I used to watch the Biggest Loser every week. I loved the stories, the successes and yes…the drama. But mostly the successes. I always laughed at the dramatic music that was added to the weigh-ins and wondered why it was so necessary to add more intensity to an already intense moment.
I stopped watching a few years ago when it seemed to me that the show was more adversarial than supportive. When weight-loss was only celebrated if it was in double-digits and seemingly punishable for being anything less, the show lost it’s luster for me. It became more about sensational, rapid weight loss than health (in my opinion only. I’m sure many would disagree or would even say the show was always about that and I just didn’t pick up on it until much later).
I personally believe that the scale is not a good measure of overall health and the pressure so many of us place on a number that appears on it is disheartening. I’ve written before about how the scale can be our best frenemy and also how I’ve used it as a tool to measure my progress in not gaining too much baby weight and then returning to my pre-baby weight after. I’m not dependent on it by any means and I acknowledge that it does have a place as a weight loss tool but it’s one of man tools available to us to measure progress.
When I was losing my baby weight, I started with weekly weigh-ins for the first little while and then switched to monthly and now I don’t weight myself at all. For me, I just don’t need it. I don’t really care if I’m up or down a few pounds because I know my body fluctuates. I will usually use how I’m feeling and how my clothes fit as a better measure on whether it’s time to lay off the cookies. I’m much happier not being chained to the scale and when I feel good, I make good food choices and exercise regularly.
How about you? Do you weigh yourself often? What methods do you use to track your progress toward a goal or maintaining a goal?
I posted in this same vien, http://wisdomcouragepower.blogspot.ca/2012/09/how-often-do-you-weigh-yourself.html I weigh my every day, I totally don’t need to, but it has become routine. I too have blogged about other ways to measure progress as well – http://wisdomcouragepower.blogspot.ca/2011/08/fitness-assessments.html