Conference rocks::weight_control

    It's not a problem as long as you compare your weight at the same time
    of day - say before breakfast. Never have breakfast and then compare
    your weight to yesterday before breakfast. It's a killer to morale.
    
    - andy

    
     I weigh myself almost every morning. I see nothing wrong with it. If 
    the scale says I lost weight I start the day with a positive attitude.
    "Keep it up" I say to myself, " your doing something right". If the
    scale says I gained (since I do it almost every day it's only every 
    been +3 at the most) I say "watch it today" and "you're still better
    then a week ago" and "it'll only take a day or two to get rid of".
    Usually when I've gained I know the reason why (my wife's a great cook
    and baker). I've found the main thing is to set a "long term" goal and
    keep striving toward it. For some, a series of short term goals helps
    keep the motivation active. Whatever works. 
    
     robin 

  When I was losing weight on Weight Watchers, I put my bathroom scale in the
linen closet.  I found that if it wasn't convenient, I wouldn't bother with
it most of the time.  And, if my husband wanted to weigh himself, he could
go get it, use it, and put it back.

  Maybe you could get your roommate to put her scale away, too?  If she
likes to use it frequently, you could agree on a # of days a week that the scale
comes out.  Or, if she's flexible, maybe she wouldn't mind just getting the
scale out of the closet whenever she wants to use it.

--Sharon

    
    Yes!  You've got to stay away from the scales!    Especially if you're
    an addict such as myself; sometimes 15 times a day!   Before I eat,
    after I eat, before/after I shower, before\after I exercise,
    before/after I'm dressed, with/without undies....
    
    It's demoralizing - it's an addiction to the numbers!
    
    I'd seen a special on Good Morning America, or some such morning show - 
    and the suggestion was to monitor your weight by a particular piece of
    clothing - a skirt, pair of pants, shorts, etc...  This should be
    a more accurate monitoring process and a bit more reality based since
    those typical weight fluctuations won't be easily seen.   Instead
    you'll see inches and actual appearance in clothing.    You will also
    be less inclined to do it as often, but should make sure you do at
    least on a weekly basis.
    
    Overall, the experts agree that you should never weigh more than once
    a week.   Personally, I agree.  I simply can't stop it.   
    
    A.

    I have chosen not to own a scale for that very reason! I know I'd be on
    it every time I got near it. As it is, every time I go to my
    father-in-laws I must go to the bathromm 50 times and weigh myself;
    when I get there, just before we eat, after we eat, when I actually
    have to use the bathroom I weigh myself before and after. Its pathetic!
    Therefore I will never own one!!
    
    Trudy

	Rather than a scale, switch to a measuring tape.

	Measure bust, abdomen, hips, thighs.  Keep track of your
	measurements, and watch them go down !  This is less susceptible
	to the "swings" of the scale, and is a better way to 
	track your fitness (improved body composition, which is the
	ratio of lean body mass to fat tissue, will be more evident
	with a tape measure than a scale).

	Here's a tidbit I learned last week, in an Introduction
	to Exercise Science course that I took.

	Muscle weighs approximately 3 times fat.  Therefore, if 
	you took a pound of muscle and a pound of fat, the pile
	of fat would be 3 times larger than the pile of muscle.

	So, if I hop on the scale and it tells me I only lost a pound,
	and I feel like I lost a whole clothing size, I'm going to 
	be depressed, whereas if I use a tape measure, I'll see that
	that pound was inches off my size!
	
	Karen

    
    Hi Trudy, Hi Karen!
    
    One thing about monitoring with clothing.
    Jeans are not a good measurement tool.  They tend to get comfortable
    and then you wash them and wonder, when you put them on.
    
    A few years ago, I did the Weightloss Clinic and lost 27 pounds and
    gained all of it back and some extra.  Anyway, I was weighed daily
    on this program and there scale had the tenth decimal point.
    I was getting obsessed over every tenth of a pound.  
    
    I do not own a scale now, it would be too easy to become a slave
    to the scale.  
    
    Lisa