Question for my readers -- do you own a scale? (i understand if some of you find that a question way too personal to answer.)
if you feel like it, can you answer any or all of these questions:
how often do you weigh yourself?
do you keep throwing scales out and then buying new ones? and throwing them out and ...
do you wish to live a life without a scale?
what role does the scale have in your life?
what do you imagine happening if you didn't have a scale?
If you have any other thoughts about THE SCALE (it looms large doesn't it? well, at least for me), please send them along.
Thanks, guys. well, actually i think you're pretty much all gals
I own two scales, a digital and a dial one. I weigh myself first thing in the am after peeing and before I go to bed, sometimes in between during the day usually after a purge. I am guilty of throwing scales out or giving them away, only to just buy more or weigh myself at friends or work or gym. I wish I could live without my intense worship and dependence of the scale. I am def OCD when it come to my scale. That I wish I could live without
ReplyDeleteYes I own a scale.... it's incredibly ancient and unreliable though.
ReplyDeleteHmmm I weigh myself randomly, sometimes not for months, sometimes once a week if I have discovered I was huge and I'm on a little diet. I weighed myself once a week on pharmacy scales when I was having my short lived bout of starvation.. (I got a little print out and everything!)
I revel in the fact that our scales are as old as me, so that when they say 'you are HUGE Abi' I can pretend they are wildly inaccurate. So I don't buy new ones.
I can live a life without a scale, one day it just happened, I can leave them behind the bath for years....
If I didn't have a scale I would be in the same position as now, as I'd probably sneak a go on the mother in law's to check every now and then...
I'm very lucky to be so easy going about it all and I know it.
I've always been more of a visual girl - I watch my flab shrink in a mirror. Or rather not shrink *prods thigh-flab annoyedly*
This is a loaded topic for me....sigh
ReplyDeletehow often do you weigh yourself? I have widdled it down to about twice per week, my goal is never
do you keep throwing scales out and then buying new ones? and throwing them out and ...
no, but I keep having my husband hide it and unhide it. he is a daily weigher and it does not affect him the way it affects me.
do you wish to live a life without a scale? yes
what role does the scale have in your life? we have a love hate relationship, the scale and I. I mentally fight with myself EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING. about whether or not to step on.
what do you imagine happening if you didn't have a scale? gaining tons of weight
Well, I didn't think I owned a scale until my husband lost his wedding ring (this is before we split up) and I found a scale while looking for it. Ha. Since that find, I've weighed myself about once a week. It doesn't feel compulsive, and I do it on the days I have therapy so I can discuss if necessary. My only reason for weighing at all is because I need to gain weight, and I have a really hard time knowing where I'm at. I don't really believe the number matters all that much, and I know that one day, when I hit my goal, I don't want to weigh. Or, if I start getting weird or compulsive about it, the scale will go to the dumpster. It's a really individual thing. For years, I didn't step on a scale and I proclaimed their evils, but now I think, "It's just a number." But, I'm a way different, more logical and rational place with my anorexia... That's my two cents :)
ReplyDelete1986chick; i'd forgotten the part about weighing myself after purging. your response really moved me (i don't know if that's the right word.) it was very thought-provoking thank you.
ReplyDeleteAbi; ah, yes. the flab check. i used to sit on the toilet seat and compare the size of my belly to the last time on sat on the toilet seat. okay, i still do it sometimes. Yay, Ami -- a rarely used over-the-hill scale. you're my hero of the day
christie; gaining lots of weight. ain't that the kicker? that's what on my mind as i contemplate stepping off the scale.
thank you for your very honest reply. somehow, the relationship with the scale seems so private. sort of like the eating disorder itself.
kim; wow. that is centered. i really respect you and your process. i need to go back and read your early blog posts to see where you were a while ago.
ReplyDeletei so appreciate your two cents!
I H-A-T-E scales ... just hate 'em, each & every one of them!!
