To Scale or Not to Scale, That is the Question

Today we are actually sitting down and writing a post together. A lot of our conversations lately have revolved around the scale and in order to fully satisfy our obsession, we've decided to give our input on the scale debate.

Crystal's View

I was obsessed with the scale. I probably talked to the scale, yelled at the scale and cried to the scale more than I did my close friends. I used to weigh myself once and often twice a day. The scale defined me and guided me and I felt I needed it. I needed to see that defining number to either tell me to be proud of myself for the hard work I did or to scold myself for my lack of will power. If I for some odd reason did not weigh myself I spent the entire day obsessing over the number that could have been. Wondering and guessing my weight, debating whether or not I should restrict my calories or indulge a little or step up my work outs or keep my same routine. 

Luckily for me, my obsession with the scale has decreased greatly in recent weeks. This last week I did not weigh for an entire week and guess what? It felt amazing! It was so liberating to be able to trust my own judgement and to know that I have all the tools that I need to continue to lose weight without needing to see a number. I weighed yesterday after my run and I was at 195.4. I couldn't be happier with the number I saw because I know I am still losing/maintaining. When I look in the mirror I see a happy, healthy, and hot Crystal and that's all that matters!

Nikki's View

Let's get this straight, the scale has never been my friend. I've gone for months without stepping on to weighing myself daily. What I've realized with both extremes is that while I do need to step on the scale to know my progress, I can still get a good feel of it by measuring myself or seeing how my clothes fit. 

The truth is, I know when I've been bad and when I've been good. The happy medium is probably different for every one but I've learned that mine is just two or three times a week. Alex and I do our competition weigh in on Fridays so on Mondays I'll weigh in to see how the weekend affected my progress. Sometimes, I'll weigh on Wednesday too, just to know if I really need to kick it up a notch.

Conclusion

Bottom line, weighing yourself is a great tool for staying on track, but don't obsess over it. Find YOUR happy medium.

To further test our theories, Crystal is going to go the next few weeks (until October 11 - when our challenge ends) without stepping on the scale. Nikki will continue to weigh in two to three times a week (no less, no more). At the end of the challenge, we will compare results and see just how valuable the scale is to weight loss.

- Crystal & Nikki