As part of my new program to improve my health, I need to weigh myself every day. The clinic I joined sent me a welcome kit that includes a high-tech scale. It measures my weight and without connecting to a wifi network or using Bluetooth, it somehow beams the result to my account. I see the result in the app within one minute. I don’t know how it works but it’s nifty. 

I’m sure the purpose of this technology is to get accurate results. Many people are sensitive to weight and might be inclined to fudge the numbers if they were entering the results manually. 

I am not a fan of weighing myself every day. My weight fluctuates quite a bit for a variety of reasons. Still, I know it is necessary to measure what I want to change. And why is it the scale at the doctor’s office always reads more than the scale at home?? 

This brings me to the question of why weight is required on a driver’s license. I can understand certain physical characteristics like height and eye color. For the most part, these characteristics do not change. My Arizona driver’s license does not expire until 2042. If I don’t have a reason to update it, whatever weight I reported when I got it will always be the weight listed.

I used to listen to the Howard Stern Show. At one point he had rigged a scale in the floor next to the microphone stand to measure the weight of anyone standing there to talk to him. There was a big LED sign on the wall that would show the weight for all to see. I think the DMV should use a similar method. After all, this is an official ID used for voting and getting on airplanes. They could build a scale into the floor right where you stand to get your picture taken. There could be a big LED sign next to the Next Number sign that displays the weight of each person. For an added bonus, you could have a screen next to this sign that displays the person’s newly-taken photo next to the weight just to be sure. For some reason, women in particular vehemently oppose my suggestion.

4-24-20

I have made my disdain of scales pretty public. I am happy to report that I will discontinue the daily practice of weighing myself. My new doctor advised me to get a DEXA scan, which he says is a far more accurate and comprehensive picture of body composition and body fat percentage than one number on a scale. I can’t get in until June, so I’ll have to wait a month for the baseline.

It’s nice to finally relax a bit. Checking biomarkers every day gets old, and I’ve been doing it for a year. It’s hard for me not to obsess about numbers. I know the adage that what gets measured gets changed, but there is also a frequency factor. I think a daily weight check is an overkill.  

It’s funny how you don’t really “feel” your weight until you start doing things that make it obvious. I feel pretty much the same as I did when I weighed a lot more. I can still walk around the same as normal. Attempting pull-ups or doing pushups is where I can definitely feel a difference. I do feel the need to balance out core body strength to match my physical stature.