how often should I weigh myself

Mlslbears

I find when I need to weigh in I get discouraged if I don't lose. then I self destruct and eat a lot of something I shouldn't. Any advice? I like how someone said set smaller goals. pls help

Marie047

I tend to weigh myself once a week, the same day, same time, which is generally after I have got up and been to the loo and undressed. I also measure myself and check this fortnightly, you have to remember weight loss isn`t linear either, and there are lots of factors that can effect your weight loss, ie TOM been one. I have an overall goal but sent myself a monthly goal to achieve on weight loss, also set myself personal goals such as run 6K this month etc

glenstrek

Strangely, I weigh myself everyday. I find that be a helpful way for e to adjust that day's diet. I set "small steps along with past data to set my future path. Always l@~@k at the positive side and HAVE FUN.

(*) (*)

snowflake930

Everyday at the same time. Have been on MFP almost 32 months now. Would like to get to 125 and maintain. Was at 125 for 10 days. My body likes 130-135. I have been losing the same 5-10# for a year now. Started out at 290#

999tigger

There are pros and cons to weighing yourself frequently i.e daily or leaving it to weekly, fortnightly or monthly. You just have to pick the one that suits you.

If you are going to weigh daily, then you know the potential fluctuation is limited to 24h, but you should also realise your body fluctuates naturally and somedays/ weeks you will do everything you feel is right, but still the scale moves in an unexpected way. This is natural because weight loss isnt linear.

Someone posted a picture with a straight line and one showing a squiggly line.

What matters for you is that you consistently and accurately keep up your calorie deficit and exercise (if doing any) and you weight over time should go down.

If you are doing this and your weight goes up then understand its probably just your boy readjusting or there may be oher reasons why you weigh more that day than previously i.e becayse you have just eaten. You can cut some of those fluctuations out by weighing yourself ay the same time of day before eating and after you have been to the loo.

In the event that your weight keeps climbing over a given period say 2 weeks then check your are eating at a deficit (weigh food for accuracy). You may need to consider that your are no at deficit and will need to consider adjusting downwards. It is not a disaster if this happens you need to treat it more as soemthing you need to readjust in your plan and establish the deficit again. Its soemthing that can be put right and you need to challenge yourself the moment you get disheartened and go comfort eating because that pushes you away from your target.

If you are maintaining your deficit then you will get small consistent losses if it is accurate and these can encourage you.
Have some patience and determination and maybe write down then stick it on the wall about your stragey and reaction you need to follow if you get the shock of your weight going up. On the days its happened to me, then I just think why, laugh at it and get on with following the plan, adjusting as needed. If you are ready to deal with it and have that plan ready then you wont run off and do something counter productive.

Oh and can I just add there are several threads on weighing daily or less frequently. You alos should consider measuring with the tape measure as well as thats an equally valid way and prevents you being scale centric, because weight isnt the only measure.

RaspberryTickleChicken

@OP - it depends on what works for you.

Some preach to weigh in everyday while others once a week.

I'm a lot like you, weighing in daily would stress me out so I did it once a week.

I did & I didn't put much stock into the number on the scale. It was a bit discouraging when I didn't see progress but I limited that disappointment with 'hey at least I didn't gain.'

Many times you will find that we won't able to achieve the same level or results week after week, so it's up to you to change your own perspective to minimize the negative impact.

Good luck!

ukaryote

Attitude.
I weigh in once per week at the same time and worry about it over a month. This week it said I gained 5 lbs. No big deal. It only means 2 or 3 more weeks added on to the overall schedule. The plan extends over a year. What's a few weeks?

Also, it can be discouraging and deceptive to weigh each day. The tracker posts to your home page only when you lose weight, it does not post when you gain weight. So let's say
day 1: measure and lose 2 lbs,
day 2: gain 2 lbs of water weight
day 3: lose 2 lbs of water weight.

So your home page reports Lost 2 lbs - blank - lost 2 lbs. It reports you lost 4 lbs but not really.

I have lost 1.5 to 2 lbs per week. That can be offset by water or retained foods. One week it records no loss, the next 4 lbs loss. Obviously 4 lbs fat loss in 1 week is not reasonable. It is just the averages.

lemurcat12

People vary on this, so you have to figure out what works for you.

When I started this I hadn't weighed myself for years and was scared of what I'd see, since I knew it would depress me. (I mean, I had a pretty good idea, but somehow seeing the number seemed scary.) Even after I started weighing regularly, getting on the scale would be fraught and affect my mood for the next few hours, despite the fact that I knew it was unreasonable.

Ultimately, I decided that having the scale be a huge emotional thing wasn't something I could allow to continue, since weighing regularly and not avoiding the scale when I expect bad news needs to be part of my maintenance plan (this is for me, not saying it applies to everyone). So I decided to focus my goals on a variety of things other than weight (meeting my eating plan, exercise goals) and then simply to weigh and log each day, to try and get an understanding of the fluctuations. The idea was to be scientific, not emotional about it, and to keep in mind that daily changes are pretty irrelevant.

