Daily weighing and 14 mile hike!

Happy Monday to everyone!!

Two things on my agenda today :)

First, I wanted to say a little more publicly than in the comments that I really think daily weighing is okay - in some circumstances. What are those circumstances?

• it is done once a day (ideally same time every time)
• the number does not affect mood
• the number does not cause the weigh-er to eat differently than normal (either to starve a little or as an excuse to overeat)

Now, I didn't always fit these circumstances. Weight REALLY affected my mood and would cause me to under-eat if the number was too high. I also used to (almost a decade ago) weigh several times a day. That's not me anymore. I weigh-in once a day, it's part of my morning routine, and I take the number as information. I've been working hard to not let a high weight make me stressed or a low weight to make me happy. It's just a check in to make sure I am on the right track.

I gave up tracking my calories. That was a big step, and if I wasn't ready for it, could have caused significant weight gain. However, daily weighing would make sure that didn't happen.

I think Vickie said it best:

"I think if you are not tracking, daily weighing is really important, at least in the beginning. And that is taking into consideration how cleanly you eat. Someone eating restaurant food or a lot of processed, and not tracking can be all over the place, regain easily if they are not weighing. 

If someone is really in a groove/routine with their meals and exercise, it is possible to neither weigh nor track, but that requires a firm set of factors, in my experience. 

A lot of regainers THINK they really know, do not need to track nor weigh and end up in a very bad place.

If one uses the scale simply as a tool, to show if their food is balanced enough to maintain, in exchange for tracking, it can be a real asset."

Giving up tracking was scary for me. It was a tool I used for many, many years. I was NOT sure that I knew what I was doing and was so on point emotionally and physically that I would not regain my weight once I gave it up.

Daily weighing may eventually go the way of tracking calories for me. I might only weigh in once a week or once a month to make sure I am at a healthy weight.

But, I think I need several more months of practice till I am convinced I can not track and not weight and maintain (I always have a little voice way in the back of my head trying to convince me I can binge a little/a lot!).

Anyway - for anyone who is concerned that I am obsessive or disordered with the daily weighing, no worries! I am actually in a very good place mentally with it. I am okay with small ups and downs, I don't let it affect my mood. In fact, I am even okay with higher weights than I was before I gave up tracking. It's a barometer of my behavior.

And I did weigh in today :) At 122.2, which is very, very normal for me!

Yesterday, I definitely ate much more than normal, but I also went on a 14 mile hike - a very grueling, rocky hike with tons of elevation gain and loss. I made sure that my food was very clean and I was eating enough to fuel me for the hike and recovery (which obviously is more than a normal day!).

It felt great to challenge my body like that - haven't been on a really challenging hike in over a month (just been doing 5ish miles with minimal elevation gain lately).

Feeling good today, especially after a good night of sleep!

Picture from the goal of our hike - the point of a mountainous peninsula in Lake George (the mountain range is called the Tongue Range because it looks like a tongue sticking out into the lake!). We were half-way done here:

Namaste, my friends <3