It’s a struggle. And not always a pleasant one. You step on the scale every morning to see if perhaps you’ve lost weight. Unfortunately, the scale isn’t the best resource to assure your weight lose journey is headed in the right direction. In fact, I tell my patients to stop using the scale altogether.

That’s right…don’t use the scale. Just get rid of it.

When you have close to 11,000 gastric sleeve patients who have struggled with obesity and weight related illnesses their whole lives, trying to convince them the scale is not something they should continue to use can be tricky. I have to explain to them the reasons why jumping on that scale every day is very detrimental to their mindset and their weight loss goals.

Yes, it’s a mindset.

You see, every time you step on the scale you are trying to reassure yourself that the changes you are implementing are working. That your food choices are helping you lose weight or that the exercise is firming those muscles. And, those things might actually be working…but the scale isn’t moving. Or it’s moving so slowly that it’s making you frustrated.

Instead of trying to help yourself be better with your food choices you’re actually becoming a scale watcher. You become obsessed with the numbers. The scale becomes your enemy very quickly. And sadly, you start to hate everything about losing weight.

So why do it? Why punish yourself?

Accept it…the scale is not your friend.

Instead of using a scale, why not use something else? Why not use what you’re already wearing? That’s right, why not use the very clothes you are trying to shrink out of as your guide to losing weight? And the best part…no numbers.

Your clothes are the single greatest way of telling you the weight is coming off. The looser the fit the more weight you’re losing. Soon, the clothes will feel so baggy that you’ll need new ones. And, soon those will feel loose and baggy as well.

You are no longer obsessed with the scale, because you’re using your clothes as the very tool to measure your success. It becomes a game of how fast can I shrink out of these jeans or this dress or this sweater.

I’ve heard from some patients they only step on a scale when they go to their doctor’s office. In fact, I’ve had a few patients who only weighed themselves when they came back to visit. Imagine not weighing yourself for almost a year and then stepping on the scale to see you’ve lost 100lbs or more.

If you’d like to learn more about weight loss and how to overcome your weight related illnesses or to discover the benefits of the gastric sleeve procedure, I invite you to visit us on our website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. And if you snap you can follow me (Dr A) on Snapchat my username is: gmoalvarez