# Actually weighing yourself



## Rathkhan (Feb 22, 2012)

You know, I haven't actually weighed myself in the better part of a decade as, at least where I am, scales generally max out at 250, 300 if I'm lucky. I just picked up (well, ordered and got delivered via UPS) a scale. It's a scale that can digitally gauge up to 750 lbs. It has this awesome detached display with a computer port on it to connect to a PC. 

I actually found myself sitting on one of my steps that leads upstairs, staring down at it while it sat on the floor. I wanted to know... the number. I had always just kind of guessed based on pictures I've seen of others online who tell their weight and show pictures, whether I'm bigger or smaller etc... but I've never really KNOWN for sure. 

So... tonight I broke down and turned on the display, let it zero, then got on the scale... 469 lbs. I could cut myself in half, and still have both halves be considered clinically obese on a BMI scale. Now, I'm not hating on it. Just never really knew the number. It's... an odd thing to funnel through the mind when you know for sure. 

Anyone else delve through the same mystery and find an odd revelation on the other side?


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## Rathkhan (Feb 22, 2012)

Also, I know BMI is really not a complete picture of health or anything, just an odd thing that popped in my head as soon as I saw the number.


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## SitiTomato (Feb 22, 2012)

I can relate to never knowing the exact number. I don't own a scale and so I've always just guessed.

When I visit the grandparents I always hop on their old timey scale. I promptly weigh the metal down against the display so it can't spin.

So according to that I'm around 120 or so. Pretty fit an trim over here


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## agouderia (Feb 22, 2012)

SitiTomato said:


> When I visit the grandparents I always hop on their old timey scale.
> So according to that I'm around 120 or so. Pretty fit an trim over here



For your own best we sincerely hope either a) your grandparents have a kilogram scale or b) it's broken! 


Now on a more serious note regarding the OP's question:
For the vast majority, scales have turned into the equivalent of medieval torture instruments. 

The numbers they churn out - in combination with the fabulous BMI or inches of the waistline - have in social perception turned into nothing less than decisive criteria for assessing a person and judging their value. Thus giving some physical measurements an out of proportion influence on the self- and public image of a person.

Objectively seen, a scale offers you nothing but neutral data which can help in assessing a situation and maybe offering a guideline for possible resolutions.



Rathkhan said:


> I could cut myself in half, and still have both halves be considered clinically obese on a BMI scale.



This sentence mirrors exactly the sheer terror exercised by the above named numbers. They dole out the modern day versions of stigmata putting incredible pressure to conform on anybody who receives one of their negative labels, even if it might be way off any realistic mark.

I hope you can use the scale and it's numbers not as the ultimate instance for judging anything, but as a helpful gadget for finding your own personal balance and path for leading your life as you wish to live it. 

It's not easy ... it takes quite some strength and guts to put the scale in it's place... good luck with it!


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## rellis10 (Feb 22, 2012)

The last time I weighed myself properly was so long ago I can't remember it, or what the scale said. There is a scale in our house but the last time I tried to use it it didn't go up far enough.... so still no real numbers, only guesses at around 340/350.


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## Melian (Feb 22, 2012)

It's been about 10 years for me too, as I don't see the value in knowing my weight. I assume it's hovering between 100-105 lbs, because that's what it was the last time I remember being on a scale, and my measurements are still the same.


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## BigChaz (Feb 22, 2012)

Melian said:


> It's been about 10 years for me too, as I don't see the value in knowing my weight. I assume it's hovering between 100-105 lbs, because that's what it was the last time I remember being on a scale, and my measurements are still the same.


 
I squash you like bug


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## JerseyGirl07093 (Feb 23, 2012)

I haven't been on a scale in forever either because most scales only go up to about 300-350 and I know I weigh more than that. Someone I know in my building has a scale that would go high enough to weigh me and I was back and forth with the "I want to know/I don't want to know" debate about my weight. I just guessed at what I thought I weighed based on my last weight and how much I felt I'd gained since then.
Recently I was in the hospital. When they brought me upstairs the nurse asked me my weight. I told her I didn't know for sure and she said "That's ok, I can just weigh you on the bed." Apparently the bed had a built in scale. In those few moments, even though I was feeling so weak and sick, all I could think of was "Do I want to know? I should know. Oh God, I don't want to know! Please don't say the number out loud." All this in a matter of seconds. lol And when she said the number...it was actually a lot lower than I thought it was. 
In the end it felt good to find out the actual number. Not like that number means anything one way or the other, it's just good to know.


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## escapist (Feb 23, 2012)

Finding out I passed over 500 was a scary moment for me. I remember thinking I'd kill to be what I was not long ago (460). I put myself on some food type restrictions (that needed to be done anyways) and started walking every week. I soon found myself around 470 lbs. I have a desk job again and I'm pretty sure I'm back up again, but I don't have an awesome scale like yours...and I really wish I did, but I know all I really have to do is workout a bit to fix it.


