Why do I weigh myself so much?

Why do you weigh yourself? What is it that you're looking to get when you step on the scale? Weighing yourself is a kind of body checking, a way to cope with anxiety stemming from a preoccupation body weight or size, and the behaviors you utilize to attempt to control it.

rachaelhartleynutrition.com - How to Stop Obsessively Weighing Yourself - Rachael Hartley Nutrition

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Why You Should Stop Weighing Yourself

As a non-diet, Health at Every Size aligned dietitian, I almost never weigh my clients. The only occasion I break out the scale is when I am working with a client with an active eating disorder who needs to weight restore. But that wasn’t always the case. The first 5-6 years of my professional career, I practiced nutrition in a weight-centric way, and viewed weight loss as a sign of success. It was actually my experience running a 6-week weight loss program (err, 6-week weight suppression program) that first started to chip away at the idea that the scale was a helpful tool, and that weight loss should be a goal of healthy eating. I saw patients give up the healthy changes they made when the scale didn’t budget. Often, the scale would inexplicably fluctuate from week to week, regardless of behaviors, undermining the idea that weight is a simple calories in vs out formula. And most of my “success” stories I saw back in the clinic a year later after they had gained back the weight, and often more. Most of all, I saw how weighing people was dehumanizing, stressful, and reduced people’s value to a number.

Here’s more reasons why you should stop weighing yourself:

The scale isn’t very accurate.

There are a lot of variables that affect the number on the scale that are outside of our control. Hydration is a major one. Did you know 2 cups of water weighs one pound? Even if you weigh yourself first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom, your hydration status will still vary based on time of the month (higher estrogen levels leading up to a period cause fluid retention), dietary sodium intake, the temperature/sweat, and the previous days activity. There’s also poop! Yup, even if you’re going regularly, there’s still some amount of poop in you, and that will fluctuate from day to day. Even gravity and the time of the day can have an effect on the scale.

The scale can trigger disordered eating behaviors.

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Consciously or not, the number on the scale can have a profound impact on how you eat. That’s because it’s near impossible to look at the number on the scale neutrally - it’s either “good” or “bad,” and the number can set the tone for the day. A “bad” number causes shame, anxiety, and often binging/”eff it” eating or restriction (which of course can also lead to binging or eating in a way that feels out of control). Even a “good” number can have a negative effect, by reinforcing unhealthy restriction or eating foods just because you feel like you’ve earned it.

Weight is not health.

The scale is not your doctor, and your weight cannot accurately diagnose your health status. Although we’ve been taught that higher weights are unhealthy, correlation is not causation, and there are many factors that play a much greater role in health - stress, fitness, eating habits (regardless of weight), socioeconomics, access to healthcare, etc. I love this chart that shows all the determinants of health - you can really see how nuanced health is! It's a mixture of behaviors, genetics and your environment that determines health status, not the number on the scale. There are many thin people who are unhealthy, and many larger-bodied people who are perfectly healthy, and there’s no way to know by simply looking at someone. If your goal for weighing yourself is health, then focus on behaviors, not the number on the scale. Even if you are in a larger body and have health concerns, you deserve to focus on behaviors that promote health, not weight loss.

rachaelhartleynutrition.com - How to Stop Obsessively Weighing Yourself - Rachael Hartley Nutrition

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