When to weigh?

DreamGeni

How often should I actually stand on 'THAT' scale?

elga_thres

I think once a week is enough to see the progress. However, if you'd rather weigh on on a daily basis, do it (but maybe you won't see significant changes). Just make sure that you weigh at the same time, I personally prefer to weigh in the morning before eating. Also, I think we shouldn't only rely on the scale, we should use measuring tape or skinfold caliper to measure body fat. That way, we can know for sure that we lose more fat, not lean muscle.

malibu927

However often you want. Some people get on it every day, some once a week, some once a month or not at all.

vismal

I do not agree with weekly weigh ins. Too much variance. You could potentially not see the scale change for a week while in reality you are still progressing and just happen to be weighing in on a "heavy day" (water retention, more sodium then usual, etc). So many things can effect scale weight that I think the more data points you have, the more likely you are to see an accurate trend. I prefer this method:
A good technique is to weigh daily at the same time each day and record the result (but don't focus on it because it's essentially meaningless). At the end of the week, average the results. At the end of the month, compare the averages. This is where things become much more meaningful. There should be a downward trend (not necessarily a linear drop). If after 4 weeks or more you are consistently maintaining or gaining, consider reducing calories or examine how accurately you are counting them (http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101).

Tracking trends over time, rather then individual weekly numbers on a scale is much more telling of actual progress in my opinion.

MamaBirdBoss

I do it daily so I don't get confused by variance and also because studies have shown that daily weighers are the most successful.

I only record when I see a new low number, though, now, because it was getting weird on my feed.

Merkavar

Once a week is best in my opinion.

Daily seems to make people freak out over minor fluctuations "omg I gained 1kg since yesterday, I better cut back in my food today"

Monthly seems too long, what if your doing something wrong, you don't find out for 4 weeks?

DreamGeni

Thanks all!

Sued0nim

vismal wrote: »

I do not agree with weekly weigh ins. Too much variance. You could potentially not see the scale change for a week while in reality you are still progressing and just happen to be weighing in on a "heavy day" (water retention, more sodium then usual, etc). So many things can effect scale weight that I think the more data points you have, the more likely you are to see an accurate trend. I prefer this method:
A good technique is to weigh daily at the same time each day and record the result (but don't focus on it because it's essentially meaningless). At the end of the week, average the results. At the end of the month, compare the averages. This is where things become much more meaningful. There should be a downward trend (not necessarily a linear drop). If after 4 weeks or more you are consistently maintaining or gaining, consider reducing calories or examine how accurately you are counting them (http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101).

Tracking trends over time, rather then individual weekly numbers on a scale is much more telling of actual progress in my opinion.

Agree with vismal (no surprise)

You can set up a trendweight.com account to give you trend lines and graphs (if you don't have a fitbit, just set up an account on their site anyway and link to MFP ..then the weights you stick in MFP will automatically feed over I believe)

Kalikel

malibu927 wrote: »

However often you want. Some people get on it every day, some once a week, some once a month or not at all.

Agreed.

There is no Should.

dizzieblondeuk

I only started losing weight 4 weeks ago. I decided to weigh myself every day this month, as a chance to see how my body weight fluctuated over that month. I've seen the differences in a week when I'm premenstrual or on my period to one when I'm not; I've seen the difference having a high sodium meal makes to my weight the next morning.

Whilst I may not keep up daily weighing forever, I can see clear advantages to understanding how my natural bodyweight fluctuates over a time period. For me, 1 month isn't enough to really understand the trends, so I plan to continue for a little while yet. I still take one day a week as my official weigh in, and only log that on MFP. That trendweight a/c seems like the way to go for me. Not sure if I'll link it to MFP account - I just like being able to understand my body more - knowledge is power, and all that!!

Horrorfox

Weigh yourself once a week, in the morning, at the same time, after you use the bathroom (pee weighs a lot). I would also suggest measuring your body (neck, arms, chest, waist, butt, thighs) once a month. That way you can not only track your weekly weight loss, but if you stagnate on the weight, you can get another verification on your progress by your body measurements.