Why the Scale Is Making You Hate Your Body—And What to Do About It

June 24, 2024

Why Weighing Yourself Fuels Food Obsession and Body Dysmorphia. pic

Hey There, I'm Ryann Nicole.

I’m a recovered binge eater who changed the story from something that happened to me to something that happened for me. Now, I’m a licensed therapist teaching you to do the same.

My mission? To help you ditch food stress and live your life with mental peace and freedom every single day!

Let’s talk about the scale—specifically, why it’s making you hate your body even more. Yep. It’s time to have a heart-to-heart about this. I mean, we’ve all been there, right? You step on the scale, thinking maybe, just maybe, today will be the day it shows you a number you like. And when it doesn’t? Boom. The day is ruined. But here’s the kicker: even when the scale does show you a number you like, nothing really changes. You don’t suddenly feel better long-term. Maybe there’s that brief moment of validation, but it’s fleeting, and before you know it, you’re back to feeling anxious about the next weigh-in.

That little device that plays such a huge role in your life ends up dictating whether you feel good about yourself or not—whether you’re “good” or “bad” based on a number. And let me just say it—that’s messed up.

The Scale Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking the scale is the ultimate health check, right? Like, if the number goes down, we’re suddenly doing great—but here’s the reality: the number on the scale doesn’t tell you the full story. It’s just one little piece of data about your body, and it says nothing about things that truly matter, like how strong you feel, your heart health, or even how well you’re nourishing yourself. The scale? It can’t measure any of that.

When You Focus Too Much On The Scale

Here’s what happens when we focus too much on the scale: it can actually do more harm than good. Research shows that obsessing over weight can lead to things like disordered eating or weight cycling—where you lose weight, gain it back, and repeat the cycle over and over. And guess what? That weight cycling? It’s more harmful than just staying at a consistent weight! Studies have found that this constant fluctuation puts a lot of stress on your body, increasing inflammation and even raising the risk of health issues like hypertension and heart disease.1

What do you focus on instead?

So, what should we focus on instead? Well, research supports something called a weight-neutral approach, like the Health at Every Size (HAES) movement. Instead of fixating on the number, HAES encourages focusing on healthy behaviors like nourishing your body, finding joy in movement, and fostering a positive relationship with food. And here’s the cool part—people who follow this approach actually see better outcomes when it comes to physical and mental health. They feel better in their bodies, and their relationship with food becomes a lot more balanced .

The scale can’t measure the things that truly matter—like your energy, your happiness, or the love you show to the people around you. So, stepping away from it might just be the best choice for your health.

Weighing Yourself Feeds the Obsession

And you deserve more than a life like that! Now, let’s talk about what really happens when you keep weighing yourself: it feeds the obsession. Once you start focusing on that number, it’s like the rest of your life gets funneled into this one goal—making that number go down. And when that happens, everything starts revolving around it. You start obsessing over every calorie you eat, every calorie you burn, and it becomes less about how you actually feel and more about forcing that number lower.

You Never Win

When the scale goes up? You’re consumed with trying to bring it back down. You start thinking, Maybe I need to skip that meal or I have to work out harder. And when it goes down? The obsession shifts to keeping it there. You become hyper-focused on not letting it creep back up, and suddenly the weight loss journey that was supposed to make you feel better is now making you feel worse.

It’s this constant push-pull between controlling the scale and the fear of it going up again, which creates this unhealthy relationship with food and your body. Instead of listening to your body—what it needs, how it feels—you’re just chasing a number. And let me tell you, that’s no way to live. Because no matter what the scale says, you’re always left feeling like it’s not enough. The stress of maintaining a certain weight can take over your thoughts, your emotions, and how you see yourself, and that’s where it gets really damaging.

What The Scale Doesn’t Measure

The scale is only telling you one thing—your body’s weight. That’s it. But your health? Your happiness? Your self-worth? The scale is completely blind to all of that. It doesn’t know anything about your energy levels, your strength, how you’re sleeping, or whether you feel good in your body. It doesn’t measure how much love you’re pouring into your relationships or how resilient you are. And it definitely doesn’t tell you about all the things your body can do, like running after your kids, laughing with friends, or dancing in your living room.

