The weighing scales have broken…
I went to go and get them to have a sneaky weigh-in and the dial just didn’t move. I’ve either wasted away to nothing (yeah right!!!) or the poor, poor scales, after several years of good service, just couldn’t take anymore. I kinda feel guilty that I caused it’s death…
Now I’m undecided what to do. I’m literally weeks away from moving to the UK and frantically trying to keep hold of every penny as my moving and resettlement costs are sky rocketing. I’m reluctant to go buy more scales.
I’m erring on the side of buying the same style of accurate medical scale again once we touch down in blighty and weighing in then… it will be about a month without weigh-ins.
What would you do??
C xxxxx
Borrow a scale so you at least can track a bit, even if it’s not quite the same. At least you’d know how much you’d lost or gained each week.
You’re right Carolyn, save your money and just make sure that you do some exercise every day and try not to binge. This way you’ll have a pleasant surprise when you get back to England. You can do this girl!!!!
Your new rental may have scales but in any case I wouldn’t buy new ones in Canada – maybe a friend will let you weigh in on theirs once a week. Or you could wait a month and surprise yourself at how much you’ve lost ;-)) xx
Oh I think you should wait and have a nice surprise when you get into your new home! X
Are you a member of a gym ? they must have scales ?
Wait until you get to England! It is one less thing to shift as well.
Wait! 😀 Could be exciting to see how much you’ve managed to lose in a whole month versus a week.
Wait till you get here Carolyn. They really are a good price and you may even get some on freecycle or a freebie fb site in Notiingham
There used to be scales at every bus station, usually next to the photo boothes. Not sure why . . .
I wouldn’t bother buying new scales here…..but if you need the weekly accountability, then weigh yourself on a friend’s scale today, and then on your regular weigh-in day until you leave (insert here sad weeping and wailing from your Canadian friends who will miss you so….). That way, you won’t have a possibly unpleasant surprise on your first weigh-in at your new home.
Many hugs as you plow on through the stress of the next few weeks.
This is a bit long but it is how I feel about things.
My scale and I are hardly on speaking terms anymore. I hate scales. Scales lie. They are not dependable. They forget. They are fickle. They toy with your feelings. They change their minds. They never give you what you need. They never call when they say they will or take out the garbage. No wait, that’s men. But you know where I’m going.
I used to be passionate about my scale but now I know that it is completely unworthy of my devotion. Now I mostly stay numb or indifferent in my affections because the deceiver never reflects reality. At least as I want it to be. It is emotionally abusive and because we are co-dependant its behaviour turns me into a physically abusive psycho too. Smacking it with my husband’s hammer was wonderful instant gratification but left an emotional and financial scar from which I am still trying to recover.
It is all so very confusing. I try to stay strong but sooner or later I always let down my guard and then I get sucked right back in. I love and adore my scale when it shows a decrease. It fills me with despair when it shows an increase. It frustrates me and fills me with rage when it registers no change. Even though I know nothing it says is the WHOLE truth its opinion stabs me straight through to the heart and takes me closer to the edge.
And just to drive myself even crazier I actually have two scales so that I can go from one to the other if I don’t like the answer I get. And I found the exact spot on the bathroom floor that has a slight warp to it and marked it with masking tape because this spot always makes the scale register a pound less. Also if you stick out your tongue and hold your head at just the right angle……And always pluck your eyebrows and shave your legs before weighing. Every pound helps. To further prove the power that scales have over me I am actually shopping around for one of those scales that records body fat as well as weight. Oh goody. Three instruments of torture. Maybe I should get a rack too? I have heard that they give you long lean muscles and can actually add a few inches to your height. If you survive.
But now that I have “matured” I prefer to use a tape measure and the way my clothes fit to keep track of where I am. Trust me there is nothing like the pain from a pair of jeans trying to act like a thong to keep you focused on your weight goal. And the best way I have found to “see” myself is to lie down on a big piece of paper and have my husband trace my outline. Then I tape me to the wall and throw darts. Just kidding. He won’t even let me hang pictures on our pristine walls. But seriously this outline thing is great – it clearly shows the incredible shrinking woman.
