Buzz
Your weight is merely a number that reflects how much gravity is pulling you down. For most of the time, you can disregard it. But if it’s something you need to monitor for health or personal reasons—whether to lose, gain, or maintain weight—it’s easy to fall into obsession.
A few years ago, my husband expressed interest in a smart scale that connects to our WiFi. I laughed at first (why would a scale need WiFi?) but then agreed, and soon became accustomed to using it. What I appreciate about it is not the detailed tracking, but rather the fact that I don’t have to obsess over the number—I step on the scale, forget the reading instantly, and know another point has been added to my graph on the phone. I can review that graph later, or never, whenever it suits me.
However, that’s not how these scales are marketed. The manufacturers want you to obsess over your weight (and all the other metrics the smart scales measure), pushing you to see that data as a precise reflection of your health, while also encouraging you to turn your new interest into an obsession with their app. My personal and professional view on this approach? Absolutely not.
If you’re looking to step back from obsessing over your weight but still want to monitor it, I’d suggest using a smart scale. It offers a way to stay informed without getting too caught up in the details.
Change the units of measurement.
At one point, one of my kids thought it’d be fun to carry the scale all around the house. By the time we got it back, the scale was set to stones-and-pounds—those classic UK units used for weighing people and large animals. (A stone is 14 pounds, much like feet and inches are paired together.) We couldn’t figure out how to switch it back, so we just kept it that way.
I was in the process of losing weight, and seeing a unit that felt like something out of The Lord of the Rings was both silly and amusing. It completely took away the emotional weight of seeing the numbers that remind me of my college weight or pregnancy weight.
Eventually, we figured out how to switch it back, but chose to use kilograms instead of pounds. It made sense, especially since I think in kilograms for weightlifting. Switching units feels like using play money: it serves the purpose but doesn’t need to align with anything else in the real world.
Disable the metrics you don't find useful.
Smart scales often boast features like measuring body fat, bone mass, and countless other stats, many of which aren't accurate enough to rely on. My scale even tries to tell me whether my weight is higher today than it was yesterday. I’m not interested in that.
Thankfully, these scales usually allow you to turn off some of the unnecessary readings or at least hide them within the app. (If you're looking for a quick fix, try a setting made for people with pacemakers, which completely disables the electrical current used to measure body composition.)
Weigh yourself at the same time every day.
Our weight naturally fluctuates over the course of the day, and even from one day to the next. If you only step on the scale when it crosses your mind, you might end up with a bunch of inconsistent data points.
To get a clearer picture of your weight, take your measurement at a consistent time each day. For most people, the best time is first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom but before eating or drinking, and either without clothes or in the same outfit (maybe your pajamas?) each time.
Don’t obsess over it more than necessary.
The best part about a smart scale is that it syncs to your app automatically. You won’t need to keep track of the number in your mind, interpret its meaning, or write it down. Simply step on the scale, glance out the window for a moment, and step off. You don’t even need to look at the number.
Your scale’s app will likely try to overwhelm you with notifications—turn them off. If you don’t like the app, don’t use it at all. Instead, consider using an app like Happy Scale that emphasizes long-term trends instead of daily fluctuations.
I personally follow these tips too. I weigh myself every morning without paying much attention to the number; the scale is set to kilograms; it only shows my weight and nothing more; and I rarely use the app. But when I want to check if my weight is going in the right direction (I spent the entire summer intentionally gaining weight), I can open a different, user-friendly app to see it there.