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## CastingPearls (Feb 24, 2012)

LivingXL (online and print catalog) has scales that I believe go up to 800 or 1000 lbs. I owned one (left behind when I left ex-spouse) that I bought from there that was around $400. I never thought of it as my enemy because it's just a inanimate device and because I owned it and wasn't forced to use it, and could use it in private. I realized I'd had a phobia about knowing my weight, and by weighing myself regularly, whether to lose weight or not, knowledge is power and I could make informed decisions based on knowing.


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## BigChaz (Feb 24, 2012)

CastingPearls said:


> LivingXL (online and print catalog) has scales that I believe go up to 800 or 1000 lbs. I owned one (left behind when I left ex-spouse) that I bought from there that was around $400. I never thought of it as my enemy because it's just a inanimate device and because I owned it and wasn't forced to use it, and could use it in private. I realized I'd had a phobia about knowing my weight, and by weighing myself regularly, whether to lose weight or not, knowledge is power and I could make informed decisions based on knowing.



I have this one: http://living-xl.destinationxl.com/...lish/cat70151/X1133?navAction=push&navCount=9

Truly we have good taste in bathroom scale shops.


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## CastingPearls (Feb 24, 2012)

BigChaz said:


> I have this one: http://living-xl.destinationxl.com/...lish/cat70151/X1133?navAction=push&navCount=9
> 
> Truly we have good taste in bathroom scale shops.



Yes we do!

I had one of the Siltec heavy duty ones. I like yours. After looking at reviews of some of the others I had in mind, I think I might get that one. Thanks.


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## BigChaz (Feb 24, 2012)

CastingPearls said:


> Yes we do!
> 
> I had one of the Siltec heavy duty ones. I like yours. After looking at reviews of some of the others I had in mind, I think I might get that one. Thanks.



It works great for me - it's accurate and fast and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It also doesn't look industrial, which I didn't like about some of the ones I looked at. I don't want people to think I am weighing cattle in my bathroom instead of just my own fat ass.


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## imfree (Feb 24, 2012)

I'm truckin' along on a Faibanks, similar to this one, but beige and maybe an older model. VA Telehealth supplied it to monitor me for fluid retention. Now, if we can just get my legs steadied back up so I can get good, reliable readings again.:doh:

PSA: An overnight gain of 3 lbs or more could be dangerous fluid retention and anyone who is at risk for fluid retention or CHF really should weigh daily. 

View attachment Fairbanks scale wb md.jpg


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## escapist (Feb 24, 2012)

Huh I had the 440 lb one...and well broke it of course  I'll get that one, cause I'll be damned if I go over 550 lbs...God I hope I don't...


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## Rathkhan (Feb 24, 2012)

LOL nice, LivingXL is where I got mine. I got the: 
http://living-xl.destinationxl.com/...cale/cat70151/X1738?navAction=push&navCount=2

Yeah it's industrial looking, but it goes up to 750 and I figure... once I don't need it, I can resell it or use it to weigh other stuff!


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## imfree (Feb 24, 2012)

BigChaz said:


> I have this one: http://living-xl.destinationxl.com/...lish/cat70151/X1133?navAction=push&navCount=9
> 
> Truly we have good taste in bathroom scale shops.



The Phoenix looks just like the "My Weigh XL-550". 

View attachment My-Weigh-XL550-Talking-Bathroom-Scale-Top.jpg


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## lovelocs (Mar 1, 2012)

I weighed myself today at the museum. Stood on their scale, which then gave me the option of checking my weight on all the other planets of our solar system, as well as the moon, and Pluto. It was kind of fun...


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## vinarian (Mar 1, 2012)

I like my gnifty electronic scale, according to it, I weigh ERR lbs, and have for a while now, so I'm just happy that I've not gone over that yet.


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## Geodetic_Effect (Mar 2, 2012)

Only get weight at the doctor, so it's been a few years. I really don't care what I weigh. Only weights that are significant to me are the ones I lift.


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## Wanderer (Mar 4, 2012)

Heh... considering I'm a frustrated gainer wishing the number would go *up*, maybe I shouldn't post here...


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## CastingPearls (Mar 4, 2012)

BigChaz said:


> I have this one: http://living-xl.destinationxl.com/...lish/cat70151/X1133?navAction=push&navCount=9
> 
> Truly we have good taste in bathroom scale shops.





CastingPearls said:


> Yes we do!
> 
> I had one of the Siltec heavy duty ones. I like yours. After looking at reviews of some of the others I had in mind, I think I might get that one. Thanks.





BigChaz said:


> It works great for me - it's accurate and fast and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It also doesn't look industrial, which I didn't like about some of the ones I looked at. I don't want people to think I am weighing cattle in my bathroom instead of just my own fat ass.



Got mine! Bought the one you linked. It was supposed to come with batteries but didn't so I was delayed a day to weigh myself for the first time since I left my ex. I lost 65 lbs. I'm actually happy, but I wish it wasn't because of an ulcer.


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