Suppose you’ve been perfect and didn’t mess up on your diet even once. But when you step on the scale on your weigh-in day, it reads exactly the same as the week before.
First, you feel shock and surprise; then you get angry. You can’t believe it! It’s not fair! You did everything right, but you didn’t lose even one pound. At that moment, you may hate your body and feel convinced it has betrayed you.
Over the past week, you spent tons of time planning, cooking, and even sacrificing your fun. But now you wonder if you’ve wasted your efforts. You might even worry you’ll never be able to lose weight.
Beth was one of my clients who got frustrated easily. But despite this, she stepped on the scale every day so she could keep track of what her weight was doing.
During one stretch on her weight-loss program, she became extremely upset because day after day, the reading on the scale stayed the same.
She said, “It drove me crazy! I couldn’t stand the scale not moving, so finally, I made it move. I opened the refrigerator door and ate everything in sight!”
Beth’s scale weight certainly changed, but not in the direction she wanted.
When you give the scale that level of power, you usually end up regretting it. It’s almost as if you punish yourself because the scale number won’t move. That’s like spending all the money in your savings account because the interest is too low.
The Totally Stuck Scale
We’ve all seen it—a stretch of time when the number on the scale absolutely will not budge! Every day you weigh yourself and it reads the same. Or maybe it bounces up and down a little but doesn’t actually show any weight loss. And that’s so frustrating.
No one knows exactly what causes weight loss to slow down. But at some point, this seems to happen to nearly every dieter. And sometimes, these frustrating stretches can go on for weeks or even months.
When the scale doesn’t move, you begin to question everything you’re doing. “Maybe I’m on the wrong diet.” Or “I ate a cookie and that’s why I’m not losing.”
Of course, both of these responses are incorrect. Instead, there’s usually some type of physiological effect going on, and it’s causing your body to hold on to weight.
If you respond to a stuck scale by getting upset or frustrated, you may unwittingly cause it to stay at that number even longer. As you know, stress signals your body to be cautious about giving up weight.
When you get upset because the scale number won’t change, you create a stressful event that might keep your weight stuck even longer.
The 30-Day Rule
In my work, I’ve learned that it takes approximately 30 days for your body to permanently shift weight as a result of a weight-loss plan. So when you’ve been dieting, you can’t determine if your true weight has changed until 30 days have gone by.
If you’re working hard to stay on your program, don’t give up too soon simply because you see only a small weight loss. Stick with it for a solid 30 days, then compare your scale weight to where you were a month earlier.
In the same way, seeing your dream number on the scale doesn’t mean anything unless you still see that number 30 days later. So don’t assume you’ve maintained or avoided gaining just because the scale doesn’t show any change in your weight.
Some years ago, I taught a weight-loss class that took place over the holiday seasons of November and December. In the first week of January, several class members were relieved because, in spite of holiday overeating and minimal exercise, their scale readings didn’t show any weight increase.
But on the last day of January, some of those people were almost in tears. Their weight numbers had jumped several pounds, and it appeared the scale was firmly stuck at a higher reading. In this case, it took 30 days for the holiday eating to show up as changes in their bodies.
So back to the question—how do you cope with a scale that won’t move? Most importantly, be patient and don’t let your frustration cause you to give up on your efforts.
Often a change in your weight is just around the corner. When you give up because you think your efforts aren’t working, you might miss the drop on the scale that would have shown up the very next day.
Note: Because my book Friends with the Scale is going out of print next year, I decided to post it one chapter at a time. I’ve skipped some chapters so today is Chapter 21.
This is the last chapter I will be posting. You can read all of the posted chapters here on my blog.