From skwigg's journal:
Stepping on the scale is a form of body checking, would you agree? I had that thought today while NOT stepping on the scale, not staring in the mirror, not pinching fat, or pulling on tight clothes "to see." I understood that the other behaviors were feeling quite negative and disordered, but the scale, that's science! How is it really any different though? They're all a pass/fail judgment about whether you're "ok" or "not ok." Then, if you pass your body check test, you celebrate by eating more. If you fail your body check test, you punish yourself by eating more. Maybe it's obvious and immediate. Or maybe it's a subtle accumulation of extras over the course of the week.
I was very afraid for a very long time that if I didn't weigh myself daily I would gain weight, or certainly never lose. In the past, any time I quit weighing myself, I "gave up" and overate myself into a substantial gain. So, I associated staying off the scale with gain, because logic, duh. It wasn't the lack of a scale causing me to store body fat though, it was unattuned eating, meaning eating whatever I want, but with zero regard for hunger, fullness, or how the food made me feel. I was routinely too full, not at all hungry when I started eating, eating because it was there, eating because it was time, and eating until I felt sick. Of course that resulted in weight gain. So, I guess I'd been using the scale as a body check to temporarily put the brakes on eating like an idiot. Without it, there were no brakes, or so I told myself.
Here's the thing though. What if you eat the same way every day regardless of whether there's a scale or pass/fail? If the scale is up, I'm still going to eat meals when physically hungry. If the scale is down, I'm still going to stop eating when I'm totally satisfied. If there is no scale, I'm still going to slow down and eat mindfully, move in ways I genuinely enjoy, question painful thoughts, meet my needs for sleep, fun, and stress relief. It's the behaviors that matter, not numbers. If you're treating yourself well no matter what, you're not going to spiral into endless weight gain. You may even...wait for it...get leaner or maintain easily because you're no longer overeating in response to random numbers. You're enjoying your food and actually giving your body what it needs to thrive every day.
I guess that's my public service announcement today. LOL Any thoughts? What happens when you weigh or don't weigh? What do you tell yourself?