Weight trends and Weighing every day

born_of_fire74

I'm hard pressed to imagine a situation wherein more data is less accurate than less data. Maybe I lack imagination. I'm also not a scientist by trade. It seems to me, though, that the more measurements you have of anything, the more accurate the picture those measurements illustrate will be. I see no reason why weight management would be any different.

JBanx256

Dilvish wrote: »

Even experts agree that weighing yourself daily is not accurate. For the best accuracy, use a tape measure instead, not a scale.

Once a week at the same time of day on the same scale will give you a more consistent result.

Also realize that most "consumer" scales can be off by as much as 2-5 lbs!

In my experience people who weigh themselves daily are usually in a hurry to lose weight and will almost always gain it all back. Sustained weight loss takes a lot of time and effort and is a lifestyle change, not a diet!

Sorry, you are incorrect. There are plenty of experts who agree that weighing daily is fine (for some, it's mandatory); some others say 2-4x per week. I've personally worked with coaches who expect/demand weight to be logged daily (and please note these aren't the "coaches" who got their certifications from an online course that took them a few hours to complete and they do not train novices who don't know their arses from their elbows). If you really want to push this point, I'll be more than happy to provide citations by people with degrees, up to and including PhD's.

I've also validated my "consumer" scale to be accurate within less than 0.2 lbs (compared to a scale that has been state-certified for trade purposes, meaning its margin of error is within less than one gram).

JBanx256

I'm happy to provide links to literature regarding why body-tape measurements are often inaccurate/misleading. It's easier to manipulate a tape than a scale.

But please, continue to impart your vast knowledge on us all...we're all very impressed and humbled by your wisdom so far...

MelanieCN77

-salt intake
-high simple carb intake
-where in my cycle I am
-hydration
-did I poop yet
-am I sick or well
-did I do a long run or heavy workout
-did I eat late last evening

Any one of these could cause a fluctuation on the scale of a pound or two and a combo even more. If I have been through this before and know that the scale is up 4lbs Wednesday because I did a long run and splurged on a cheeseburger then I’m not going to panic and cut my calories or throw in the towel and give up running “because it’s not working.”

born_of_fire74

Also, it doesn't matter how much a consumer scale is "out" by if you consistently use the same scale. Every measurement on that scale will be "out" by the same amount.

For example, I changed scales in the summer from an inaccurate analog scale that measured in 2lb increments to a digital scale that measures to 1/10 of a lb. The new digital scale told me I weighed 8lbs more than the old analog scale right from the get-go but I didn't magically gain 8lbs by changing scales; I established a new baseline that is 8lbs heavier than my old baseline. I could have shopped around until I found a digital scale that said I was 8lbs lighter than my analog scale but to what end? I wouldn't have magically shed 8lbs by buying that scale instead.

kshama2001

MelanieCN77 wrote: »

-salt intake
-high simple carb intake
-where in my cycle I am
-hydration
-did I poop yet
-am I sick or well
-did I do a long run or heavy workout
-did I eat late last evening

Any one of these could cause a fluctuation on the scale of a pound or two and a combo even more. If I have been through this before and know that the scale is up 4lbs Wednesday because I did a long run and splurged on a cheeseburger then I’m not going to panic and cut my calories or throw in the towel and give up running “because it’s not working.”

Yup, weighing daily taught me that I retain water when I ovulate, as well as premenstrually.

Also, when I was doing the VA TeleMOVE program, I was required to weigh daily. I had much better success then than when I weigh sporadically.