ReplyDelete... we have this digital scale which resides in the linen closet just b4 you enter the master bthRm, this fatometer has a mind of it's own & is full of surprises as it will never display the same weight twice in a row, sometimes I think it's just having fun with me ..
... the other calibrating BEAST is found in the mbr bthRm, under the sink, it's propped against the corner wall, just sitting and waiting, like a troll-in-hiding, ... this thing's ugly and heavy and the old dial-type (with the needle) AND it has lots of graduations/numbers which help me feel denser than I really am ... and why does it calibrate from "0" - who weighs ZERO???
... soooooooo, I avoid the daily weigh-in ... it's a better way to start my day.
dp
I own one. Back when I was on Weight Watchers, I hopped on it with glee once or twice a day. Although my weight was down, I feel like it wasn't healthy the way my happiness was still tied to that scale. Now the scale is sitting in the basement collecting dust. And I'm overweight. If I let myself think about it, I probably feel a bit scared (or angry!?) at the scale. I can't decide if getting it out is a healthy idea or an unhealthy one. Hmmm.... "food" for thought. (haha)
ReplyDeleteHere are my answers. I technically don't have an eating disorder, I never have. But as I get older (I'm 49) and realizing that the older I get the uglier and grosser I get, I think I'm developing ED traits.
ReplyDeletehow often do you weigh yourself? 3 or 4 times a day. I have two scales, a digital and a regular and I use both.
do you keep throwing scales out and then buying new ones? and throwing them out and ... No, I threw one out recently because it was old and I thought it was inaccurate, but the new one works just the same. That was the first time I had bought a new scale in many years.
do you wish to live a life without a scale? I can't imagine it.
what role does the scale have in your life? It keeps me on track, eating-wise, but it also controls my moods and my happiness.
what do you imagine happening if you didn't have a scale? I would become extremely obese.
I hate that my life revolves around the scale.
I weigh myself twice a day. I used to weigh myself ten times a day AT LEAST. The lighter I was, the happier I was. The more my ribs showed, the more heady I felt. I even know how much all my clothes weigh. However, I no longer let the figures rule my day. Because I exercise I have to accept an extra load with muscle. I may not be thin, but I have a good shape which is pleasing for me.
ReplyDeleteJumping on the scales is just a habit for me really, to keep the weight within a good range. Since exercising and become more aware of my body I just know when I have put on weight and respond with a change in food intake and exercise. Two kilograms up and I will just change what I am doing.
It has taken YEARS to not be so emotionally reactive to an increase or decrease.
I do not own a scale anymore. When I moved last time (almost 2 years ago now) I left my scale and my mirrors at my old apartment. I could not ever get myself to get rid of the damn thing so I just left it.
ReplyDeleteI used to weigh myself everytime I could and although I am still trying to battle through having an eating disorder.... I have made a lot of progress in that area and not having a scale has helped a lot.... no full length mirrors in my place either...
anonymous; i love the word "fatometer". the scale is a beast! avoiding the daily weigh in sounds like something i'd like to work on.
ReplyDeleteit is so weird to me that scales weigh differently. and that such a malfunctioning monster has so much control over my life and being. no one weighs zero...yet. seems like the gals in hollywood are trying.
Danielle Mari: from what i read on your blog, you have an incredibly full life and the ability to enjoy and celebrate. in my experience, a relationship with the scale never helps any of the above. in fact, it seems to take away all the joy. keep it in the basement.
Harriet; thank you for your honesty. i'm sorry that you're feel negatively about yourself. you write that you don't have an eating disorder. i wonder how you eat -- do you restrict, over-eat, eat well?
in a couple days, i'm going to write about getting off the scale. maybe you'll join me?
Linda: it feels like you've figured out a good relationship with food, yourself and your body. it works for you. that's pretty cool. i love your honesty.
anonymous; it's great that you don't own a scale. i applaud you for leaving it behind. that's not easy. not at all
battling an eating disorder is unspeakably hard. i'm sure you have made so much progress. we don't we give ourselves any credit for how f--ing hard it is!!!!!!! keep up the good work. i have great faith.
