08/09/2026
Should we throw the scales away, or do we just need to stop letting the number control how we feel?
For years, I’ve told women to throw the scales away. And honestly, I had good reason.
Your weight can fluctuate because of your period, hormones, water retention, salty food, stress, sleep, digestion or simply what time of day you weigh yourself. You can become stronger, lose inches and completely change your body shape without seeing a dramatic change on the scales.
The problem is that one number can ruin someone’s entire day. You wake up feeling good, your clothes fit better and you’ve trained brilliantly… then you step on the scales, don’t like the number and suddenly decide you’ve failed.
But are the scales actually the problem?
Maybe they’re simply one way of collecting information. We don’t get emotionally attached to the number on a tape measure or the weight written on a dumbbell, so why do we allow the scales to decide whether we should feel proud of ourselves?
For some people, weighing themselves can be useful. It can show a general trend and help them stay accountable. For others, it becomes obsessive and completely overshadows every other bit of progress they’re making.
So perhaps the answer isn’t that everyone should throw their scales away. Maybe we need to learn how to use them without giving that number the power to determine our mood, confidence or self-worth.
The scales can tell you your relationship with gravity. They cannot tell you how strong you are, how much fitter you feel, how confidently you walked into the gym or how much your mindset has changed.
So, what do you think: should we throw the scales away completely, or do we just need to become less emotionally attached to the number?
