Monday, April 28, 2014

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


7 comments:

  1. Love all your photos. Thanks for sharing this process Jeanette, you're a very strong woman.

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  2. Love a long challenging hike!
    I am staying off the scale right now because it was negatively affecting me. I know my mindset. Sometimes I have to steer clear because I know what effect weighing will have on my psyche. Glad you know yourself well enough to make that determination.

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  3. Learning to use the scale as a tool is a very big step. To take the number as information, and not have an emotional reaction to it, one way, or the other, is really important. Maintenance is very much a learned skill. It is also a balancing act. When you eat cleanly, you make the numbers process as simple as possible, real help to yourself. Everything you are writing about lately is very much self help/empowerment. Really important. It is a pleasure to witness your process. You do a good job of getting it down on "paper". Helpful to yourself, because often when we write, it is actually us, talking to ourselves, thinking it out in a visual way. I have found it very helpful over the years to have my blog posts to see my progress and to refer back to things. I am in my own archives a lot, looking for dates, events, experiences, feelings. Really good post.

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  4. Wow, what a hike, and what a great photo...you were up a height.

    All the best Jan

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  5. I might steal Koda. Just sayin'.

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  6. I weight everyday, can't stop as it really is just the best tool to keep on track. When I go away for a few days I'm scared to hop on the scale even though I've done nothing wrong!

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