For most of my life I didn't own a scale. I insisted that the number didn't matter, that it was about how I felt and how my clothes fit. My mom and my in-laws had scales at their houses and I would weigh myself periodically on those. Once I changed my eating habits, I bought a scale.
Then, I became a slave to the scale. While losing weight, I weighed myself daily. I only recorded my weight on my Lose It app once a week so it would make the calorie adjustments.
The confusion arose when I hit the maintenance point. Again, that's the hard part. Do I weigh myself weekly, daily, on weekends? when?
I tried several different plans. First it was weekly, but I found out that if the number was exactly my goal, I tended to be much more lax about my eating habits for the week. My weight would fluctuate 3 pounds or so and I felt myself losing control.
So, I tried the method of getting on the scale on Fridays and Mondays only. If the number was within my acceptable range (usually 1 pound in either direction), then I'd give myself a weekend of no calorie counting. If the number wasn't acceptable, then I counted calories over the weekend. That didn't mean that I didn't have a treat, I was just careful to make sure the treats fit into my calorie budget.
That plan left me feeling a bit out of control, too.
So, now I'm back to weighing myself every day. I'd say that I try not to obsess, but I think I do obsess. I know it's just a number and again, maybe it's the summer thing and that I'm still trying to balance out all the outings, but I do weigh myself every day.
I know the 'experts' say not to, but it works for me. I need the accountability that getting on the scale gives me. When I have a really bad day, I've been tempted to skip a day and then I remind myself that denial is a bad thing and I need to not beat myself up. I need to see the damage and then focus on having a good day. Accountability.