Why I weigh daily

13

Replies

  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    I also weigh daily and just ....Watch the Trend....
    :-)
    I know the Lower numbers can be an anomaly as much as the Higher numbers can be
    Really? Please explain why you think the low numbers can be an anomaly. You retain water or have more "in the pipeline" that usual to get a high reading, but the very lowest reading is your body weight.
  • 180sarah
    180sarah Posts: 10
    I like the data you show. I know that I weigh in and if I don't lose I get discouraged and want to quit. I guess that your point is very good point. Never had thought of high days, low days, salt, sugar and even weather. I usually weigh in on Tuesdays. Maybe everyday could be a good thing to understand the way my body processes food. Keeping this option open.
  • oceanblue6
    oceanblue6 Posts: 76 Member
    so interesting! thanks for sharing your insight.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Didn't read but saw your pic in another thread and wanted to bump for others to read.
  • Nicole6
    Nicole6 Posts: 9 Member
    I weigh daily too. I usually lose the same pound a few times before it "sticks" and after watching this pattern for the last 6 months, it doesn't bother me. I also know I either gain a few pounds or don't lose anything a week before my period, but then a day or two after it starts, I will lose a few pounds and then steadily lose the rest of that week.
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  • Sandytoes71
    Sandytoes71 Posts: 463 Member
    Interesting....bumping to read later.
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    I am also a big fan of the daily weigh in, but not of paying any attention to the high spikes while eating at a deficit. They are a curiosity, but caused by too many different factors to make any sense of them, IMO. You only rarely get your actual truly empty body weight and it is not possible to be "less than empty". The incorrect weights do not cancel each other out because there are only incorrect high values, not low ones. It's the only weight that makes sense to me as an absolute or relative for comparison. If your weight samples were between 180 and 185 one week and 179 and 186 the next, you lost a pound. Just because you captured a higher spike the second week doesn't mean you should average it in and say you lost nothing.
    This isn't really accurate. Dehydration is one way to get real low. I can not drink water all day, and binge on alcohol tonight, and be 7 lbs lower in the morning.
    I guess there is an assumption on my part that you aren't going to dehydrate yourself to that point, but while losing weight I would still say you record the low and until you go lower or don't see it for some time, it is your weight.The spikes up are going to happen to all of us. The behavior you are talking about could have you end up hospitalized with them hanging a bag to rehydrate you. If you are prone to that, getting accurate weights is the least of your problems. Lots of us have a few drinks, but skipping water all day and binge drinking is being purposefully self destructive in a very dangerous way. This is an extreme behavior that warrants some concern, but not a reason for the vast majority of us not to think our lowest weigh is our body weight. It almost certainly is. If this is about you personally, please seek some help.
  • BIW2012
    BIW2012 Posts: 97 Member
    I weigh daily. Sometimes the only thing that stops me from cheating is when I think "No, I want to see the scales go dow tomorrow".

    I chart using TrueWeight (free app) because I'm a fluctuate-r so it's good to see the line go down, even if its not linea.

    xx
  • gogojodee
    gogojodee Posts: 1,243 Member
    I've been a daily weigher for the last week, and I love it!
  • katiem555
    katiem555 Posts: 84 Member
    Yours and 55in13's arguments are pretty much my rationale for weighing myself as much as I like, but I do try to weigh myself as infrequently as possible, too, if that makes any sense, as a high number (even if it is most definitely artificial) really kills me and ruins my mood, and I wind up under-eating to compensate, and as hard as I try I can't rationalise with myself that it's impossible for me to have gained weight whilst having a calorie deficit. That or I get upset and binge. I guess my best bet is to weigh myself three consecutive days once a month so that I'm getting the best of both worlds. Food for thought for those of us whose days are ruined by an artificial high? This made an interesting read! Women not only have to make sure they "go" before they weigh themselves, that they drank enough the day before to flush water weight, that they're not bloated from too much salty or generally "bad" food, but also that nothing hormonal or menstrual-related is coming into play. It's tough to get a "true" number. False fluctuations can be massive!
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    One other note - as I near my goal, my idea of accepting lowest recent as my weight has had an impact on my thinking. Notice my handle is 55in13, which has a double meaning. I turn 55 later this year and I planned to lose 55 pounds this year. But my ticker says I am losing 60. That is due to a couple of things. One is I expect a little bouncing around in maintenance. The other is that my start weight is just what the scale read when I stepped on it on my 54th birthday and said I'm gonna do this and being right after Christmas, it was no low spike. To honestly say I have truly lost 55 pounds, I need to get readings at least 60 lower than that.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    If we want to get really nit picky the elevation of the place you live in effects what the weight scale says too :) If you brought your measuring scale somewhere with a high elevation and back down to sea level you'd weigh something different.
  • 257_Lag
    257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
    If we want to get really nit picky the elevation of the place you live in effects what the weight scale says too :) If you brought your measuring scale somewhere with a high elevation and back down to sea level you'd weigh something different.

    Oddly enough I just researched this as a weight loss buddy was on vacation at the ocean and asked me about it. A 150 pound person at sea level would weigh 149.92 at 10,000 feet. So yeah, REAL nit picky :tongue:
  • HKHAN1982
    HKHAN1982 Posts: 89 Member
    I try not to weigh daily. It definitely upsets my mood if I'm a pound or two more. I have worked with trainers and they also recommend not weighing daily but more like once a week to make sure you are on track to meet your goals. My sister on the other hand weighs herself usually daily and sometimes 2 or 3 times a day which I don't think is very healthy. If she weighs more one day, then she starves or eats a lot less the other day. I think it's better to try to stay constant at around 1200 cal a day, give or take a 100.
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  • 257_Lag
    257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
    I try not to weigh daily. It definitely upsets my mood if I'm a pound or two more. I have worked with trainers and they also recommend not weighing daily but more like once a week to make sure you are on track to meet your goals. My sister on the other hand weighs herself usually daily and sometimes 2 or 3 times a day which I don't think is very healthy. If she weighs more one day, then she starves or eats a lot less the other day. I think it's better to try to stay constant at around 1200 cal a day, give or take a 100.

