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Day 21 - Beck Diet Solution, Get Ready To Weigh In

The scale is an important weight-loss tool, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to approach it.  In fact, the scale can actually be damaging to your motivation if you get on with the wrong mindset.  Let’s say you get on, see the weight and think “Oh no, this is terrible!  I’ll never lose weight!”  This reaction has a negative domino effect, leading to feelings of anger, hopelessness, helplessness, wanting to throw in the towel, and possibly a bad eating day.

Don’t get addicted to this demoralizing mindset.  If you take a different approach to the scale, it can be a powerful weight loss tool and keep motivating you week after week.  When you weigh in, it gives you a chance to reward yourself and give yourself credit for your progress.  The scale also keeps you honest – if it goes up, you can think back over the week, identify any mistakes you might have made, and brainstorm about how to do better next time.  If you’re happy with the weight on the scale, this creates a positive snowball effect.  You’ll want to keep feeling that way every time you step on the scale and your motivation will just keep building and building.

Keep in mind that any given day that you get on the scale, the number is just what it should be, given how you ate, how much you exercised, water weight, hormonal changes, and other biological factors.  A better mindset with which to approach the scale is “Last week I weighed __...Today I should probably weigh between a half pound to 2 pounds more or less than that.” 

If the number is more than last week, don’t have a pity party.  Start troubleshooting.  If you’re been sticking to your plan and the scale still didn’t go down, no big deal.  It’s normal to have weeks like that, when maybe you retained more water than normal, gained some muscle mass, or reasons other than gaining fat.

Today, also make a weight loss graph (the book gives you the model) where you have a base weight (you can enter either 0 or your real weight), and create graph entries for +2½ above that weight and -5 below that weight, over a 10-week period.  When you’ve lost 5 pounds or gone longer than 10 weeks, make a new graph.  And when you lose each set of 5 pounds, be sure to celebrate.

Also remember that normal weight loss graphs do not reflect a straight downward line.  Some weeks we lose, others we gain, and sometimes we hit plateaus, and all this creates a jagged downward slope.  But no matter what the scale says, having this graph is another powerful tool because you’ll be motivated to see that line go down.  Before you get on the scale, check for any STs that might deflate your motivation or resolve and talk back to them.  Then get on that scale and celebrate any losses and troubleshoot any gains.  Yes, the scale can be our friend.
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