To record, or not to record weight gain?

explodingmango

So, I went through an extended binge cycle. As a result, I gained weight. I am, in fact, heavier now than I was at my "starting" weight according to this account.

I can't decide whether it would be better for me to record this and see the spike on my graph, or wait to resume recording until I get back down to where I was before the binge.

This is further complicated by the fact that I am trying to recover from an eating disorder (EDNOS/OSFED - specifically I'm driven to alternate between dangerously restricting and/or purging, and falling into depressed/discouraged binging). I don't know what's more discouraging and potentially relapse-inducing - the spike, or wondering how long it will be before I'm "allowed" to record positive progress again?

What are all your preferences?

RedSierra

I'm in maintenance. My weight usually fluctuates 1-3 lbs from day to day. If it stays up then I record it. For me, weight creep starts to become a problem when I don't weigh, don't log, and don't record food.

People are different, though. You could always try both options. Don't record it, but if you start to feel anxious then put it down.

lorrpb

Are you seeing medical professionals for treatment of your disorder?
I log my weight daily to keep reality in sight. I don't know what's best for you because I've not had relapses due to a disorder. Perhaps discuss this with your treatment team?

explodingmango

I am seeing professionals, but...well, my clinic is extremely impacted and they can't see most of their patients as often as is really ideal. Unfortunately it's the only one in my general area that I can afford to go to. As a result, a lot of the time figuring out what works best for me is just a matter of talking to people and finding out what works best for the majority, and trying that first.

It's not perfect, but it's worked better for me than doing nothing.

DebLaBounty

Have you tried the phone app Happy Scale? I record my weight every day or two, and the graph it creates shows a gentle trend rather than a ton of spikes. Maybe that would take away some of the anxiety of seeing a gain. Go ahead and enter your current weight, it will be nice for you to see your progress starting from where you are now.

artbyrachelh

I had similar situation as you, where I started at one weight, took a long break, came back to it at higher weight. I did not change weight to the higher weight. Also, though, I only weight myself every two or three weeks because I become obsessed. I could never own a scale.

TavistockToad

I log weight gains on my weekly MFP weigh in, and use Libra, a trending app to log ups and downs - I usually weigh myself every couple of days.

explodingmango

Thanks everyone for the support and advice - I went ahead and logged it for as of this morning; it is a little discouraging, but remembering that I was higher before offsets it a lot (I'm going to go back and add the measurements from the past few days too - I've lost a lot of "shock" weight already, so I might as well let that be visible to me). I'm definitely going to go download Happy Scale, too - that sounds like it could be a lifesaver (quite literally).

I'd still love to hear more people's preferences! Both for my sake, and the sake of anyone else who's on the fence about whether or not to record setbacks for whatever reason.

JensJourney11

I log weight gains. I find it's the only way for it to really hit home with me so that I deal with the issue (not tracking, over-eating, laziness, whatever).

fiddletime

If/when I overeat I wait two days before recording it to let the water weight diminish. I also use Happy Scale for trends, but mostly use MFP. I like to see the historical spikes and how they resolved. But I hate to have my friends on my wall think I'm losing and losing when all I did was gain and lose the same pound.

artbyrachelh

@fiddletime So, will MFP not post a pound loss in the newsfeed if it's above your start weight? (Meaning, I gained, I logged the weight gain; then I lost it?) that lost pound won't post?

4gig

When I took a break and came back with a weight gain I logged it for myself. When I'm actively restricting my calories I log my weight weekly on mfp and keep a daily log on my iPad. When I'm in a maintain mode I don't log small fluctuations one way or the other, since it could just be water retention or what not.

theowlbox

I think it can help to see the jagged line and focus on the trend. If you don't log it, you hold on to a perfectionism around that line. You "preserve the perfection" of a downward veering line that is based on only partial info. There is no need to keep the line sacred. It is a reflection of your actual experience. Desensitizing yourself to it, and to the fact that our lives are inherently messy, will likely help you to be easier on yourself which will help you to continue. There are many people who stop an effort to lose weight because they "ruined" the day or week or month somehow. They punish themselves for not achieving an unattainable goal. Don't punish yourself for the messiness of learning to do something better. You are doing a wonderful job and should be so proud of yourself. Truly.

MeemawCanDoIt

I absolutely will NOT record a gain. I struggled with an eating disorder for two decades. Seeing an increase causes a tinge of disordered thinking. I just wait it out until I can record a loss.

Berkgal33

Went to the Dr with hip pain this week, weighed 7 pounds heavier, logged it. Proved to me although I was almost in maintenance, I still need to tighten up the tracking. I had gotten VERY sloppy and careless. Now I'm dealing with both left ischial and trochanteric hip bursitis I can't work out as hard, logging is crucial to get me back on track.

Lounmoun

My preference is to log my weight once a week no matter if it is up or down. It is data.

Lois_1989

I would log it. I hate logging gains, but when you look back you see the whole picture. Ups, downs, good and bad. It reminds you that you are human. You can also look back a see a correlation between what happened in your life and how it changed your weight. E.g. stress, holiday, when you found your groove at the gym and dropped a lot of weight, or when you started running and what happened. You don't know it at the time, but when you look back you get a bit of a light bulb moment where it all falls into place.

bmeadows380

I should log it, but sometimes I don't. I think if the gain continued for a two weeks, I'd record it then, but sometimes I have weekends like the one before last where I ate out a lot and had a lot of water retention which made the scale last week look like I had gained 3 lbs. But this week, after logging better, I had a 3 lb LOSS from 2 weeks before. I know I didn't lose 6 lbs in a week, so that means the gain from the week before was water weight and not a true gain - so gains like that I don't count. If, after being stricter on my calorie counting and consumption, a small gain had registered this week, I would have counted it then.