    You're right, that is unhealthy behavior. The point of daily weighing is to learn about your fluctuations, not to obsess over them or try and control them. With a mindset like this your sister definitely should not weigh daily. It's all about figuring out what works best for you.
  • chelstakencharge
    chelstakencharge Posts: 1,021 Member
    I am addicted to weighing in daily!!! I even pack my scale for vacation!
  • missymakayla
    missymakayla Posts: 309 Member
    I weigh everyday too, it keeps me in check....:happy:
  • RoseTears143
    RoseTears143 Posts: 1,121 Member
    I also weigh daily after using the bathroom first thing in the morning. I like seeing the fluctuations for the same reason - it helps keep me on track with my food as far as bloating, weight gain, etc from the day before. It lets me know if I need to make adjustments mid-week as opposed to waiting until the end of the week and I see an overall gain and then beat myself up over it for the next week feeling guilty. No biggie :)
  • lesspaul
    lesspaul Posts: 190 Member
    I weigh daily for the reasons in the original post and others.

    Weighing myself daily teaches me how my body reacts to everyday life, how salt causes water retention, how wine causes water loss, etc.

    I am concerned about trends, minimums, maximums, and average, not my weight at any given moment.

    An additional plus is that I start each and every day with a weigh-in that reminds me of where I was, and where I am going.
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    I am addicted to weighing in daily!!! I even pack my scale for vacation!
    Oddly enough, even though I am a proponent of weighing daily, I will go about 10 days without it in early July while visiting family and spending time at the beach. Being summer, it should not be too bad; winter holidays visiting relatives would be a lot tougher. I will limit portions and pick healthy when I can, plus I will do some running and exercising.
  • photography_girl_07
    photography_girl_07 Posts: 1
    So I'm new to MyFitnesspal, but I felt that this board made me feel like I'm not crazy. :) I weigh daily because like some other people have said, "it keeps me in check". Before starting myfitnesspal I had lost 28 pounds, and then plateaued. Although this can be a common occurrence for people, it frustrated me to the extreme.....so I started using myfitnesspal, and weighing again daily and I'm no longer plateaued! I jumped off the cliff and into a new weight low!!! Thanks for posting this topic!!! I'm glad I'm not the only person who weighs daily.
  • happycauseIride
    happycauseIride Posts: 536 Member
    I posted this in another thread but thought some may find it interesting.

    I am a daily weigher and love it. Every morning, wake, pee, weigh, log it. I have learned a lot through this like what a high sodium day does to me or hot weather or a HARD workout or a big change in my workout routine - they all add a few temporary pounds for me but they truly are temporary. The fluctuations fascinate me, they don't upset me in the slightest. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, everybody has a different mentality when it comes to how often to weigh yourself.

    I fully understand the concept of weighing once a week or even once a month but this can be very upsetting if you weigh on a high peak day. Look at my chart below and consider these two senarios:

    Monthly
    Let's say I weighed ONLY on the 2nd day of the month.

    May 2 - 239.5
    June 2 - 239.5
    CRAP! I didn't lose anything this entire month!

    How about weekly?

    Sunday May 12 - 237.9
    Sunday May 19 - 238.9
    WHAT! I worked hard all week and I GAINED 1 whole pound!

    Both of these people are are not happy!

    You be the judge, how in the world have I lost weight when I gained a pound in one week or went a whole month with no loss?

    libra.jpg

    Just sayin' :wink:

    Love this!!! I weight daily too for the same reasons. It's fascinating and a learning experience to see how what you eat affects your weight from day to day. Also TOM, heat, fluids, etc.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    For me, weighing everyday is what i want to do when i get to goal. I can kick myself for not doing that the last time I lost all my weight..for it creeps back on it you don't step on that scale. I will never do that again.

    But as I try to lose the weight.. i look at the scale in a different way. I've decided not to weigh on a regular basis because i get so down when i don't lose as fast as I'd like. It ruins my will power and motivation. I'm going by how my clothes fit..and when I am a few sizes smaller.. I'll weigh... and then wait a few more months..and sizes.. and weigh again..until i get to where I need to be.

    I guess it is all personal.
  • liquey107
    liquey107 Posts: 7
    i weigh myself daily....so i know i am going in the right directions and keep on track.
  • vickijay
    vickijay Posts: 49 Member
    I like weighing every day. It's motivating for me, even when I go down and then go back up. Just having seen the lower number helps.

    Yep, Im like this! I love the scales, I can understand how it wouldn't work for everyone but I love it and its taught me not to panic if my weight changes
  • mbrou28
    mbrou28 Posts: 132 Member
    I am addicted to weighing in daily!!! I even pack my scale for vacation!

    I have done this too - packing my scale for vacation..
  • Liz_Mfp
    Liz_Mfp Posts: 172 Member

    Because if you weigh daily, it's constantly telling people you lose 2 lbs since last weigh in!

    Or you can not input your weight in MFP
    or you can turn off Notification and manually turn in on before you enter a "true loss" and then turn off Notification again.

    But I agree with the "only new loss" Notification :-) That would be great!
  • RoyBeck
    RoyBeck Posts: 947 Member
    Bit p####d off actually about this. Weighed 17st10 on Wednesday and today 17st 11 despite two days of healthy eating ( All well within my MFP targets and burning calories in the gym. Not too bothered yet but why is this???

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