Weight Loss without regularly weighing yourself.

[Cleggie34]

Hi, I am new to these forums and this is my first post. So please excuse me if I am posting in the wrong place!

I have lost 11lbs through just healthy eating and getting a bit more exercise. However, to get in the middle of the 'healthy' bracket (according to the NHS BMI chart) I have another 1st 8lbs to lose.

I am really struggling to lose any more weight. I wont make excuses, the fact is that I have a huge sweet tooth and find it very hard to go a day without chocolate of some sort.

Also, I don't own scales, so don't regularly weigh myself. I would rather go by dress size (I am currently a 14 and am aiming for a 12).

Just wondering if anyone else has a scale free household while trying to lose weight? I weigh every 6 months or so, whenever I visit my sisters house (she has scales)!

[gingernut49]

I bought some Salter digital scales for about £10 but I only weigh myself once a week. I also use MyFitnessPal and chart my progress on that - it's a great incentive to see the line on the chart move downwards! I did the 5:2 Diet, losing three stone in six months, and I have maintained my new weight for a year by eating just 500 calories on one day a week. I make sure I weigh myself once a week to ensure that I can catch any rogue pound before it multiplies!

[Kazhippo]

I have to admit I try and limit myself to weighing in once a week, but find that hard. I use myfitnesspal as well and find this is a great tool in the help to lose weight. It tracks how many calories you are eating, shows you the split between carbs, proteins and fats - I never realised what a carb monster I am!

[GoogleMe]

I am not a hobbyist dieter. I have only had two attempts to lose weight, which were both slow but successful. Why did I need to do it a second time? Because we didn't have working scales for a few years and I wasn't keeping an eye on things and my weight crept up and up again.

I've gone from obese to healthy BMI and I am still wearing the same size clothes so going by dress size would have been very demoralising. (I've tried the next size down, it was too tight) I find that daily weighing works best for me.

[Cleggie34]

Thanks for the replies I wont be going on any kind of 'diet' as I don't believe that they work. I will just be trying to eat less junk food and have smaller portions.

[elliebath Maintainer]

Hello there, once upon a time (in my thirties) I wore a size 14 and weighed myself a lot, ( sometimes daily which is far too much for anybody) and some days I'd get a bit down if Id gained a pound or two. At the time, even after 2 kids, I was always just under 10st, perfectly ok for my 5'5"height. ( but I never felt slim).

Then sometime in my forties the scales broke and I stopped weighing. I thought that, mentally, this was a far healthier approach, "surely I'd know if I gained weight as my clothes would get tight!". But time passed, my fifties and menopause , slightly thicker midriff , next cup size bra, but mostly I bought the same size clothes 14.

Then came my sixties and some stuff was tight, favourite things burst at the zip But still I didnt weigh. Until 2 weeks ago!!! Shock horror I was 11st 11lbs, having gained over many years approx 1lb per year. In all that time clothes sizes were being made bigger, so todays 14 is several inches bigger than it was in 1987.

I am now weighing myself every 2 weeks and calorie counting towards a target weight of 10st , by august. So my suggestion is, do not abandon the scales . Good luck to you.

[TenaciousD]

hi, i weigh myself about once a month! The reason for that is i tend to go for weeks on end without loosing anything and at the beginning when i was weighing myself weekly i found it quite off putting. once a month is fine and usually its a good surprise. ive lost 19 pounds in total and been healthy eating and exercising since December, still have the odd treat Good luck to you, scales are not essential!

[bathafish]

Hi there, like you I don't really believe diets work, and I am a scales free household. I have always been on the larger side of things, pretty much a size 14 or 16 since I was a teen, always overweight but I never really saw that as a problem. When I hit my mid twenties I went from being a 14 most of the time, to an 18 and decided to do something about it as overweight is fine in my book, but not obese! I've been doing 5.2 since last june as well as taking up running (I know, it's kind of a diet, but it doesn't feel like it as I have stuck to it, and I only restrict food twice a week so it feels a lot easier than constant healthy eating). I have definitley lost weight as I can fit things again, but no idea how much! I just go by clothes to be honest, and how I feel - which is better! I think I would obsess about it too much if I had scales and am glad I don't.

[Cleggie34]

Its really reassuring to know that other people don't rely on the scales too I haven't owned any more about 2 years. I have lost 11lbs in that time, so I must be doing something right.

[elliebath Maintainer]

Having recently looked back at some holiday photos from 12years ago, and compared them with photos from this year, it is all too apparent that my weight crept up and up....despite apparently buying the same size label !! So if scales arent everyones thing, I recommend photo albums ...the camera never lies and im hoping next year my holiday pics will look more like the ones from 12yrs ago.

[Cleggie34]

I have bought scales! I gave in to temptation! I weigh 11st, which is 2lbs less than when I weighed myself a month ago. So its heading in the right direction So I have exactly 1st to lose.

Is there a diary section on this website, where I can record my daily meals and my weekly weigh ins?