How often do you weigh & why?

2

Replies

  • 89omegaman
    89omegaman Posts: 19 Member
    Every day so that I can see the trend and evaluate the impact of what I eat and exercise on my weight.
  • DaveAkeman
    DaveAkeman Posts: 296 Member
    Every morning, and with TWO different scales! I use a FitBit Aria for the BF% measurement and to automatically update FitBit, MFP, and Trendweight, and I use a mechanical bar scale to get a number that doesn't fluctuate as much. I also log it into a spreadsheet I have written for myself that does a lot more statistical calculations and predictions, and even correlations, than even Trendweight.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,758 Member
    I weigh once a week under the same conditions (after exercise and a shower) and then take the average of each week and log it in mfp at the end of the month.

    I do this because I really don't need to see how my weight goes up and down every day. It would drive me nuts!
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 806 Member
    I weigh twice a day usually. Right after bathroom stuff and then right before I go to bed. I usually log once a week.
  • addictedtochocolate125
    addictedtochocolate125 Posts: 10 Member
    Every day because I am a control freak and have issues.....But seriously just because I have got into that habit. I should get out of it...but it's like food....I'm addicted. :D
  • agirlcalledrinn
    agirlcalledrinn Posts: 28 Member
    Every morning. In the past they said once a week. This is primarily to address obsession and anxiety concerns that may lead to binge eating for comfort (Tam Fry, National Obesity Forum Spokesperson). But, Duke University's Obesity Prevention program did a study on overweight individuals, and found that those who weighed themselves daily lost significantly more weight and about 3 times as much more body fat. Everyone was given the same advice. After 6 months, the daily weighers averaged 20 lbs, and 7 lbs for those who weighed about 5 times a week. Several studies have show similar trends, meaning there's a strong correlation. Those who had to weight daily also were more likely to keep better track of food and exercise habits.

    I do, however, only log losses, unless the gain lasts for 3 weeks.

    Steinberg DM, Bennett GG, Askew S, Tate DF. Weighing every day matters: daily weighing improves weight loss and adoption of weight control behaviors. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015 Apr;115(4):511-8.

    Elina E. Helander, Anna-Leena Vuorinen, Brian Wansink, Ilkka K. J. Korhonen. Are Breaks in Daily Self-Weighing Associated with Weight Gain? PLoS ONE, 2014; 9 (11): e113164 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113164

    Water retention, muscle building, bloating, etc. is generally the culprit as long as you're maintaining an appropriate deficit. And, I measure once a week just to keep myself realistic. I've found that on bloaty weeks, I'm still losing inches someplace and it helps keep me real.

  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
    89omegaman wrote: »
    Every day so that I can see the trend and evaluate the impact of what I eat and exercise on my weight.

    You wont see the effects of 1 day on the scale for like 3 weeks. So everyday you weigh yourself look back in your diary 3 weeks to the day.

    I use to weigh in everyday but realized it's pointless.. I weigh in when I feel like it... that's pretty much it.
  • CJ_Holmes
    CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
    I weigh daily and use an app on my phone called "true weight" that averages out the fluctuation.
  • d08t
    d08t Posts: 43 Member
    Hardly ever. I am far more concerned with how my clothes fit and what I see in the mirror. As long as I feel good about myself and know I'm eating healthy, weight is just a number.
  • edwardetr
    edwardetr Posts: 140 Member
    addictedtochocolate125 wrote: »
    Every day because I am a control freak and have issues.....But seriously just because I have got into that habit. I should get out of it...but it's like food....I'm addicted. :D
    You should see my excel spreadsheet!

  • ejb06070
    ejb06070 Posts: 261 Member
    I weigh almost daily, but only record if there's a big change, or weekly on Saturdays. Like yesterday, I was down 2 lbs from 3 days ago, so I recorded it. I also weigh if I know I had a "bad day". I got into some of my husband's ice cream sandwiches about a week ago, so the next morning, I hopped on the scale for damage control. Luckily, none was needed, as I had actually lost like a half pound since my last weigh in, but it helps to see the number and know if I'm actually on track.
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
    Everyday that one of these threads is created. So basically everyday.
  • iLoveMyPitbull1225
    iLoveMyPitbull1225 Posts: 1,690 Member
    Nearly everyday lately, I like to see the daily change. I'm maintaining now so even more so I want to monitor it..
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    edited July 2015
    Every morning. Get up, go to the bathroom, get on the scale--That's my morning routine. I don't expect every day to be a down one, but more data helps me understand why and when I go up. I have a withings body analyzer which syncs with fitbit and mfp. I use trendweight.com to help me understand what's going on with my weight, body composition, and trends in both.

    I do weigh perhaps two to three nights per week, but I dump those weights from my logging. They're noise to my goal of tracking long-term trends, but are useful for short-term effects of choices.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Hm, and this is when people start to think I'm crazy... I weigh twice a day, first thing in the morning and last thing before I go to bed. Night time is a check to make sure I'm hydrated enough; I often forget to drink water. I know I should be about 3lbs up at the end of the day (I don't weight in the night of huge splurges easily and just reassess in the morning).

