Not having a scale which leads me to irrational justifications.
I was thinking about how I could have possibly let myself lose 40 pounds, maintain, then gain almost 60 without even realizing it. After high school I went down from 185 to 145ish. I eventually would even out to about 150-155, have a bad couple months, see the 160's then get my ass back in gear to 145. Repeat for YEARS. At the time it worked for me. I felt very confident in the 150s.
Everytime I broke a scale, a battery died, I moved my life and just didn't have one, I lost my routine and gained weight. Over time I went from 155 to 205. I was in total denial too. It's amazing how my clothes stopped fitting, I felt grosser in pictures, I had to buy diffrent sizes. But I still thought I gained maybe 15lbs, not over 50. My mind always came up with some ridiculous excuse 'oh these sizes run small' 'hmmm, I guess I shrunk these jeans' 'this is just a bad picture' Never again.
I know a lot of people say not to focus on the scale but for me, I can't argue with the numbers, I need it for accountability.
I also have learned this time around dropping 40lbs a lot of things and one thing I'm trying to really focus on the excuses my brain makes and stopping myself from letting myself accept them and to challenge them. The company I work for has a facebook page for all the managers in our district and the cover photo is always the team of store managers at that years meeting. My first two years, I said 'god that's a bad pic of me' but by year three it's time to realize, it's not a bad pic, it's me. This time around I use that picture as a constant reminder that I need to change, how embarrassing it is that is how I am represented to people who have never met me. My main goal is to take a kickass picture at this year's meeting so I can have a constant reminder of how awesome it feels to be healthy again and a reminder to never let myself turn back again.
Tl;dr I will never not own a scale again as long as I live. Bad pictures aren't always because of the picture It's a lot easier to tell yourself that your closet shrank than to face the reality that you grew.