Ditching the Scale Permanently?

It seems like most of the advice here tends to tell people to ditch the scale, even if the commenter hasn't him/herself. I see the logic behind this, but I disagree with it, at least for myself.

If you notice, a lot of folks reach a point where they're shocked about how much weight they've gained over the years - maybe they see a photo of themselves, or step on a doctor's scale. I know this has happened to me several times. You realize you've gained weight, but you just don't realize how much you've gained. If you're weighing yourself, this sticker shock cannot happen. Other measuring methods - his clothes fit, tape measure, can be justified or denied in a way the scale cannot.

All that to say, I weigh myself regularly, and it's wise for me to do so because I can see myself slipping and not being totally aware of it.

I tend to be afraid that if I ditch the scale I will blow up by not keeping myself in check.

If you're otherwise doing what you need to do to lose weight (count calories, exercise, etc) you won't blow up and you will be able to know if you are from measurements so always a way to reverse the trend

I still weigh, but I really don't care much about it. My body composition seems to still be changing even as my weight stays mostly stable. I prefer measuring with clothing as I've always weighed heavier than I appear. I just fit into size 8 jeans yesterday, so that, more than the scale, shows that I'm on the right track. As long as you're paying attention and measuring somehow (tape or clothing), I think you're fine. You just need something accurate for accountability. Weighing occasionally in order to re-do your macros and calories is probably still necessary as long as you're in losing mode.

I have. I'm about 75lb down and doing the last 15-20 right now. The amount I still have to lose is kind of speculation since, you know, no scale. I'm more concerned with a specific - pretty realistic given my body shape - amount of inches I want to cut.

The reasons I stopped using the scale were such: it's easy to start stressing over it when trying to lose weight or maintain weight. No matter how many times people tell you that your weight fluctuates, if you've been heavy for a long time (and worst case you've been bullied by strangers and loved ones because of it), the number going up even slightly is going to affect you in an irrational way. So for my mental health, I cut myself off from it. I don't ask how much other people weigh or pay attention to women's magazines. My priority is to love myself and the scale was creating an unhealthy standard for me. Secondly, when you get down to "average" sizes, the weight-height ratio becomes sort of meaningless. People carry their weight very differently and the scale doesn't know the difference between muscle and fat. Should I train less, I'd weigh less, but I might look worse and I'd definitely feel worse. If I have a doctor's appointment, I tell them straight I don't know how much I weigh and if they want the information, they can measure but I don't really give a flying monkey. I take my measurements with a tape and that makes me happy and I know exactly if I'm within my goals or not.

The tape is also better at noticing PMS related fluctuations. My ass gets big before periods. Like really big. Comically big. And that's really funny to see on the tape measure. Not that I don't also notice that trying to put on underwear. :D
The thing is though, that yeah, you measure regularly, but you measure with a different method. The scale was way too arbitrary for me.

For the first month I weighed every single day and then I realized I was starting to drive myself crazy, so I banned it for a couple of weeks and only now started weighing myself once a week again. I think once a week is good because it keeps me in check but not obsessively so. I'm not constantly thinking about the number now, and a "bad" weigh-in due to weight fluctuations no longer ruins my morning.

I think the scale is important to a certain extent but definitely not daily weighing. I currently do once per week but when it comes to maintenance I might switch to fortnightly or even monthly. I'm pretty sure I can gauge from the mirror if I'm starting to gain fat.

I use the scale as a general guide. I don't use it as a primary source for my progress. I take my measurments once a week on the same day in the mornings to ensure that I don't get bloated throught the day.

I would say you can either keep the scale, and weigh yourself less frequently or you can get rid of it all together and focus on pictures and measurements.

My own advice to myself :

Don't ditch it, just weigh yourself less often for damage control purposes. It is a tool that can help you once you treat it as such. Bit like blood work of bodyfat measurements. Not needed but certainly helps.