But it really is individual. I weight almost every day, but I only record once a week, and I pick Thursdays for that because I tend to be at my lowest during the week on Saturdays and my highest on Mondays - those darn weekends lol

I had lost 90 lbs back in 2012, but gained it all back in the last 5 years (thyroid cancer stinks!). When I started over in January, I recorded my then current weight and started all over. But if its going to trigger your anxiety or disorder, definitely do what will work best for you in the long run. The beauty of this is that its all very individualized, so we're all completely free to customize the process to what works best for us as individuals! Best of luck to you!

KayTeeOne

Record always

CSARdiver

In my first year of MFP I logged daily and after hitting my goal weight I stopped logging my weight. Slowly my activity declined, I started eating more, logging less, and while I weighed myself I did not log it. After putting 30 lbs back on I realized that the accountability was a critical element for me and I logged my weight, reviewed my behavior and got back into the disciplined regimen that led me to success.

Now my goal has shifted from weight loss and more towards muscle development and fat loss, so I started monitoring weight along with body fat % and body measurements.

jayemes

**I've never dealt with eating disorders so this is just my opinion on logging in general**
It's all about the journey. To me, if you gain, but don't record it, you're going to look back at this incomplete picture. You'll look at a downward trend and wonder why it took so long to get to your goal weight. You'll forget the hardships of the up and down. If you log it and own it, it's there. You got past it. You moved on and now you're getting healthier. Otherwise what's the point? Put it there and every time you see that spike, remind yourself that that's not what you want to do anymore and see how far you've come. Best of luck

fabulous1690

For as long as I can remember my weight has yo-yoed. This time I want it to be different. So I'm doing it different. I have made myself a graph chart and stuck it on my bedroom wall. I see it each morning and night but also coming and going from the bedroom. Not all of us have iron will power and discipline and I find it difficult to deal with people who go on about "you just have to be strong" " just have will power". Well it's not that easy. So here is what I'm doing different this time round. I'm looking at it long-term. Not just 6months. And when I look at it like that a few days here and there of over-eating are small change. If you don't want to record here on MFP do it on your own chart. Make your new start weight your current weight. A new start weight is a new start. Don't beat yourself up for how you got to it. Start fresh again tomorrow and watch your progress from there. Your weight can only come down starting today. So you had a binge. It's ok. It's not the be all and end all. Tomorrow is another day. Another new chance. So cut yourself some slack, take a deep breath and remember why you started. Find a new reason to start again tomorrow. And forgive yourself. Losing weight and getting healthy is not a race. It's personal to you. And will happen at your pace. Don't get demotivated just because you have gained. You still get a chance to start again. That's the beauty of tomorrow.

melmerritt33

I've been in the same situation twice, the first time I recorded the gain but got depressed at how slowly I was getting back to the lower level and ended up giving up yet again. The second time I cleared my history and started again with a clean slate and new starting weight. I've now consistently lost weight and got to below where I stopped the previous time, seeing my progress without the previous attempt has really encouraged me to keep going so that clearly worked for me this time.

hesn92

I would prefer to Change your weight that way when you do start losing weight again you can see it go down!

cwolfman13

I weigh in multiple times per week, but have one day that I log my weight on a trend app. I'm in maintenance, but I did the same while losing weight as it helps to view the overall trend over time and not get so wrapped up in the weigh in to weigh in number.

explodingmango

So, I played a little bit with different ways of logging, using old data I had laying around in various apps, and I realized I was using only recording positive progress as a crutch. Which, as much as I hate that expression most of the time (why, when we use it as a metaphor, do we make it out like you don't NEED crutches when you have a broken leg, and you should just be able to will your bones better?), it fits here. I needed it for a long time. Seeing a higher number than the previous day's logged was discouraging enough that it would usually send me into a relapse within a few days. But I'm in a better situation now - I'm living with someone supportive, preparing for huge life events that need me to be on top of my situation, and seeing a therapist; continuing to rely on an incomplete picture for encouragement will stop me from healing further.

That said, I'm now looking for an app that shows a trendline along with the data points I input. Seems like the best way to split the difference and remind me that even if I fluctuate upward or get off track for whatever reason, I've still made a lot of progress from when I was at my worst. I've seen a few like this; I just need to find one I like.

Lounmoun

I have tried trendweight and weightgrapher. They are pretty similar.

waltzingmom

An alternative that I sort of adopted without thinking about it is to not record gains immediately, but to do so retroactively, after I've started losing again. I couldn't bear to record the almost 10 pounds I regained until after I lost it, and then I went back (the system lets you do that) and recorded the 3 month-long regain-spike. I also often avoid recording day-to-day fluctuations nowadays if I've gained a pound, if I lose it in the next day or two. I guess it just works for me.

SammiG01

I log weight gains because what is the point of not? Who would you be hiding it from? You already know! We have to try to let go of shame, that keeps us sick. It is what it is and today is a new day.

descene

I only record true fat/muscle gains. If it's water weight (meaning I went over only in my sodium/carbs and I'm still at a deficit), I'll wait.

MoyMG

I log weekly, usually Weds. As someone else said, it's data, and I can spot and stop upward trends vs yo-yo-ing.