The alarm
August 12th, 2008 at 5:55 am (Physical)
I’ve heard and read a lot lately about people in maintenance or on plateaus who are lamenting the gain/loss of the same 1-3 pounds. I’ve heard those pounds blamed, demonized, and credited for more malice and malintent than I ever thought possible. Before we beat ourselves up for “gaining and losing,” let’s consider exactly how arbitrary our system of measurement really is.
I mean, who was it that originally decided how much a pound weighed? Cubits and feet were once based on bodily measurements — and what if you were freakishly tall or long or wide? Early civilizations standardized a quantity of grain or rocks to get by in the measuring game. Like everything else in life, a pound is what you make it.
For instance, if you live in Europe, you can gain as much as 2.2 pounds and theoretically not notice any difference on the scale! That’s because a kilogram is 2.2 pounds. In Britain, you might weigh in stones, which equate to 14 pounds each! I’ll admit — I’m a little tired of letting something as arbitrary as a small unit of measurement freak me out.
For me, personally, I can’t let myself be grieved little gains/losses, plateaus, or other numerical nonsense. It’s all in the momentum you have and the direction you are moving. I think a 5-pound alarm will do. That is, I think that if I were to notice a 5-pound gain, I would attempt to step up my efforts. Why 5 pounds? Yes, it’s a nice round number. But, it’s more than that, to me.
5 pounds, which is the size of my second dog, is a substantial amount of weight in the perspective of my life. 5 pounds is how much a life weighs — a life that is very precious to me (though not necessarily so for everyone). My dog made a big splash when she arrived, and she would leave a big void if she were gone.
I’ve chosen 5 pounds as my measurement of choice. I celebrate 5-pound losses and I will pay attention to 5-pound gains. Everything else is just numbers.
Big Girl said,
August 12, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Thank you!!! I kinda makes me crazy to read people getting upset about gaining a pound or two… it really is the general direction downward that the most important.
justoofat said,
August 12, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Man, there’s so much wisdom in this post. I know I’ll come back to it over and over again when I find myself fretting over meaningless things. Thank you.
j
vickie said,
August 13, 2008 at 1:11 am
I had the “2 pound UP leeway” all the way down to maintenance (goal range).
I didn’t sweat 2 pounds up and I didn’t count 2 pounds down until it had stayed around for a while.
My weight would do a little bouncing act as the pounds slipped off - the scale would go down - bounce around a bit - and then settle into the new weight. It would stay there for a while and become the new weight.
Then it would bounce around a bit, and then stay and then THAT would become the new norm.
This happened all the way down the scale.
I (personally) NEVER looked at the decimal point on the scale - I paid attention to whole numbers only and switched scales to a whole number scale for this reason.
The Baroness said,
August 13, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I go through this all the time because I weigh myself daily. You’re right, it really shouldn’t matter. lol I threw out all of my old clothes, so I don’t know why it really matters until the new ones start to feel tight.
Jen said,
August 13, 2008 at 10:09 pm
You are so right. I am a level-headed type of person and never really let things bother me too. But…that goshdarn scale! I am always tempted to weigh myself in the morning if I was good on my diet the day before. I actually FEEL smaller. My heart expects to see the tangible results immediately. Then I get a rude awakening when I step on that scale. Talk about disappointment. I will actually be upset about it all day long. Literally. It skews my entire day–no matter what good things may have happened.
Jen
MaryFran said,
August 14, 2008 at 9:48 am
Thank you for the reminder to focus on the big picture…how my clothes fit, my energy level and not those stinkin’ pounds (which yeah, I’ve been a moaner about being stuck for the last umpteen)!!!
BethK said,
August 15, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hi Mal,
Thanks for the comment over at S&P. I’m right there with you on the bridge, cheering you past that 300lb troll. Sucker’s going down!