I also stole the calipers out of my husband’s tool box to measure the rolls and folds of fat on my body. This is a good idea if you have self control otherwise you will find yourself in the process of turning yourself into a twitching drooling mess. How can you possibly have one toe that is fatter than the other? That’s just wrong. By the way – anybody have any suggestions on how to cover up little tiny bruises in places where there shouldn’t be any little tiny bruises? Husbands can be so inquisitive. And suspicious.
I am determined to one day have the confidence to turn all my scales into a boat anchor (I have already bought some rope and we have been pricing canoes) because I know that the more important issue here is how I feel about myself and the muscle to fat ratio of my body. And yet no matter how logically I think and how hard I try I am still a glutton for punishment and just can’t stay away from the scales for more than a couple of weeks. I gotta see those numbers just like birds gotta fly and fish gotta swim.
But I am doing MUCH better now. I keep my scales wrapped and taped up in brown paper and locked inside my Grandmothers steamer trunk. Not kidding. This way I really have to want to know and be willing to go through hell and high water to find out.
Every other Monday is my weighing day but I forgot to take the ziplock bag out of the freezer last night so I had to defrost it in boiling water, which must have slightly warped the metal of the key because it took me forever to pick the lock on my Grandmama’s trunk. Just kidding. Picked it in no time. I unloaded the trunk, found the scales and unwrapped them. To wrap the scales I use heavy brown packing paper. Left over Christmas wrap isn’t thick enough because the light from the illuminated dial shines through when you step on it
I know this whole routine sounds insane and IT IS but it is actually done to help preserve what little of my sanity remains. By making it really hard and time consuming to get at my scales my goal is to not always be searching for that next weight fix and to get and stay really in tune to the feel of my body.
Ok, now sit down and in a few minutes some nice men in white coats will be arriving to take you to a lovely white, padded, peaceful room with noooo scales!! 😉
I like you Denise Gregerson, you made me laugh out loud…x
I forgot to list my noms!
Breakfast= tea n toast!
Lunch= open sandwich of salad and 1/4 tin of tuna
Some (sugar free!) sweeties in the car
Dinner= 2 sausages with leftover veggies reheated & sauté potatoes
Strawberries
No hunger pangs woohoo!
I have long suspected that the men in white coats just got the wrong address on their paperwork. One thing I have learned is that you have to keep a sense of humour about weight. If things are weighing heavily on your mind then they will inevitably weigh heavily everywhere else. And I love to laugh. So good for the chipmonk cheeks and double chin.
Awesome reply. Cheered me up no end today.
Carolyn, Don’t sweat the weight. You are doing fine.
I have put this reply on my FB page, I do hope you don’t mind. If you do then I will remove it.
Thanks Paul- appreciate that xxx
Happy to cheer you up! Made myself giggle too. They do say that it takes more muscles to smile than to frown so it burns more calories. Does this mean we can skip the gym?
What a wonderful response, amusing and thought provoking… thanks for making us all smile!!! C xxx
I posted it on fb too, if you want me to remove it I will but it is so funny I wanted to share it Denise! X
So if you have scales to spare, how about sending some to Carolyn ??
I would love to send my scales on vacation. I wonder if I could expect a post card from England? Unfortunately I live in the Yukon Territory and for what it would cost to get them to Caroline – well she could buy a scale for every room and hire a Scale-boy to fiddle with the dial and keep them all shiny.
Oh my!!!!!!! I like the idea of a scale-boy!!! 🙂
Ha! Yes, I could do with a scale-boy to keep the dials shiny…and a butler, I’ve always wanted a butler 🙂
I think you need to get out mor Denise. Preferably for a nice long walk!!
