The scale is a poor judgeHabits

unbry

The scale is a poor judge

A short book about weighing yourself daily and letting the number set your mood

27 chapters13,071 wordsAbout 59 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit, which is stepping on the bathroom scale every morning and letting…2 min
1Ten past seven, before the kettleYou're up. You've been to the bathroom, and before the kettle, before anything that might add weight, you step on. You do it the way you always do it, one…2 min
2Why the step makes senseNobody gets on the scale every morning because they've weighed up the evidence and decided a daily reading is the best use of the first minute of the day.…2 min
3"The number is the truth about my body"The scale is honest. It doesn't flatter and it doesn't sulk. So the number feels like the truth, and the truth it feels like is a truth about fat, because…2 min
4"If it's up, I ate too much yesterday"The number is up, and you know why, because you can remember last night. The curry, the second glass, the bread you didn't need. The rise feels like the…2 min
5"If it's down, I'm doing well"This one's harder to give up, because it feels good. The number is down, and you were careful yesterday, and the two facts join up into a small glow that…2 min
6"Daily weighing keeps me honest"Here's where the research really is on your side, up to a point, and it's worth being straight about it. Regular self-weighing has a good record in…2 min
7"Without the scale I'd lose control"This is the fear underneath the habit, and it deserves a straight answer rather than reassurance. You're afraid that if you stop looking, the weight will…2 min
8"The scale is the only objective measure"You've probably tried the alternatives and found them wanting. The mirror lies according to the light and your mood. Clothes stretch. How you feel is…2 min
9"A good morning earns something, a bad one has to be paid for"This is the settling up, and it's where the swing stops being a mood and starts being a meal. A bad morning and breakfast becomes optional. Lunch gets…2 min
10"Everyone slim weighs every day"You picture slim people as people who keep an eye on it, and keeping an eye on it means the scale, and so daily weighing looks like the habit of the…2 min
11"It's only a number, I can handle it"You know the arguments in chapters 3 to 5, or you knew a version of them already. You know water goes up and down. You've told yourself on a bad morning…2 min
12"It's just how I start the day"The swing, you'd say, is over by the time you've dressed. A bad morning is a bad ten minutes. It doesn't come to work. So the cost is small and the habit…2 min
13"I'll just check once more"The number is up and you don't believe it, so you step off and step on again. Or you take the top off, or you shift your feet, or you go to the loo and…2 min
14What the number costs youThe scale costs nothing, sits in a corner, takes a minute. If it weren't for the swing, that would be the end of the accounting. But you've read chapter…2 min
15What it does to the weightThis chapter is short and it's the one place I'll talk about weight itself, because you'll want to know. Does the daily step at least keep the weight…2 min
16Noise, and the line through itEverything so far has said the same thing from different sides. The number on one morning is noise, and the only thing the scale can tell you is the line.…2 min
17Three ways to stop the swingThere isn't one right answer here, and I'm not going to pretend there is. There are three, and they suit different readers, and the decision in chapter 21…2 min
18The weigh dayPick the morning. It wants to be one that's usually ordinary. Not Monday, because of Orsama's weekend rise, and not the morning after your usual big…2 min
19The breakThe scale goes in the cupboard, and it goes today, not after a last reading. A last reading is a mark, and the break starts with a mark unless you refuse…2 min
20What to measure instead, if anythingSome readers can't take the break without something to replace the number, and it's fair to ask what. The honest first answer is that you may not need a…2 min
21The decisionHere's what I'd suggest, and it's one rule with three versions, chosen once and held for four weeks. The rule. One reading or none, written down, read as…2 min
22Programmes, partners, smart scales, doctors, teenagers and the jeans that do the same jobEvery reader has a reason the general advice doesn't quite fit. Here are the ones I'd expect, each in turn. You're in a weight-loss programme that asks…3 min
23When it's more than a habitThis book is about a habit, and a habit is something you can decide about. Some readers will recognise, in reading it, that the scale is part of something…2 min
24When you got back onIt'll happen. A morning in the second week, or the third, when the fear from chapter 7 is loud and the cupboard is right there, and you get the scale out…2 min
25Ten past seven, the kettleYou're up. You've been to the bathroom. The mat is where it always was, and the flat white square isn't on it, or it is, and it's Thursday, and you'll…2 min
·NotesThese notes give the sources behind the claims in each chapter, and say where I'm giving my own interpretation. The book isn't medical advice. If a doctor…7 min