I own two scales, both digital. I weigh in the morning about once or twice a week on average. i may skip a week or two if i am feeling strong. At my worst i weighed several times a day and if i went overnight anywhere i took my scale with me.
ReplyDeletethe two scales are not the same.
i bought one after the other acted funny. Then i just kept both. i used to wiegh on both of them and compare but now i just use one.
when i was stepping on the scale multiple times a day, it was whole ritual. The direction the scale faced... and everything mattered. i have chilled some on all of that.
I have never thrown one out or even thought about it.
i dont want to live scale-less. or maybe i just can't even imagine what it would be like..so it seems like a silly goal. Like - i also wish i could fly, you know?
a lower number makes me feel happier. literally, i feel GIDDY and HAPPY. a higher one makes me sad and angry. I just have to not ACT ON THESE emotions. I am such a conditioned animal that even when i see the numbers i like in some other context like a time or speed or whatever i have a physical response of happiness. (wtf?? weird)
i have given up a lot of things, tiny sizes and fasting and si...i dont want to give this scale up.I can force myself to maintain a number i dont like, (i am doing it, dammit!!!) but i at least want to KNOW.
geez, i want to cry now. Thank you for making me think about this. I put off commenting bc I didnt want to think about it.
thankyou
s
I had a scale once ... it lied ... so I threw it out the window .... forgot window was not open - what a mess, glass everywhere ... stupid scale landed on the roof of my rental car and broke the sunroof - more headaches .... i've been "scale shocked" ever since and never bought another, no-scale no more trouble for me.
ReplyDelete-joie
shawna; i know this is really hard to think about and to write about. thank YOU. what you wrote was so insightful and so moving.
ReplyDeletethe power of the scale still blows my mind. i think of your talent and your work and i think of my hopes and dreams. and yet -- a low number = happy. a high number -- devastation.
i've never traveled with a scale. i travel a lot for business. not having a scale makes it easier. and harder. i spend way too much time wondering how i'm eating effects how much i'll be weighing at home.
i know we can't imagine a life without a scale.
anonymous; i like that. no-scale no more trouble for me. i'm going to remember that.
Just wanted to let you know that I answered your question about intuitive eating on my blog.
ReplyDeletethanks, Christie. I'll check it in a few minutes. It's so nice to blogger friends, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteI owned a scale and weighed myself daily, then weekly, until January. After going for a few weeks without it, I developed a fear of knowing the dread number. I haven't weighed myself since then.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved last month I chucked it in the dumpster. Small moment, but satisfying.
I have 2 scales, the one I perma-glued the needle at the 124 mark ... this scale never disappoints me ... the other scale ... it's just a continuous source of disappointment - therefore it spends a lot of time in the guest closet ... at the moment this works for me -daria
ReplyDeletelisa; i think it was a big moment. i need to detach myself from mine. for me, it's punishing tool. it drives me crazy that i'm afraid of this ridiculous thing.
ReplyDeleteanonymous. i love you
I do not own a scale. Last time I weighed myself was at the guys house that I was seeing. I was fine with the numbers. At this time I have no clue how much I weigh. I'm ok with the image in the mirror, even though I look way worse than I did five years ago. I just don't look that hard. I don't know what I weigh.
ReplyDeleteNor do I care. I just don't have that kind of time. Love you, girl.
karen; you're a genius. i'm going to get off the damn scale. it's at the top of my bucket list. i just learned how to ride a bike, i'm going to learn to drive a stick shift.
ReplyDeleteby the way, you look so beautiful now. if you looked better five years ago, even angelina jolie would have refused to stand next to you.
love you too!
my topic... yes, i own a scale. and i weigh myself dayly - except the days i'm strong enough to resist, and except the days, my lover hides it well enough. he is soooooooooo sick of letting this damn thing rule my moods, my days, even our relationship or my (im)patience with my son, the quality of my work, nearly everything... *shudder* i think i'd better stop thinking about it, it's so depressing...
ReplyDeletei love your blog!