I used to frequent truck stops
No, it’s not what your thinking … get your mind out of the gutter will ya. Go on, get out of there … oh the shame.
No, it’s not because of the huge selection of junk food, though I’m sure I’ve stopped at a fair number for that reason over the years.
No, it’s not to fill my gas tank or buy a lovely scented car deodorizer.
Back in 2000 when I started working out I had a lot of trouble finding someplace to weigh-in. In the end the only place I found with a scale that could measure up to 450 pounds was at the interstate truck stops. So on my trip home to Michigan every few weeks I’d stop at one just inside of Indiana and do my weigh-in.
It’s something I’ve never told anyone and really never given much thought until this past weekend when I was trying on old clothes. In hindsight I’m sure it was actually quite odd to anyone watching me. I’d usually go into the restroom and mill about at the sink washing my hands or fixing my hair until everyone had left. Then I’d quickly pull out a quarter, drop it in, and step on the scale.
While I was certainly embarrassed having to resort to truck stop scales to weigh in I was also highly motivated to lose it. I certainly would have been more embarrassed having to goto a doctors office, explain why I needed to use their scale, stand in front of a nurse or doctor to do it, and publicly share those numbers. I guess I felt I would have had to explain the number to them whereas at the truck stop no one knew me and I was accountable to only myself.
I don’t know what it says that I’m willing to share this story online today whereas back in 2000 I wouldn’t have. I guess I’ve grown in more ways than I’d thought. I’m certainly more comfortable with my story and the journey I’ve taken to try to lose this weight.
After I’d managed to lose 50 or so pounds, and weighed in a dozen or so times, I dropped some decent coin for a Tanita doctors scale. I could then safely and sanely weigh in at home without having to take those interstate diversions, unless it was to fill-up or get some water.
Just like I grew (or shrank depending on your point of view) out of having to weigh in at the truck stop I look forward to growing out of this scale and replacing it with a more modern one. In time … in time.
“Life, the ultimate challenge, is not a race to the finish but rather a process of continual growth” — Bill Phillips
LOL the title of your blog post caught my eye… seriously, you went to the truck stop to get on the scale? That had to be really embarrassing.
I like the truck stops here.. it has a 24 hour subway
Yea, it was pretty embarrassing … I updated the post with why I never went to the doctors office to do it. I would have found that even more embarrassing, especially if the scale didn’t move between weighing in.
Unsurprisingly the truck stop I frequented also have a Subway … I sometimes grabbed myself a healthy 6″ for the road after weighing in.
I saw your url at the Lose It forum and I think you’re on my Lose It friends list too (it’s gotten rather long!). Anyway, this was a very touching post. I still remember when I weighed myself on the scale my husband had bought for himself only to be horrified that I was literally “off the scale”. It’s not a digital scale and it had increments higher than 350 but I was indeed above that 350. That was one of the reasons I decided to lose weight. Now I’m finally registering within the numbers on the scale but I’ll always remember how I felt when I first weighed myself.
You are in my list, hey thanks for visiting! I’ve actually been trimming mine of people that haven’t used it in more than 7 days (New Years folks mostly). I usually email them first to see if they are still around though.
I tried a few scales out when I first started working out but was in the same boat as you, I didn’t register on any of them. That’s what motivated me to try and find one I could actually use. I mentally wanted to see the number move and I’m glad I did as it was a huge motivator.
Congrats on the weight loss so far, keep up the great work and blogging about it.
Thanks for writing about something I’ve never even considered before.
This is one of my favourite things about reading blogs like yours – it really helps me to broaden my perspective and gives me a chance to better understand what goes on internally when people are looking to lose weight and get fit (beyond any of my own personal experiences and experiments).
All the best,
Heather