When to weight yourself?

NewHealthyBug

It hard to lose weight but I am not give up! I go 200 to 199 when I go 203 in 5 days! How many times do you weight yourself in one week? Or do something else? And it best time to it?

estherdragonbat

The best time is the same time each time. In other words, if you weigh yourself right when you get up, that's the time you should (as much as possible) always weigh yourself. If it's right before bed, same.

I weigh myself daily, but the only time that "counts" is Sunday morning, first thing after using the washroom.

arsan

You should try NOT to focus to much on weighing yourself, otherwise you'll get discouraged. Try once a month if you have to.

estherdragonbat

That really depends on the individual. I like to keep track of fluctuations and see the impact of having something extra salty, TOM, intense workouts, not-so-intense workouts etc.

GemimaFitzTed

First thing in the morning after the toilet and before my shower. I weigh myself everyday. I am now trying to make a habit of logging my weight everyday so I can see trends. I know that my weight will increase at TOM (up to 2.5kg) for about 2 weeks, but it should be a downward trend, nevertheless. I just need to note when I have intense workouts, extra salty meals etc so I don't freak out!

Duck_Puddle

I weigh myself every morning-first thing right after I potty. It’s most important that you weigh under consistent circumstances (same scale, time of day, etc). Our weight fluctuates throughout the day and from day to day. Attempting to weigh under consistent circumstances helps to minimize how much fluctuations due to drinks & meals recently consumed, etc shows up on our record.

This is an old pic-but this is exactly why I weigh every day. You’ll notice there is a clear downward trend, but the weights one month apart are exactly the same. If I only weighed monthly and I saw the same number, I would be discouraged because there was no change, and I’d also probably make changes to a plan that was actually working.

pierinifitness

I weigh myself daily, “same Bat time, same “Bat channel.” I’m an analytical dude and like the data. Do what matches who you are for best results.

For me, those occasional northerly hiccups in the weight readings are strong motivators to tackle my day with intensity. So far, so good.

Your mileage may vary.

AnnPT77

I weigh myself every morning (unless traveling away from home), wearing only watch & glasses, after using the bathroom, before eating or drinking. I've done that for probably a decade now, starting long before I was even trying to lose weight.

Doing this helps me understand what makes my weight fluctuate from day to day. For me, it's not at all an emotional thing: Usually, I know what to expect.

These days, I record my daily weight in a weight trending app (I use Libra for Android, but there's also Happy Scale for iOS, Trendweight with a Fitbit account, Weightgrapher . . . .). Before there were apps, I noted my daily weight on graph paper with a dot where the date on the X-axis met the scale number on the Y-axis. I have years of this data.

Obsessed? No. Data geek.

Consider thinking of it this way:

We don't have a single "true current weight". Over a day or a few, we have a current weight range. What we see on the scale will move up and down through a range of a few pounds, because of the fluctuations in water retention and digestive contents that are a normal part of a healthy body's way of staying healthy.

Over weeks to months, we have a long-term weight trend. The trend moves up (bumpily) when consistently gaining fat, down (still bumpily) when consistently losing fat, or stays level/horizontal (still bumpily) when maintaining. On a graph, the daily weights make jagged bumpy progress downhill, uphill, or level, as time goes on.

When a person is losing fat reasonably steadily, their daily range might be 198-203 this week, 197-204 next week, 195-202 the following week, 193-199 the next week, 195-202 again the next, then back down to 191-194, and so on: Up and down day by day, down overall by weeks and months, not down every week, but down overall.

callsitlikeiseeit

my weight fluctuates within about a 5 pound range on any given day. I weigh myself officially once a week and log it whether it is a loss or a gain. most days i do step on the scale, but pretty much forget the number as soon as i step off. if its not my official 'weigh' day, im just not concerned about it and remembering it isnt important.

For those who have a hard time dealing with those very normal fluctuations, weighing less frequently is usually a good idea. once or twice a month. hide the scale under a cabinet for the rest of the time so youre not tempted to step on it.

CarvedTones

First thing in the morning pretty much anytime it is convenient to, usually 4 or 4 times a week. i see ups and downs and know I am somewhere between. There are trending apps that tell you almost exactly. My usual swings are small enough that I don't bother. If you weigh infrequently, you don't know if you are catching spikes or not. you could lose a pound in a week and get a higher weight at the end of the week than at the beginning. Weighing infrequently and not seeing the bounces can be discouraging when you have the misfortune of seeing a low weight one time and a spike the next. If i were going to weigh infrequently, I would go with really infrequently, like monthly, while losing. I am in maintenance, which makes me want to weigh more frequently to see bounces in the same range, because I want to react to small gains.

stevee303

I weigh myself every morning and use Libra to record it. It has been a huge help this time around in seeing that my weight often goes up as well as down, but overall is heading in the right direction.

mitch16

I weigh myself daily, first thing in the morning, after using the restroom, naked. Always on the same scale in the same place (on a level tile floor in my bathroom). And I record it in Happy Scale to see the trends and moving averages.

I do not sync it with mfp, but rather manually record it in mfp sporadically--sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly...

KristaMac88

What everyyone else said. I use to do it daily..sometimes still will. Have also taken measurements and every once in a while will re measure to see if anythings changed. Which it hasnt so far aha scale has only gone down 2lbs but I try and weigh in monday a.m to see what damage my not so strick sat or sunday has caused. Then again on sat a.m after trying to do good all week and get to the gym a few times. and thats the one i log.

endermako

I have an online check in with my trainer on sundays and that's usually the time I weigh.

tmoneyag99

No more than 1x a week. In the mean time focus on what you can control. You cannot actually control your weight. You can only control the things that effect your weight.

stricklee11

I weigh myself once a week on Wednesdays at 7:30.

dochtang

I agree with everyone here about weighing everyday at the same time of day. It helps me with trends over a few days or weeks, even months and years.

The best bet for people like me who don't want to consistently write it down is to buy a scale that comes with an app to keep track of it for you. I was able to buy one for $15 and it's been amazing.

NewHealthyBug

Now I am going to figure out what will work for me. thank you everyone!

ShayCarver89

I weigh myself every day. I've learned to emotionally prepare myself for the possibility that the scale might go up. Even if I did everything perfect. Its normal for weight to fluctuate and definitely something everyone has to get use to even when you hit your gw.