Bathroom scales

[Lovehaterelationshipwiththeschoolholidays]

Are they a help or hindrance when trying to lose weight?

I’ve never had them in the house before and preferred just seeing the results in the way clothes fit/the way I looked. However, I’ve stuck quite rigorously to MyFitnessPal and a set amount of calories for 6 weeks now and can’t feel any results, should I get some scales? Is it good motivation or will it make me too obsessive about it all?

Get the bathroom scales

you will never know how you are progressing if you don’t weigh yourself

@Kittynoodle I was hoping I’d feel it in my clothes

Yes you might but there’s nothing quite like the feeling when you see that number go down 😁

get them. For almost 2 years I was going on "feel" scared to step on scales. Weighing myself gave me a reality check and I am not 21lb down. Good luck!

I weight myself every morning and never found it problematic. I record daily weight and track weekly averages (because daily weight fluctuates a lot) and then look at trends over time to see if I need to adjust my daily calories up or down.

Definitely get the scales if you are serious about wanting to lose weight & keep track. I think getting weighed even if just weekly helps keep you on track and helps you check if what you are doing is actually working. If after 6 weeks in a deficit there is no weight loss then it may be that you aren’t actually in the deficit you think you are and once you know that you can make changes to get things going.

It is lovely when you start to notice changes physically and in your clothes but that can take longer. I personally find that getting weighed gives you an idea of how things are going and allows you to know if what you are doing is actually working or not.

So, I've lost quite a lot of weight in the last 2 years and my feeling is that scales are essential but you shouldn't be glued to them.

I try and stick to monthly where possible but fortnightly at most. There are so many things that can impact your weight on a day to day basis and it can be really demotivating to stand on the scales after a week of effort to see no difference when really, you have lost weight, you're just a bit bloated that day or ate denser food the day before. If you're expecting to have lost 1-2lbs fat in a week, there are any number of things that can mask that on the scales but combining a few weeks of effort will show up better. If you get to a few weeks of effort that should cumulatively add up to 6-7lbs of loss and you're not seeing it, THEN you know somethings off in your plan.

Also, everyone puts on weight in different areas and it tends to come off in the reverse order or where it went on. Before I had the scales, I was going by my clothes like you. I was probably much heavier than you so it was quicker to see results. I went through a period where I was still doing well in terms of eating and exercise but I wasn't getting down to the next shirt size. I didn't know why until I put on a pair of cowboy boots for a theme night that had been in a cupboard for years. They were falling off me. That's when I realised how much weight had come off my legs (calves in particular) and my arms that I wasn't noticing. I got scales after that.

EDIT: I should have said, there's nothing wrong with weighing yourself weekly as long as you're not likely to lose motivation and go the opposite way if you don't see exactly what you hoped to see.