The Curse of a Daily Weigher

My weigh-in today was my first gain since I recommitted. Although it was only four ounces, the mere fact of the scale moving in the wrong direction, however little, is enough to cause grief, regret, and self doubt. You stand there, probably naked, questioning every move you made the previous day. Did I drink enough water? Did I measure my condiments right? Did I eat too late in the evening? Questions tumble through your head like cloths in a dryer until you can't bare to think of it anymore, and you slowly step off the scale. Getting off the scale is easy - it's the next 24 hours until your next weigh-in that become the challenge.

A daily weigher has a lot of wonderful moments to look forward to - more likely than not they will see a positive result every morning they wake up, which gives them drive to push through the day and create the same good feeling the next morning. However, every so often, a morning comes when the number doesn't go in the right direction, and even though you know there are dozens of reasons for this, most of them out of your control, you have to tell yourself that tomorrow will be better. Fortunately for me, the gain was small and so it didn't shake my confidence completely, but still, all day today, I've been dreading weighing-in tomorrow morning. What if the result is the same? Although the odds are against that reality, there is always a chance. A chance I will fear until I see that number on my scale.

I have always been a daily weigher. I'm impatient, and I rely on that constant positive reinforcement. Seeing the daily progress of my hard work is what pushes me to make that next weigh-in even better. I have been told by countless people that daily weighing is not a good strategy, and in fact can sometimes be counterproductive. But for me, I know that every morning when I wake up I can't wait to get to that scale and see what I've accomplished. I am aware that there will be mornings, like this one, where I see something negative, but that's just the way it is and I have to deal with it. The daily push is worth those few and far between moments of sorrow. That push is so important to me that I actually calculated out how much I need to lose PER DAY in order to reach goal on time. Crazy? Maybe. OCD? Probably. But, without doubt, necessary for my success. Besides, it's pretty clear to myself, and everyone who knows me, that I AM crazy and OCD anyway - might as well put those traits to good use!