…and what does that have to do with “thinking outside the box,” that sweet spot where the magic happens?

The scale’s a funny thing for many of my Take Shape for Life clients (and me!) I’ve noticed a trend lately of clients not wanting to weigh themselves for fear they will be disappointed at the scale, or worse–become obsessed with the scale weighing all day long.

This got me thinking:  why do people weigh or don’t weigh?

They do weigh:

1. To monitor weight so it doesn’t get out of line with their ideal range.
2. Because the scale has become the decider of whether they did “good” or “bad” for a particular time.
3. Because they have struggled with weight much of their lives and know they can gain easily if they don’t watch.

They don’t weigh:

1. Because if the number at the scale doesn’t match their expectations they’ll get discouraged and give up.
2. Because they’ve always been thin (this is my husband and my youngest son) and it doesn’t even occur to them.
3. They don’t want to face the reality of the number because they equate that to their personal value.

And then there’s the whole eating disorder spectrum which takes these points to the extreme, plus the points which I haven’t covered here which are numerous.

What to do, then? It’s important to monitor your weight if you are one who tends to yo-yo. (Hand raised!) You can easily lose touch if you don’t. I mean, I used to be able to put 10 pounds on in a weekend without trying. But you also don’t want to become obsessed and constantly think about the number at the scale, which is so obviously just a number and not the total value of who you are and what you are doing for your health.

My first suggestion is to get outside your box, and try something you haven’t done–just for a week. If it doesn’t work, try something else. Know that there isn’t just one way to do this and you have to know your own issues, but also be willing to try something different for just a few days.

Like this. I usually weigh naked each morning. (TMI!) But while I was on vacation for the last few weeks with my husband, there was no scale and I used other measures like the feel of my clothes, tuning into my body more, looking in a mirror more closely–things like that. I decided I would try just weighing Monday and Thursday for awhile and use other methods to monitor. Then, I might go to once a week. The point is try something different.Experiment. That’s how we learn, right?

Where do you weigh in on this? If you feel comfortable sharing, I’d love to know how often you weigh and whether or not weight is one of your challenges. (We learn lots from our naturally thin people, too!)