thebutterflyjournal's Journal, 28 May 18

Scales are a way of measuring and what this site uses. Measuring is better to my mind so I do that too 

I weigh but to be honest I started becoming obsessed with it and weighed so frequently at random times I could never tell if I was losing or gaining so now once a week is it! x 

Totally feel the same, but I mostly eyeball it every day, JUST GUESS, because your not going to meet someone who knows your weight! Go with the flow* I mean * Go with the feeling and Go with what you need and want!!!:) 

I'm trying to gain weight, I love seeing the numbers go up😂😂 

When I was eating less calories it upset my mood, so I try to stick to the daily allowance and exercise more. 

I weigh regularly because it's the ultimate guide as to how you are doing. Forget the NHS guidelines and set your own goal. If you are just eyeballing yourself every day it's just too subjective and depends on your mood, but a physical target gives you something solid to aim for. I'm guessing we are all here to lose weight, so set yourself a target and aim for it. 

I hate scales with a passion as I don't believe for me its healthy (mentally) to rely on them, I know this site uses weight as a measurement but I use this site to keep aware of my calorie intake and keep up with others in the same boat xx  

BTW, NHS guidelines say I should be as low as 8 and a half stones, but that is ridiculous. I was 7 and a half when I nearly died from Legionnaires disease and one stone more doesn't cut it. My ideal weight was always 12 stones but I'm now 11 and a half, but |I reckon another half stone loss will do it, my BMI is now healthy but I want to lose another half stone to get rid of that last bit of belly. I set a weight loss to achieve a target as I know another half stone will do the job. But at least I have a solid target to aim for now, not guesswork based on a mirror. 

weighing helps me show myself how far I've come and how well I've done. but I have no set weight, I just want to be happier with my size. 

I've just realised I left a word out of my comment which changed the meaning somewhat. I meant measuring with a tape - waist, etc - to get a better view of my progress. The weight is just a number to me, how my clothes fit and what size they are is more important. 

Agreed, but I have to quantify what I'm trying to achieve. Also, if you rely on looking in the mirror, you are leaving yourself open to all sorts of dangerous misinterpretations of how you look which can lead to incredibly serious illness. The scales keep me honest. 

I actually prefer to take measurements. These are more indicative of health anyway. Every one to two weeks I get the tape and measure bust, under boobs (chest), waist, tummy, hips, bum, thigh and bicep (upper arm). This is what you see if you are exercising and eating well .. then your weight might not change at all but your muscle areas like bum calf thigh and bicep will increase in diametre but tummy waist and bust will decrease ... so you know its muscle and your shape improves. Rather than get depressed around scales... which can be full of nonsense.  

But let's play devil's advocate here. How can a tape measure tell you more than scales? Surely you are just measuring yourself up to pre-conceived ideals in exactly the same way you do with a scale? If you are trying to put muscle on I would agree that a tape measure is as good as anything, but I was under the impression you were trying to lose weight? Scales really aren't nonsense, and I know people that have said the same as you because they are in denial about what the scales say. Either way, I hope it works for you. Good luck. 

So again throwing another idea what if the scales read 13stone which is still obese for my height but I was comfortable in the clothes side I'd be probs a 12/14? For me personally I'm always going to be wide set and I'm OK with that I genetically have wide hips, big bum and thighs so even if I was to reach my personal ideal clothes size I'd still be rated as obese by nhs standards.. So I do jump on the scales for health reasons but not necessarily to measure my weightloss as I know how in my head ideally want to look xxx 

If you're happy weighing 13 stones then that's fine, just set your target to 13 stones. It really is that simple, no one here is judging you so you don't have to explain yourself or your personal situation. But yes, you really should use the scales or what is the point of being here? And yes, I also said originally the NHS guidelines aren't necessarily the be all and end all, but you do need something to aim for rather than something as wishy washy and yet as potentially dangerous as the mirror. Set your target, be it getting into a size 14 or weighing 13 stones and aim for it. Either of them are a perfectly good target. Best of luck.