Scales - Don't Let Them Wreck the Day

by Jacki Donaldson (Subscribe to Jacki Donaldson's posts)
Jan 2nd 2009 5:00PM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Motivation

I have a scale. Never used to, until I lost some weight and determined I wanted to keep it off. Now, I keep a scale in my bathroom. And I'm one of 12 percent of women who weigh themselves daily. Twenty-four percent do it weekly. And 27 percent do it monthly, according to Good Housekeeping magazine and Geneen Roth's January 2009 column Fat ... or Fiction?

Roth thinks we women shouldn't weigh ourselves so much, and she shares in her column a story of a woman who was one day pretty proud of her body, her svelteness, her flat stomach. Then she stepped on a scale and realized her weight had climbed seven pounds. Instantly, she was depressed. Her body looked no different than it had earlier in the day, when she felt all thin and trim. The only thing that had changed were the numbers staring back her from a lifeless machine. Later in the day, this woman learned that the scale she'd stepped on was off by seven pounds. She hadn't gained any weight, after all. Instead, she'd lost a pound. She was suddenly happy again.

Herein lies the problem, says Roth: We let the scale determine whether we have a good day or a bad day, whether we allow ourselves joy or not. Scales shouldn't have this power. We should. Step off the scales, ladies, and let your body drive your self-worth. If you feel good, then go with it. No validation needed.

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Comments (2)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

u262f 1-02-2009 @ 11:44PM

The scale isn't the villain here. For example, just because some clumsy, careless children manage to poke their eyes out with a screwdriver doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with the screwdriver itself. The screwdriver -- and the scale -- are still great tools.

If someone feels happy or depressed only because of a readout on scale, then he or she probably needs a therapist or doctor. Getting rid of the scale would only hide the symptom and won't fix the underlying psychological / emotional / self-esteem problem or eating disorder. Maybe some such people would be helped by avoiding scales entirely, but others might be helped more if they use the scale so much that they become emotionally desensitized to the numbers.

I don't let the scale determine whether I have a good day or a bad day. I record the numbers into a file for future reference, but they have no effect on my mood. I have enough intelligence and self-esteem that the numbers only help me, whether they go up or down. I believe that weighing myself multiple times per day was part of what helped my subconscious understand what it needed to lose weight and keep it off.

I believe that Roth's story is exaggerated and based on bad, sexist stereotypes. I don't think many women would be so irrational and emotionally unstable that they would let a scale influence their mood and self-worth so much. I don't think it's healthy for Roth to spread random anecdotes that teach others to fear the scale. I completely agree with the message that people shouldn't let scales control their mood and ruin their day. I disagree with Roth that staying off the scale is solution for it. Just because we step on a scale doesn't mean we have to give it control over our emotional well-being.

Mel 1-04-2009 @ 8:16AM

I weigh myself daily. I think that it helps me see how what I did and ate, or didn't do, the day before effects my body. If I binge on sweets and fatty foods, then I feel gross and bloated- and the scale confirms this. If I workout and eat well- the scale confirms this too. It also shows me that on days when I workout and have a treat, there is no harm done. I like weighing myself. I see the results immediatly from one day of over doing it, and get back on track the next morning- instead of eating poorly and skipping the gym for a week or two and then wondering why I have put on 5 lbs.