Oh yes, you can even use the scales in Boots the Chemist. X
I’ve just snorted my tea down my nose reading your post Denise. You really should get out more! lol
We had a fabulous trip to Chislehurst Caves today. During WW2 1500+ people used to sleep there for safety. Apparently it was the biggest shelter outside of London. I also bought home a couple of nice WW2 recipe leaflets.
Well today’s menu has been scrummy:
Breakfast/brunch: floodies, tomatoes and bacon (only have one rasher left for the family for the week so I’ll have to be inventive)
Early dinner with small person: haggis, mashed spud, cauliflower and carrots
Pudding: rhubarb and custard for me, bread pudding and custard for darling husband and small person
If I get hungry later I may resort to a slice of toast and marmite. Bizarrely, and this is seriously unusual for me, I haven’t been hungry at all today. I’m seeing this as a positive sign.
I saw my consultant yesterday and he’s very pleased with my recovery, so much so that I’m allowed to start swimming (gently) next week, so I will work that into my routine when Boo is back at school for the next half of the summer term. Not that it feels like summer, it’s been wet and cold again today.
Carolyn I say chuck the scales! Wait until you get to UK and you may get a nice suprise. Otherwise, make it a fresh start, you’ll know how you feel, which is more important. I too like Denise, have had a fluctuating affair with my scales…they seem to be unable to make their mind up what is happening with me. So I have been going more on how I feel and the fit of my clothes. I must say my trousers have been feeling like they don’t hug me quite as hard, maybe that is just wishfull thinking.
Week 3 has been hard being back at work. Got home late’ish last night and had to throw dinner together, this morning I get up at 0430 to see the left over mess.
Onion gravy dried to a saucepan is going to be fun to scrub!
Today I will be able to get organised before heading off again for another two day trip….brekkie at home, take lunch with me and dinner as well. Brekkie tomorrow will have to be in the hotel, lunch and dinner on the plane. Might go to the shops whilst away and get some bits to make up sandwiches for tomorrow’s lunch and dinner. Really finding it tough to take food to work, keep it fresh and reheat.
Looks like more salads needed, but in winter, they are a struggle to live on.
I’d wait. One less thing to move!
I would just get some cheap scales for now and notice the difference between each week as a rough guide. When you are over here you can invest in something that you are going to keep and save yourself a lot of money on shipping and of course tax if they decide to tax you on the shipment
I’m with the others, wait until you get to England to get a scale. Denise, I feel your pain. Thank you for putting into words what most of us feel.
I have a question…Does anyone have a general idea of how much the WWII housewife would have spent on food? I’ve been living on $35.00 a month for food.
OMG $35 a month? Well done you! Mind you I can (without beer) feed myself on $10 a week if I’m careful but well done you!!!
PS I think prices went up quite a bit during the war
Huh???
That’s impressive, I spent a little more than that for two of us in one week, and I thought I was doing well!!!
Back to the drawing board for me I guess, although I do know there are one or two things I could cut down on.
And yep, beer is one of them, would love to catch up with you sometime in UK Carolyn and shout you a frothy or two and a damn good chat.
I think you would be an amazingly interesting person to have a conflab with.
Completely off topic, but I thought I would interupt the usual programming to give you this newsflash. Sweets are off ration!… 60 years ago!
And IWM North has an exhibition on until the end of the year to celebrate it. Have a look at this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22706432
And pretty near to your new home. Now that’s worth coming home for, isn’t it!?
OMG!!!! This would be awesome!!!
Thought you’d like it!
I could not find any info in British pounds but $1 in 1940 is worth $16.26 US dollars in 2012. The average yearly income was $1725.00 or about $144 a month. If you count 25% for groceries (things were expensive during the war) then that would give you $36 a month in 1940 dollars or $570 a month in 2012 dollars.
If you are spending $35 now you are a FRUGAL STAR!
Hello!
I don’t think I’ve commented before – but have been reading – love your blog 🙂
Just thought I should let you know (if you didn’t already) about freecycle. I furnished my whole house with freecycled stuff from lovely people when I first moved and had no money. Someone may have some scales for you on there 🙂
Vx