“The Scale” from Leslie Goldman’s “The Weighting Game”

Posted June 2, 2008 at 05:00 PM by Martha Jones

Section: Her Health, Body Image, Her Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Her Story

Look at how big this scale is. Seriously, look at it. It’s massive. Taller than the bank of double-decker lockers, it dwarfs an industrial vacuum cleaner and makes a 5’11” me seem like a shorty next to it. It is a hellacious metal beast of thoughtless ridicule and unwavering hatred. It’s name is Evil. Evil Moe the Scale.

I’m not sure how many of you knew this, but for the past 5+ months, I have not stepped foot on a scale. The last time I weighed myself was Dec. 21 of last year, before embarking on a chip-filled Nueva Vallarta vacation with Dan’s family. I then decided to conduct a little experiment and see what would happen (most importantly to my mind, but also my body) if I kicked the scale to the curb like Denise Richards and her sanity when she chose to star in that awful, awful new TV show.

It has been wonderful. Just..wonderful. I would watch women step up the Evil Moe the Scale with looks of sadness or trepidation. They would kick off their flipflops and drop their towel and remove their watch to try and move the needle down a tad. I heard two prepubescent, 80-lb. girls arguing about who was the bigger “cow” and how disgusting their thighs were as they alternated jumping on the register.

I slapped a You Are Beautiful sticker on it, went home, and ate dinner. And dessert.

Let me tell you, it did not take long for me to get extremely used to NOT weighing myself. It was, at the risk of sounding cliche, like breaking up with a friend who always pinched and poked and made fun of me. I found it surprisingly easy to wipe my hands clean of the habit as I found how much more free I felt every single day. I recall almost skipping along State Street one day feeling like Mary Tyler Moore in her hat toss scene, thinking, “What if I just never weigh myself ever again?!” Not really feasible, I know, but not having to worry about that number just made everything better. Easier. Sure I was tempted a few times, like when my jeans started fitting a bit tighter in the waist and I quite consciously (but totally unrealistically) thought, “Oh no, maybe I’m gaining a ton of weight by not being vigilant with the scale.” But then I just chalked it up to PMS and the Whoopie Pie I ate the night before and hopped along.

Then yesterday happened.

Read the rest of the entry at Leslie’s blog The Weighting Game here.