Weight graph

Seigla

Ok I want to accelerate my weight loss, so I thought it would be nice to return to an old habit that helped me a lot when I was losing my first 17 kgs (over a year ago); I will start tracking my weight again. Very simple and effective (for me).

I will do it by weighing myself every morning and noting this down in a weight tracking app on my phone, so that I get a nice graph from which I can see whether or not there is a downward trend and if there is, how fast I am losing. It's also nice to show this to (some of my best) friends, so that I feel a bit accountable.

Does tracking your weight help you? How do you do it?

TimothyFish

So, basically, you are saying that you are going to start using MyFitnessPal?

CM_73

I do it in Google documents (their version of Excel)
Being a bit of a geek, I find it does help logging my weight on there as well as body fat/muscle/water ratios etc and plotting the trends.
I had my weight logged on here, but it was only a few points over 4 Years so not really helpful whereas I've got 7 Years worth of data on my spreadsheet!
Incidentally, I know that the fat/muscle/water ratio is fairly inaccurate (it's done using the scales) but it gives me something else to plot and the fat does seem to echo the weight graph.
So, yes, it helps me because I enjoy that aspect of it, but everyone is different.

S_Evanson613

I agree. I feel more motivated and accountable when I weigh myself more frequently. I usually weigh 1-2 times a week and I keep a log of it here and also on an excel spreadsheet. I find when I don't weight for too long then I get lackadaisical with my diet - so even when I see it go up a little it motivates me to do better!

Seigla

@TimothyFish - haha yeah I could do that . But well I prefer to use a simple app that's just for tracking weight. I am here at MFP mostly for the community.

@CM_73 - I recognize what you're saying. I'm also a bit of a geek there!

@S_Evanson613 - 1-2 times per week is probably best, so that you are have less extreme fluctuations. I like to do it daily, I like the zigzag shaped graph that it produces, but then I just ignore the noise and I focus on the trend. Indeed it is very useful for catching upward trends early and it is very motivating. The nice thing is that it takes only a minute or two to do!

SezxyStef

nope it doesn't as I know scale weight is just a number that in reality probably doesn't mean any more on it's own than BMI, BF%, tape measurements etc.

I prefer to look at the weight of the plates I am pushing up and how I look in the mirror or how much faster I can run that mile or walk that mile etc.