GEORGIE - Scales, jeans and measuring tapes

Just a quickie about your/our weight. I am an obsessive scale hopper, as someone who can fall of the wagon quite easily I find a regular step onto the dreaded plates lets me keep my weight in check. I don't do it daily, but at least twice a week - if I don't - then I find that suddenly 5 pounds have appeared from no where! During my move back from the States, the scales got packed and I can't find them anywhere. I am entering my third month without scales and it's been tough. I resolved to weight myself when I went to the gym. Fat lot of good that has done me. Last month, I tipped the scales 9lbs (about 4kgs) heavier then I did yesterday! I think the scales at my local leisure centre are taking the piss! There is no way that is accurate or I really am doing something right! I am learning to live without scales until they are eventually unpacked, and do what Mummy Bingham always says and watch my clothes and how they fit instead.

So there is a balance it seems. I have taken to measuring all my vital statistics and keeping in check that way. I measure my bust, ribs, upper arms, waist, hip bones, and thighs. It only takes 5 minutes and I felt smug this morning when I heard diet and exercise guru Rosemary Conley saying that is the ONLY way of monitoring your body size and shape. She is right!

Keeping track of your size is just as important as watching what you put in your mouth daily. So it's about moderation. I would say this - If you avoid the scales at all cost, buy some. It's a bit of an extreme example but when you see contestants on"The Biggest Loser' step onto the scales and immediately start crying over their actual weight, a number of them then admit that they stopped weighing themselves a long time ago and that's all part of the weight gain denial. Of course the contestants on the Biggest Loser's are in a much worse predicament then most of us are but the principal of monitoring is the same.

I didn't use a scale for about 3 years and those were my 'hefty' years when I didn't notice my weight creep up pound by pound. We can all convince ourselves that we aren't putting on weight when we actually are. If you are determined to pretend a pair of jeans still fit you for the sake of 'going by your clothes' then you are lying to yourself and the little muffin tops that are hanging over the top don't fool anyone. That is what I certainly was like before I went to America. Even if you only weight yourself once a month I would recommend it. The scales (providing they are accurate and not in Leiston Leisure Centre in Suffolk) don't lie.

If you do use your clothes to determine whether or not you are gaining or losing pounds - don't use jeans. They may be the staple of all our wardrobes but they are not really a great indication of what's actually happening to our hips. My jeans seem to grow with me if I put on weight and I am able to convince myself that I haven't put on weight at all! Brilliant! Not in the long term though. I have two dresses in my wardrobe that are well tailored and if I need to find out how my size is, I can put either of them on and they will tell me whether I am a little on the podgy side or not. Find one item of your wardrobe that fits really well when you are at your body best and use that to measure occasionally how you match up.

Frankly, it's about being honest with yourself. If you feel like you are putting on weight, then check. Either measure or weigh yourself and find out so that you can start to rectify the problem. This particularly comes into play in your thirties and forties when our metabolisms slow and we are more prone to weight gain. If you find yourself getting a bit too obsessed with stepping on the scale, then don't do it so often. Our weight can fluctuate on a day to day basis, and it's more about how you are doing week to week that really matters!