Frequency of Weigh-ins/Should I measure?

Samrny

Should I measure my thighs, waist, neck, etc and track it?
How often should I weigh-in? I know when I weigh in it should be first thing in the day (preferably after going potty)

Thank you!

pmm3437

Data in -> Data out

Too much can be just as useless as too little.

I prefer a once a week regime, and consider anything more frequent just unusable chatter. Too many day to day fluctuations that will impact the data, and cause someone to make false conclusions.

You want to be consistent in your weigh ins. Same time, same day, same body state. Fasting weigh in just after waking and using the bathroom will give you the best data.


As far as taking measurements ... I don't, but some people find it valuable. It can demonstrate composition changes that may or may not show up on the scale ( depends on where you are, and are trying to get to ).

Samrny

Okay, I was thinking of daily weigh-ins to get an overall trend, but I guess you'll still get that overall trend with weekly, right?

T0M_K

i weigh daily. haven't measured anything....well...that i would record on MFP. :P kidding!

Jruzer

I weight daily, record it, and analyze the heck out of it. I'm a data hound though and don't worry too much about any particular day.

ilex70

I measure when I'm curious about body fat percentage...Navy tape method.

Optimistical1

Some people only weigh every week or every other week. I know some who only weigh in once a month to gauge their process. Personally, I like to take my weight every single day, sometimes twice a day, as it help keep me in tune with my weight fluctuations and keep me in check. There is no right or wrong in that area, just do what works for you.

As far as measurements go, take your measurements before, midway through, and after. I didn't expect to lose so much weight and get so fit so quickly. My biggest regret is not getting my before measurements and a good set of before pictures :-( Don't make my mistake. You will be so happy to look back on those numbers 6 months+ from now and see all the awesome progress you've made. Best of luck to you.

blues4miles

Samrny wrote: »

Okay, I was thinking of daily weigh-ins to get an overall trend, but I guess you'll still get that overall trend with weekly, right?

I weigh daily. You should get a trend if you weigh once a week, but what if you were retaining water that day? Then you'll never know and be angry.

There's a couple places that will trend it out for you: TrendWeight, HappyScale. Trendweight you have to set up a fitbit account and put your weight there but fitbit account and trendweight are both free.

I basically do what TrendWeight does but manually for myself in excel. I only give MFP a new # once a week so as not to spam my friends with the .02 lbs I just lost.

Definitely take measurements. On the website you can add more than the default (after that you can add/track them in the app). I'd only re-measure once a month. But my stomach measurements actually gained while other things lost after a month, so I think how bloated you are can still mess with measurements. But over time you might appreciate total progress and wish you had collected more data.

revolucia78

blues4miles wrote: »

Samrny wrote: »

Okay, I was thinking of daily weigh-ins to get an overall trend, but I guess you'll still get that overall trend with weekly, right?

I weigh daily. You should get a trend if you weigh once a week, but what if you were retaining water that day? Then you'll never know and be angry.

There's a couple places that will trend it out for you: TrendWeight, HappyScale. Trendweight you have to set up a fitbit account and put your weight there but fitbit account and trendweight are both free.

I basically do what TrendWeight does but manually for myself in excel. I only give MFP a new # once a week so as not to spam my friends with the .02 lbs I just lost.

Definitely take measurements. On the website you can add more than the default (after that you can add/track them in the app). I'd only re-measure once a month. But my stomach measurements actually gained while other things lost after a month, so I think how bloated you are can still mess with measurements. But over time you might appreciate total progress and wish you had collected more data.

I agree with this, I've done it both ways and now I weigh in daily, use the iphone app Happy Scale (highly recommend, it's very motivating) and I love the data I get. I also take measurements. I would say that there is no "better" method - I would do what works for you but taking measurements and weighing daily have a lot of +'s in my book, like blues4smiles commented.

ETA: Try it both ways for a little while and see what you prefer.

RUNucbar

I don't measure anything as I know I'd not get the measuring tape in exactly the same place every time; I'm a sucker for accuracy! I weight daily, as soon as I get up I go to the toilet and weigh but only log when the scales show a loss, even of it is only 0.1lbs, which is the lowest change my scales will show.

I am fine with the fluctuations daily weighing will show, especially around my time of the month, but some don't like it. Whatever works for you, as long as you do it exactly the same way each time.

witters87

Hi I used to weigh weekly but it used to put me off for the full week if I didn't lose much, I have decided to now do it once a month and have started measuring my self too, hopefully this will keep me on track better than weekly

pgray007

Here's another vote for HappyScale. If you're into gadgets you can get a wifi scale (I use the FitBit brand one) and every AM my weight gets automatically updated to MFP, Garmin Connect and Happy Scale.

Personally I find weighing daily lets you focus on the trend rather than random events. If I'm up a pound or two one morning but my moving average is going down I know I'm OK.

emmycantbemeeko

I'm a daily weigher- I aim for a .5 lb/week rate and it's too easy for that to be masked by fluid fluctuations on any two individual days to be satisfied with once a week weigh-ins, which I think is common for women (I may well be trending down, but approaching TOM, for example, may have me up from a week ago on the scale). Doing it daily gives me a better sense of how I'm actually trending and helps me be more emotionally detached from the daily number.

I love TrendWeight.