Scale Water
Losing Weight But Afraid Of The Scale?
To weigh, or not to weigh: that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of a loathsome number on the scale, or to oppose it, and sleep, perchance, to dream of a lovelier number? Poetry aside, this question has plagued so many clients over the years that I would like address it today. Just for the record, I do believe that when we work toward weight loss, we should have an idea of what we weigh.
Tell me if the following scenarios sound at all familiar. You had a great three or four days of eating well and now it's Friday. You eagerly hop on the scale saying, "Down two pounds? Hurray! I had a great week, and I'm going to celebrate! I've been dying for a big juicy burger and fries. Today I'm going for it. After all, I've worked hard, and I deserve it!" Sound familiar?
Or, the same three or four days pass, and on Friday you eagerly hop on the scale and see that you are not down, as expected, but up a pound or two. "Up!?" you shriek. "UP?? I have spent an entire week killing myself, and I get on the scale and I'm UP! Well, forget this. I'm ordering the fried hot dog for lunch. Who cares? Nothing I do works anyway!" Sound like anyone you know?
How is this possible? After a week of eating well, how can the number on the scale make a person feel so happy that she will treat herself to the very thing that got her into trouble to start with, or so angry that she will throw in the towel and eat what is certain to raise her number even more? It's the same reaction for the same amount of work, for the same successful week. Do you see how ridiculous this is? A great week ruined by the number on the scale!
Here is another scale story that still makes me cringe. Once upon a time, I had a normal day with women coming to weigh in and discuss their week's work. On this particular rainy, miserably humid day, all of the women knew they had lost weight because they had done great all week. Did you hear me? Every single woman knew she was down. She felt it. One after another, throughout the morning, happy and confident women stepped on the scale, and one after another, disappointed and disbelieving women stomped off. All of them were up almost four pounds! Hour after hour, I talked with these very dejected women about what might have gone wrong. Perhaps it was too much salt, and they were retaining. Perhaps they hadn't really had as great a week as they thought coming in. Anyway, by the time the fifth woman left, I had the brilliant thought that perhaps the scale needed calibrating! I put some weights on it, and sure enough, it was up by almost four pounds! (I am here to tell you from experience that scales fluctuate with changes in temperature and humidity! You might want to move your scale from the bathroom, girls and boys, where the humidity could throw it off significantly)
Suffice it to say that I had to call every one of those women and talk them off the ledge. Imagine how horrid I felt when they confessed to crying the whole way home, most after stopping at the fast food drive-through! Of course I apologized profusely, and the women were very forgiving, but I was grateful for what I learned that day. In addition to the effect of humidity of the bathroom scale, I had realized with stunning clarity that the number on the device under their feet held absolute power over these women. The scale had ceased to be a tool; it had become their dictator. And as I thought about it, it became more and more obvious that most of my clients had long ago turned over their power to the bathroom scale, allowing it to dictate whether they faced the day with joy or dejection, confidence or insecurity, hope or despair.
Think abut it. The number on my scale that day contradicted what five women knew to be true, and they all embraced the lie. They gave the number on that scale the power to evoke deep-seated feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. They gave the number on that scale the power to completely shatter their self-confidence and pride. They gave the number on that scale the power to mock them and all of their hopes for the future. Disempowered by a mere number, they completed the devastation at the drive-through window.
Fortunately, my clients had me to lean on and support them through this incident, and they did not spiral out of control. They were all able to get back on track quickly. Armed with a clearer understanding of the power of the scale, I worked with them, and all of my clients, to help them establish dominance over the number. Please understand that for many, this remains an ongoing struggle. You might want to keep this week's blog and e-zine in a prominent place, so you can read it often!
Aside from our issues with the number on the scale, let's speak about why that number can, and does, occasionally go up after a good week. There might be a few culprits. First, as we learned the hard way, the scale could be off due to the weather, mechanical malfunction, low battery, or placement on a soft surface, such as carpet or thick linoleum. Second, you could be retaining water. This is the usual culprit, and it is a problem for both men and woman. All of our bodies retain water, and if we are bigger, we can retain that much more of it. Most people experience water retention in humid weather. Salt and alcohol can also cause it. Women will experience it when they are premenstrual, or in any stage of menopause.
The typical water retention story goes like this: a woman comes in knowing she is down. The number on the scale is up. The woman becomes angry, depressed, sad, argumentative, and verbally self-abusive. She then quits. "No more. I'm done. I have had it!" she will protest. This is my cue to discuss salt-the usual suspect. She agrees to give it one more week and to stay away from all kinds of salt during that week. 99% of the time the woman comes back the following week and has dropped double her weekly average, and she is thrilled! Of course, I remind her that she had almost given up the week before over an inaccurate number on the scale. I can gently point out that this same phenomenon has led her give up on herself many other times; perhaps, she will keep this in mind when the water retention demon rears its ugly head in the future!
Excessive salt intake is only one of the reasons we retain water, but the issue for those of you on a weight loss plan is more about how it affects the number on the scale and, consequently, the thoughts in your head and the counterproductive behaviors that follow! When you step on the scale, water retention looks like weight gain; however, it is NOT weight gain: it IS water retention. Furthermore, it can show up even after you have had a great week! That's life. That's just the way it is. You can accept it, or you can continue to throw in the towel. It's your choice. You might want to go back and read my earlier blogs on "Consistency" and "Longevity" for help in staying strong in the face of those elevated numbers. The most important thing to understand is that if you have had a good week and the scale is up, you have still had a good week. The scale does not rewrite your past!!
Before I go, I want to remind you that there is never a reason to get on the scale with your fingers crossed! This is not a game of chance: this is a methodical system of weight loss. When I have done everything right, the number will be down. If I have "rewarded myself in an inappropriate manner, the number will be up. There is no trick and no mystery. So, let's review. My number will be down if all the following criteria have been met: I omitted all but a trace of salt; I enjoyed three healthy, moderately-sized high fiber, low fat meals; and I felt slightly hungry at bedtime. Having done this, I know what the number on the scale should be. If it isn't where it should be today, then it will be there tomorrow or the next day, and I will experience the greatest reward, bar none: seeing that number go down! Nevertheless, on any of those days, I will know with absolute certainty that whatever the number is, it will not cause me to give away my power. I am infinitely stronger than a number on a scale beneath my feet.
About the Author
Berta Prevosti is a respected weight loss counselor who has educated and empowered hundreds of women JUST LIKE YOU to lose the excess weight that prevents them from living their dream and becoming the woman they were meant to be. Her gift, and the reason her program is SO SUCCESSFUL, is her ability to break down every detail of your weight loss journey so you can be prepared for the challenges and understand the emotional components behind them. If you liked this article, you'll LOVE her blog and FREE e-zine sign up at http://www.justloseit.com
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add rock on string to container of water on scale, how does rock affect scale?
if you have a container of water on a scale, and then lower a rock on a string into the water, how will it effect the scale?
this is newtons third law i believe, and i think that the scale will go up because the rock is under the water so it is like it is part of the water
what actually will happen if you did this? would the scale stay the same or go up? etc? why
It won't change.
Although the rock is immersed and displacing water of an amount equal to the volume of the rock, you have the rock's entire mass suspended from the string. It does not provide any mass to the water's mass on the scale.
It would be a different story if the string was omitted. Then they would go up.