a bike trainer so you can ride it indoors. Or just wake up at 5 or 6 am and exercise in the morning. You may not like the early wake up call but it's totally worth it. There are some workouts available in Women's Health website that don't require much equipment, some don't require equipment at all! so you can start doing some exercise even if it's hot outside. Of course you can join a local gym - check to see if their rates fit your buget. Some also provide a pool which is great exercise.
Thanks, Houston. Decided against that other pill. Ate some more turkey meatloaf. I guess I'm doing the Atkins diet without realizing it. One story house, but I promise tomorrow I am going to get MOVING. I have someone coming on Friday and my goal is to have this place presentable, which involves quite a bit of work - moving stuff around, etc. Housework can really burn calories! I have to sweep, mop floors, scrub floors on hands and knees, wash windows, lift boxes, all sorts of stuff, so that will help.
I say avoid the scale altogether!! If you are working out, the best way to determine your success is by the RESULTS of your workout routine. For example. If you run 5k every day, time yourself. If you see that you are constantly improving your time, then you are getting better. If you are doing resistance training, log your reps and weight. If you notice the reps and/or weight going higher, then you are getting better.
Its also a LOT more motivating this way. Its like everyday you exercise you aiming for a new "world record". If you dont break your previous record, so what, you just worked out hard which is good for you.
The only people who should be sooooooo worried about their weight were they need to step on the scale every day or even weekly, are ballet dancers and boxer/fighters because they MUST be at a certain weight. Other folks should focus more on performance and how clothes fit.
Just as another poster said, sounds like you are not at all fully committed to losing weight/getting healthy if you are so worried about what the scale says.
While I agree that you should focus on workout goals as well, I really fail to see the logic in advising her to avoid the scale when she is mainly concerned about weight loss. Getting her off the scale leaves her with nothing but subjective views and guesstimates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxxedoutbrattpower
Why bother? Your weight isn't going to radically shift from day to day.
I know conventional wisdom says once a week. However, I am afraid I am going to slack off and cheat if I only weigh myself once a week. However, I am afraid to weigh myself daily because I might get discouraged if I see fluctuations. Any advice? I really need to see that scale go down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mistygrl092
Thank you all, but I broke down and weighed myself again and I've only lost 6.6 lbs for the month.
I can't walk in this durn heat unless I go really early in the a.m. and, let's face it, walking is really boring where I live. In my former life I had an exciting city in which to walk. Now I live in boring suburbia. I could go to the park and dodge sprinklers at 6 a.m., but that isn't any fun. I guess when I am so down it's really hard to exercise. I know I need to, but for right now I'm just focused on not eating and losing weight. I know I'm doing the wrong things. I've only eaten a 3 x 3 piece of turkey meatloaf today. I know starvation mode is NOT the way to go. I am on two medications that are supposed to suppress appetite and maybe they're working a little, but they are making me depressed. I'll eat something tonight. Has anyone ever been hungry but you just don't feel like eating? Nothing appeals to me. That's where I'm at. Everything seems like too much work.
I lived on frozen dinners for six months last year. Don't have anymore. Anyway, my Dr. gave me some Adderall (for legitimate reasons) and I'm doing an experiment today to see if taking one more pill will help. Lots of days I take one less pill than I can. I'm trying to find what works.
Well, I won't write a novel. Even moving to do some housework would burn some calories. Think I'll go do that. I figured that even if I only lose 6.6 lbs per month that's 79.2 lbs per year and I'll be back down to where I was before. A whole year...sigh. September will be a better month in the weight loss category. Oh, and I'm going to weigh myself every day and write it down.
You came and asked for advice. You got the advice from several people. Some said, "Weigh", some said, "Don't weigh".
Confusing, I know, but let's face it, you're going to do what you want to do anyway. But your weight loss won't happen until and unless you make it happen. That means commitment to proper eating and regular exercise. Neither of which you seem inclined to do just now.
I've weighed myself everyday for the past 5 years(ok, I've missed a week or so here and there)... and kept track. I have a huge excel sheet full of all the data, and what I was eating at the time.
I'm a bit of a nerd, and professional analyst, but its nice to see all of my info in graphs and charts trending for so long.
Day to day, you weight doesnt make much sense, but when you see a trend going up or down, it tells a story. One main one it told me is Gym + not watching what I'm eating = quickly gaining weight. Starving myself = quick loss, quick gain. Cutting out sugar and limiting grain = steady decline
I discussed this with my doctor on my last visit and he suggested only once per week and I agree with him. For a while after my surgery, I was weighing myself several times per day, but that was mostly because of how the weight just fell off. After a while, though, it turned into an addiction and as it slowed down, I would get depressed and try to lose more weight, which can be unhealthy when you have the ability to nearly shut down all eating without much effort. I still sometimes cheat, but I try to do it only once per week. The other times are usually on days when I'm feeling a little extra heavy and worry that I gained too much, which is rarely the case. Definitely do it at the same time and under the same circumstances, though. I prefer right after waking up and draining your fluids..
