Hey lady. i think we're both in the same place mentally. I don't own a scale but I weigh in at a certain place ever week or other week and my weight has been creeping up. I know it' because of the training for the half the 10 miler on Sunday but I know I will be maintaing because I'm active. Still, it's good to weight in and help keeps me accountable so I never go overboard the week after.

Let's just say I am a stress eater and and as you know my story (i told you a bit at our meet up) that between 2006 and 2010 I was not in a good place in life. I took control after that and exercised and lost weight . Unfortunately I still haven't made goal and the weight has been creeping up again. So I exercise and eat healthier foods. Still I'm glad I am where I am today rather than a few years ago.

PS - don't own a scale at home. It will make you go crazy, but that's just me. Just keep up with the running and be active and eat healthy. That's what matters in the end.

Exactly what Ana said. I weigh every day first thing in the morning just to check. I'm not obessive about it but it helps to remind me to keep meals healthy or to not skip a workout. If my weight is up, usually my blood sugar is too and that's more serious than whether or not my jeans fit.

I think weighing in works for some people and not for others. For me, it paved the beginning of a a bad path (that led to anorexia and lots of tiresome appointments with the children's hospital psychiatric staff). I'd weigh myself and think, yay, I'm a pound less that yesterday! Maybe if I don't eat for a day, I can go down another pound! Or, I'd see that I'd gone up a pound, and I'd think, damn, now I have to work extra hard at not eating. So the weight would go down in a ratcheting manner, where at first 100 was normal, then 95 was the new normal, then 90, then 85 (at which point I stopped being able to stay awake in class and my alarmed parents took me to the hospital psychiatrist to have my head examined).

So needless to say, I have never owned a scale in my adult life. I can tell if I've gained a bit because my clothes don't fit right. And generally my weight doesn't fluctuate much anyway. But for many people (who are undoubtedly more normal than me; I admit I've got a neurotic streak), I can see tracking weight might be a good idea.

I weigh myself daily because it helps to keep me on track. I don't worry about small fluctuations, but I have a certain number in my head and if I get above it I know I need to start watching what I eat more carefully and pick up the running. For me it's an incentive and a daily reminder to eat healthy foods and exercise.

Elizabeth, I'm sorry you went through that - eating disorders are a vicious thing, but it sounds like you have a very healthy approach that's working for you now!

Thanks for the concern, Christy. It's true that eating disorders are officially No Fun, but since it was all well in the past (I've been fine for over 20 years) I can joke about it. And we all get something, right? Some of us get heart disease, some get psoriasis, some get bad knees...and some of us (uh, me) have a tendency toward slight mental instability when under stress.

But funny thing: after all these years, I still don't trust myself with is a bathroom scale. I'll probably never buy one.

Lyn and Elisabeth, first of all props to you for even talking about this when it's been a difficult journey and continues to have a hold on your choices to this day. I can get mildly obsessive with 'goals' myself, so I can just begin to imagine how much harder it is with an actual disorder. Stay strong, ladies! Especially you, Lyn, as it can't be much fun to weigh *other* people professionally while you're at it --- or does it act as substitution? (hope so)

Personally, I used to be a daily weigh-in girl for a year or so, starting with a weight challenge I was enrolled into at work. But one thing that taught me was that the numbers can fluctuate for all sorts of reasons, just as bloating can make your size fluctuate but not your weight! It did help to buy the scale, because denial isn't a great thing for someone like me --- I love to cook and I love food, and I absolutely hate *restrictions*, especially measuring calories and such. (Again, history of doing that obsessively from childhood to young womanhood --- but it eventually got old, thank goodness!) Now, I climb on the scales daily only *IF* I am actively trying to eat or exercise a little differently, to monitor the results --- or because I 'feel' different.

Otherwise, it's once every few days at random, not even planned. I can't exactly forget it for long, after all, seeing as it's literally staring me in the feet in the bathroom! I also measure myself with a tape measure every so often, again at random but maybe every few weeks? That way I'm keeping tabs, loosely, on both weight and sizes --- which for me is about the right balance between monitoring and obsessing. As it is, it helps me to stay alert to what I eat (or cook) without ending up at some cranky diet plan. (The official one at work involved the leek diet for two days a week! I love leeks, but UGH!) And I don't take changes TOO seriously, since I fluctuate a couple of kilos a month anyway!

I think I'm one of the minority here in weighing myself fairly frequently (3-4 times per week), but only weigh first thing in the morning -- after going to the bathroom and minus any pjs (which probably weigh all of 4 ounces). Still, I'll take all the help I can get!

I can easily vary 2-3 pounds from one day to the next! I think Baja Sol nachos and frozen pizza must be very high in sodium!! My clothes really don't feel different on those days, just my rings won't go on! But that morning 'wake up call' keeps me more mindful and healthful until I see it gone. . .!

I sure don't want to feel a slave to the scale, but I think of it as another gauge or tool toward maintaining wellness.

I bought a scale after the trauma of gaining some weight without noticing until my clothes didn't fit. At that time trying to get dressed in the morning was a drama I didn't want to go through again. I figured if I just weighed myself once a day I would catch onto this kind of thing in the future and be able to put a stop to it before the nothing-fits trauma. The truth is though I just don't like to weigh myself. I don't do it more than a few times a year. My weight tends to fluctuate within a range of ten pounds depending on what's going on in my life, so it's not really such an issue for me because both weights are healthy. Also now I have two size of clothes, so I can accommodate the times of plenty without a wardrobe meltdown.