Mullis: Watching my weight without a scale

I don’t have a scale in my home. I wanted to raise girls who don’t care about scales. I was not such a girl. I cared way too much about scales, which is another reason I have never owned one as an adult.

Whenever I’m in someone’s house and their bathroom has a scale, I stand on it. Not only has this given me a ballpark idea of what I weigh, it has given me evidence that I still shouldn’t own a scale.

Mostly I use my pants to control my weight. If my pants fit, everything in my closet will fit. If my pants are too tight, I cut back on the ice cream and walk the dog more. If they’re too loose...well, that’s never happened.

Due to sickness, I found myself in a doctor’s office in early January. And, of course, before I could see the doctor, I had to step on the scale.

I had noticed before my appointment my pants were getting a little uncomfortable. When I got on the scale, I got a number that defined “uncomfortable."

I wasn’t alarmed. I had been there before. Time to cut back on the ice cream and walk the dog more. I figured in a few weeks everything would be cool.

It wasn’t.

A few weeks later, I was back at the doctor’s office, which meant I was back on the scale. I didn’t weigh less; I weighed more.

Instantly, I was a distraught 14-year-old girl obsessed with that number.

Why didn’t cutting back work? What did I need to do? Join Weight Watchers? Live with Oprah? Get a gym membership? Buy a (gulp) scale?

When my provider came in, I told her about the scale and the pants. I left out the part about possibility of living with Oprah.

She wasn’t alarmed.

“How would you describe your lifestyle? Mostly sedentary?”

Mostly?

I’m a freelance writer. My natural habitat is a desk, and my desk is next to my kitchen. A turtle has a more active lifestyle than I do. But, like a turtle, I like my natural environment.

She told me this was not a problem. I just needed to adjust how many calories I take in every day.

Counting calories? That sounds like a diet, which I like less than scales.

Not a diet, she insisted, a decision. She said safe and effective weight loss was one pound a week. Extreme diet and exercise would only trick my body into keeping the weight. She showed me an app called My Fitness Pal, where I could set my goal and keep a diary of my food intake and exercise.

She told me to eat the food I love, but use the app to help moderate the servings. She told me to aim for 30 minutes of activity a day, which could be as simple as marching around my desk or carrying soup cans when I walk the dog.

I was still worried. What was the difference between watching numbers on a scale and watching numbers in an app?

Everything.

The first day I ate through my caloric allowance before dinner, which made me think a little more about what I was eating the second day. I learned veggies and fruits are like freebies. I already knew that, but now I wanted to know it. I saw the difference exercise made in extra calories. I learned what it felt like to feel hungry, even just a little, and hunger is the best salt. I found myself chewing more slowly and enjoying my food more.

Instead of making me nuts, the numbers made me calm. I could correct for a big breakfast or a Super Bowl Sunday spread. I could enjoy my ice cream.

It’s been a couple of weeks. I still don’t know my weight, but my pants fit. Better still, I feel fit.

No scale required.

Nicole L.V. Mullis is the author of “A Teacher Named Faith." Contact her at nlvm.columns@gmail.com.