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In reply to the discussion: 70 lbs. down. Now I can rant about obnoxious fitness fanatics. [View all]Silent3
(15,204 posts)I hadn't weighed myself in a while, and when I got on that new scale I was shocked by what I saw: 270 lbs.
As it turns out, the scale needed to be calibrated. After that, however, it still said 263, which was bad enough. I think the 270, however, even if it was a false reading, added a little extra shock value to help get me going.
I'm six feet tall, with a broad-shouldered build, and weight tends to distribute itself fairly evenly around my body, so up to a point I can get away with packing on the pounds without the end result looking too bad. That's sort of a blessing and a curse, since it takes a bit of gain before I look too fat, but twice now in my life that temporary illusion has lulled me into letting things get a bit out of hand before I took action.
The new scale was important in another way: Our previous scale was flaky enough that you could stand on it, get one weight, get off, get back on, and then get another weight that was typically 2-3 lbs different, even as much as 5 lbs different. That made it hard to notice anything but really big changes in weight. The new scale was a lot more consistent, and being able to track my progress day to day really has helped me.
I know some people don't like using scales at all, others say to only weigh once per week, but for me tracking daily progress has been a very useful motivational and strategic tool.
Even without the new scale, however, I think I was on the edge of finally get my act together again. I was starting to get where my knees were bothering me a lot, and I found myself wanting to lean on furniture and push off in order to stand up, or lean on furniture to lower myself down more carefully. That was making me feel way too old too soon!