Now, obviously, I can't say that it immediately stopped mattering to me if I was up a couple pounds or that I don't still get happy seeing the numbers fall, but I can say that there's an enormous difference since I started this plan in February and now, and I really don't get bothered by the scale going up and down, since I have confidence in the trend and figure if it stalls for a longer period that's just information that I need to adjust something. It really doesn't affect my mood the way it used to.

jen350z

Ive always wanted to do the weekly thing but I always cheat and weight myself earlier. I can't do it. I weight myself daily. Thinking of doing every 3 days or so.. just to not get discouraged with no weight loss in 24hours

dbanks80

I weigh in only once a month. I too get discouraged if I dont see the number fall and then I self destruct. When I weigh in once a month it helps me to stay focused

BlueStarBoi

Personally i weigh myself everyday. But my official weigh in Day is Tues that i write down for my weight loss.

jrline

no more than twice a month

RaspberryTickleChicken

nosajjao wrote: »

holy crap, too many people here don't know what they're talking about. Weight is not a very accurate measure of physical fitness. It takes anywhere north of 10 days for your body to change from something you do in a day. If all you care about is weight, then check it every 2.5 weeks or twice a month (1st and 15th). If you want a more accurate measure of wellness, get caliper tested once a month or go get one of those electro-measurement tests once a month. Have your metabolic age and rate tested, that's a better indication than weight. Too many people believe in the 'magic' indicator of weight rather than body fat and metabolic rates.

I think it is rather an individualistic approach of how to measure progress / success. Some don't chart progress at all! I would no more discount your methodology in its validity than someone who weighs in daily.

The OP asked a rather specific question in regards to weigh frequency. If you believe that measuring is perhaps more accurate then state so without the unnecessary need to invalidate everyone else's opinion as a bunch of crock!

Everyone is different and everyone will find something which just doesn't work for them. That's why losing weight is such a challenge because there is no blanket answer for everyone.

StephTheVeggieKiller

glenstrek wrote: »

Strangely, I weigh myself everyday. I find that be a helpful way for e to adjust that day's diet. I set "small steps along with past data to set my future path. Always l@~@k at the positive side and HAVE FUN.

(*) (*)

I also do this because I find that atleast I can see what patterns my body goes through.

TheSatinPumpkin

Personal preference on how you can deal with it..good or bad.

dopeysmelly

I weigh every day, after I use the bathroom and before I get dressed. I log it in MFP, enter it in an excel spreadsheet (so I can easily see the long-term trend and also run some pretty charts once a month), and then I forget it.

If I did weekly, I would honestly forget which day of the week I was supposed to be weighing, and would just forget to weigh at all. And that's what got me into the state I was in before I lost all the weight.

shadow2soul

Sounds like you might want to weigh in weekly or bi-weekly or even monthly.

Weight – So many things can affect weight, because of this it shouldn’t be the only way you track your progress. Things to keep in mind:

• Always use the same scale – Different scales can show different weights. You will get the most accurate number for tracking when using the same scale.
• Don’t move the scale – Carpet, uneven flooring, different types of flooring…can all affect the weight on the scale. So when you weigh, you want it to be approximately the same spot for the most accurate number for tracking. [/color]
• 3500 calories – To gain 1lb of fat you need to be over maintenance by 3500 calories.
• Muscle Repair – Muscles will hold onto water to repair, because of this it is not uncommon to see a gain for a little while after a workout. This weight comes right back off when they are done repairing.
• Sodium – Can cause you to retain water. This can also be amplified if you don’t drink enough to flush it out of your system. This is also another reason for temporary weight gain.
• Water – Not drinking enough water can actually cause you to retain water. Recommended amount is 8 cups or 64oz. I drink 64 oz to 128 oz of water a day. It doesn’t have to be plain water either. I like to flavor mine with crystal light or tea.
• Time of day – Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day. So for the most accurate tracking, you want to weigh at around the same time.
• Frequency – This is up to you, but if small fluctuations bother you than only weigh once a week or less.
• Lightest Weight – Will be naked, first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom
• Multiple times a Day – Don’t Do It. As I said before, your weight will fluctuate throughout the day. What you eat, what you’re wearing, ect will all affect weight.
• Clothes – If you weigh with clothing on, keep in mind that the scale will show your weight plus the weight of your clothes. (Jeans are heavy)
• TOM - A lot of women will retain water around their TOM, but its just temporary and will go away.

MattNorrisUL

I weigh myself daily but I certainly don't get crushed if I don't see a changed or a pound up swing in the day . Each Monday, I look back at what I weighed the previous Monday to get the gist of how I did over the entire week.

davidp2711

i do it every Sunday