The scale doesn’t reflect how far you’ve come in your mental and emotional health, either. It doesn’t see your wins when you practice intuitive eating, or how proud you feel when you choose to move your body in ways that feel good, instead of punishing workouts just to burn calories. And it has zero insight into how much joy you bring to the people around you or the way you show up for yourself every day, despite all the noise in your head about what your body “should” look like.

So, while you might think the scale is giving you control over your progress, what it’s really doing is narrowing your focus to a number that doesn’t tell the full story. You deserve more than that. You deserve to see your worth beyond what you weigh.

It’s Time to Break Up with the Scale

Imagine how freeing it would be to just stop stepping on that thing. To let go of the idea that your worth is tied to a number. I know, I know—it’s easier said than done, especially when so much of our culture is obsessed with weight. But here’s the thing: breaking up with the scale can give you space to actually listen to your body.

When you stop using the scale as a marker of success, you start to pay attention to other things, like how your body feels when you move, or how certain foods make you feel. You start to think about things like energy, joy, and confidence instead of a number. And that’s where the real transformation happens.

How to Start

If the thought of not weighing yourself feels a little terrifying, you’re not alone. The scale has probably been such a big part of your daily routine for so long that letting go of it feels scary—and that’s totally valid. It’s normal to feel that anxiety because it’s been your constant check-in, your “proof” of progress. But here’s the good news: you don’t have to go cold turkey. You can take baby steps toward breaking free from the scale.

Step 1: Get It Out of Sight

You don’t have to ditch it entirely right away. Start by getting the scale out of sight. Put it somewhere less accessible—maybe at the back of your closet, under your bed, or even in the trunk of your car. Just removing it from your daily view will stop the automatic urge to step on it every time you see it. This way, you’re not weighing yourself just because it’s there.

Step 2: Weigh Yourself Less Often

If you’re used to weighing yourself multiple times a day, start by cutting it down to once a day, then maybe once every other day. Gradually create more space between your weigh-ins. The goal here is to begin trusting your body without needing constant “validation” from the scale.

Step 3: Eventually, Let It Go

Once you’ve reduced the habit and are comfortable not weighing yourself as frequently, you might start to notice how much lighter you feel—emotionally. When you’ve reached that point, it might be time to say goodbye to the scale completely. Let it go. Trust that you don’t need it to tell you how you’re doing. Your body will tell you everything you need to know if you listen.

This process takes time, and that’s okay. The goal is to free yourself from that constant obsession, step by step. You deserve to feel good in your body, without needing a number to dictate your worth.

Don’t Let an Inanimate Object Control You

I know you’ve heard the classic line, “You are so much more than a number,” and don’t get me wrong—that’s absolutely true. But I also get that sometimes, that message doesn’t fully hit home. So, let me propose something a little different: You deserve more than a life where an inanimate object—literally just a piece of plastic and metal—is controlling you. Think about it. Are you really going to let a scale, something with no pulse, no thoughts, no understanding of your life, dictate how you feel about yourself?

You’re a living, breathing person with feelings, experiences, and complexity. The scale? It’s just sitting there, with no awareness of the incredible human being standing on it. It doesn’t know the laughter you share with loved ones, how you take care of others, or the goals you’re achieving. And yet, somehow, we let it have so much power over us. Why?

You deserve more than that. You deserve to be free from the control of an inanimate object, from the constant battle of “Am I good enough today?” based on a number that fluctuates for reasons that often have nothing to do with your actual health or happiness.

You deserve to live a life where you are in control—not the scale.

  1. https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-10-9 ↩︎

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Ryann Nicole

Licensed Therapist, Certified Nutritionist, and Virtual Wellness Coach

Ryann is a licensed therapist and virtual wellness coach who has assisted individuals worldwide in establishing a healthier relationship with food and their bodies.

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Ryann is a licensed therapist and virtual wellness coach who has assisted individuals worldwide in establishing a healthier relationship with food and their bodies.