Everyday Systems: nosdiet: message 2147 of 3212

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Every once in a while I have to chime in with my... um, unique...
opinions on things. Anyhow, while Deb's thread about smashing the
scale was pretty funny, I must speak in defense of the "torture
device". When used properly, it can be an invaluable tool.

I think it all depends on how you use it. What I do is weigh myself
officially once a week, same day of the week, same time of day. That
cuts out variations.. for me, it's always been Friday afternoon, at
the gym's physician scale, before dinner and before working out. 
While my weight (and everybody else's, apparently!) does fluctuate
throught the day and week, it remains pretty consistent at at that
time. I can then see if I'm slowly gaining or losing.

Usually i find that if I go up, it's becuase I wasn't following No-S
good enough the week before. An extra doughnut here, piece of pie
there, starts to add up... and having quick feedback helps keep me on
track.

I guess I'm trying to avoid the "boiled frog" syndrome - the 
theory
goes, if you put a frog in boiling water, it will jump out. But if
you put it in water and then slowly heat it, the frog will not notice
the gradual change, and will let itself be cooked.* So clearly, slow
change can be as deadly as jumping into that boiling water, but it is
harder to recognize. I think Dianne touched on this - you need some
sort of (relatively) reliable way to measure progress to avoid being
that frog. I like the scale better than measuring my waist becuase it
seems more accurate, especially since some people put on fat in
diferent spots ("apple" vs. "pear" shaped and stuff) and at least 
for
me, it's hard to hold that tape measure and get a good number accurately.

Just my two cents.... I think Deb is right in that a scale can turn
into a torture device if you use it for emotional gratificaiton, but
can become a great progress indicator if used wisely.



* Got this from a software book, The Pragmatic Programmer. Actually
it turns out that it is false (the frog will eventually jump out), but
it still makes for a good metaphor...