    That said, I look for overall trends and have an "official" weigh in on Friday mornings. Everything else just helps me gauge water weight and day to day fluctuations.
  • Guns_N_Buns
    Guns_N_Buns Posts: 1,899 Member
    Tedebearduff wrote: »
    89omegaman wrote: »
    Every day so that I can see the trend and evaluate the impact of what I eat and exercise on my weight.

    You wont see the effects of 1 day on the scale for like 3 weeks. So everyday you weigh yourself look back in your diary 3 weeks to the day.

    I use to weigh in everyday but realized it's pointless.. I weigh in when I feel like it... that's pretty much it.

    It's not pointless if it's keeping someone on point. Everyone has their own relationship with the scale; it's all quite relative.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    Daily for several reasons.

    1. I like data. I look at the trends over time. I have started being able to pinpoint when my TOM is coming based on the upswing in weight (I have over a year and a half of daily weights).
    2. It makes each weigh in mean less. I don't look at today's number, I take a weekly average. The number on the scale this morning doesn't matter as much because I don't care about my daily weight. My weight goes up and down every week, an average is a more accurate representation of where I am now than any individual weight.
    3. I'm building a habit. One thing that marks the long term maintainers is that they continue to weigh on a regular basis to keep their weight in check. It'll be harder to break the habit when I'm maintaining if I do it automatically every day now. It's going to be close to 2 years of weight loss before I start maintenance, that's a long time's worth of habit building.
  • mygnsac
    mygnsac Posts: 13,413 Member
    Every 2 weeks because I mostly track my 2-week trends.
  • khhregister
    khhregister Posts: 229 Member
    Every day in the morning, before I have my coffee. I just started using trendweight and it's great for reassuring me there really are daily variations. For me, the more data the better!
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    For those wondering about trendweight.com: it syncs with fitbit (which can itself sync from other sources) and displays a rolling average graph, which minimizes the day-to-day fluctuations and shows an overall position. Here's my two week graph:

    2w.png

    The red line shows the average, the dotted where I'm going, and the points are the actual readings. In a nutshell, it helps provide context for each individual weight. I already knew what the graph shows (trending down, but some days are up), but the graph shows the overall trend and confirms I'm doing the right things.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    Every day before I eat or drink anything and after my first restroom visit of the day. I probably only log my weight into MFP 1-4 times a month because scale weight is not in my top five motivators for success. I'm happy to have the data logged daily (in a different app) but I prefer to not have MFP suggest I change my goal numbers for intake when weight loss happens. I take care of changing my goals as needed.
  • noobletmcnugget
    noobletmcnugget Posts: 518 Member
    Started weighing daily in the past few weeks - I like having more data and being able to track averages, rather than feeling frustrated by the effects of water fluctuations when I only weighed weekly.
  • petitehealth
    petitehealth Posts: 148 Member
    SafioraLinnea wrote: »
    Every day before I eat or drink anything and after my first restroom visit of the day.

    Ditto. I used to log the weight in MFP every day but it was bumming me out. I've started only logging in MFP when I have a loss. I still keep track of my daily weigh in on a calendar in my bathroom. I downloaded the True Weight app..thanks for the suggestion everyone! I'm going to try it out for a while!

  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
    I weigh everyday (now, I stopped for a couple of months and I gained 2lbs!) I have lost over 70lbs and my diligence waned for too long! Also, I really do love seeing the daily fluctuations because it grounds my expectations.
  • Ruth1212
    Ruth1212 Posts: 6,326 Member
    Every day. I use the happy scale app and look at my 10 day moving average. I love seeing the trend. And I don't have to worry about "weigh in day".

    394kxiemaufp.jpg
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    For my sanity, I can only weigh myself once a week. I tried doing it everyday and I was an emotional wreck after a high sodium day and gaining a pounds when I had worked so hard to get that off.
  • conqueringsquidlette
    conqueringsquidlette Posts: 383 Member
    edited July 2015
    Everyday.... I use Libra (Android) and I think that graph is so cool.... I hate seeing gaps in it.

    (Libra appears to do the same thing trendweight does. I have a Withings scale that automatically exports my daily weight in to the app, and I stare at the chart and try to will it to decrease faster... hehe. I get overly excited when the trendline dips on me after going the wrong direction for a bit.)
  • rekite2000
    rekite2000 Posts: 218 Member
    Daily- 1) I like numbers and tracking them, 2) keeps on track. If don't, I tend to fall of the wagon.
  • tammyallenstetler
    tammyallenstetler Posts: 3 Member
    I weight daily and I think I need to change it. It puts so much stress on me. So far it's always down but I am terrified of the day it goes up. I don't know if my confidence can take the hit right now.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    BigLifter10 wrote: »
    Once per month, the week after TOM. Watch my trends. Otherwise, it's how clothing fits.

    Me too! I was certain no one else would give this answer!

    I used to weigh daily, but now that I know my fluctuations, I don't care so much. The week after TOM, I'm down lots so I chose to use that as my "true" weight.
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