BTW, the OP needs to overcome the "it's too hot to workout" thing. I know that's hard, especially when you're overweight, but you have to overcome it and keep increasing the level.
While I agree that you should focus on workout goals as well, I really fail to see the logic in advising her to avoid the scale when she is mainly concerned about weight loss. Getting her off the scale leaves her with nothing but subjective views and guesstimates.
She mentioned that she would get discouraged if there are any fluctuations which means she'll probably also get discouraged if results arent happening fast enough. This is a common area of discouragement among women starting out. This is why I suggest avoiding the scale altogether. Sure most people wanting to lose weight initially may want to do it for vanity purposes (i.e., "I hate being fat and unattractive"), but when their mindset goes from wanting to lose weight to wanting to be HEALTHY the success rate (IMO) goes waaaaaaay up. Paying more attention to performance instead of weight loss has always seemed to not only increase motivation, but also having daily teeny tiny goals (i.e., run 5k 10 seconds faster today than yesterday, or do 11 reps instead of 9 reps...., etc.) does wonders for the mind/body, but also a persons spirit.
The great byproduct of this type of thinking is that while being focused on performance, the weight seems to come off at a much faster rate.
She mentioned that she would get discouraged if there are any fluctuations which means she'll probably also get discouraged if results arent happening fast enough. This is a common area of discouragement among women starting out. This is why I suggest avoiding the scale altogether. Sure most people wanting to lose weight initially may want to do it for vanity purposes (i.e., "I hate being fat and unattractive"), but when their mindset goes from wanting to lose weight to wanting to be HEALTHY the success rate (IMO) goes waaaaaaay up. Paying more attention to performance instead of weight loss has always seemed to not only increase motivation, but also having daily teeny tiny goals (i.e., run 5k 10 seconds faster today than yesterday, or do 11 reps instead of 9 reps...., etc.) does wonders for the mind/body, but also a persons spirit.
The great byproduct of this type of thinking is that while being focused on performance, the weight seems to come off at a much faster rate.
Ok, I can understand that logic. That said, I still have to disagree with the approach. Rather than advising her to avoid the scale because she might get discouraged, I think it would be much better to educate her on how to properly weigh herself to minimize variables and give her realistic expectations of how much weight loss she should expect.
You came and asked for advice. You got the advice from several people. Some said, "Weigh", some said, "Don't weigh".
Confusing, I know, but let's face it, you're going to do what you want to do anyway. But your weight loss won't happen until and unless you make it happen. That means commitment to proper eating and regular exercise. Neither of which you seem inclined to do just now.
I don't know why people keep saying this. I REALLY wanted a bowl of Ramen noodles and shrimp last night and said NO to myself. I weighed myself this a.m. and lost another 1.4 lbs, bringing the total for 29 days to 8.8 lbs. in a month. Just because I have not jumped on the elliptical YET doesn't mean I'm not sincere, but I really would like the opportunity to start a walking program first. I live in the desert, where temps have been between 108 and 112 every day recently. I am NOT going to walk in that. Heck, according to a poster in the Phoenix forum we have not seen a summer like this in forty years. It reached 117 the other day and there have been several heat advisories. I am not going to drop dead trying to get into shape.
BTW, people really do adjust their lives around the heat here. I go to bed usually before 9 (or like to) and I get up at 3 or 4 as it's not as hot. Workers really have a hard time (outdoors) and like to start as early as possible. This heat is brutal. Like I said, I think I'm doing the Atkins diet, except cheating with cream in my coffee. 8.8 lbs later it's working. I will take that loss anyway I can get it. It's a slow and sensible loss.
Last edited by mistygrl092; 09-02-2011 at 04:24 AM..
Reason: add thought
She mentioned that she would get discouraged if there are any fluctuations which means she'll probably also get discouraged if results arent happening fast enough. This is a common area of discouragement among women starting out. This is why I suggest avoiding the scale altogether. Sure most people wanting to lose weight initially may want to do it for vanity purposes (i.e., "I hate being fat and unattractive"), but when their mindset goes from wanting to lose weight to wanting to be HEALTHY the success rate (IMO) goes waaaaaaay up. Paying more attention to performance instead of weight loss has always seemed to not only increase motivation, but also having daily teeny tiny goals (i.e., run 5k 10 seconds faster today than yesterday, or do 11 reps instead of 9 reps...., etc.) does wonders for the mind/body, but also a persons spirit.
The great byproduct of this type of thinking is that while being focused on performance, the weight seems to come off at a much faster rate.
You do understand that when you weigh 194 at 5'4 inches you are not going to be running any 5k, right? It is always best to start out small and work your way up from there.
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