Is it a good idea to weigh yourself every day?

tiptoethruthetulips

Some people can't cope with the natural daily fluctuations and a natural gain fluctuation sends some people into a tizzy and they spend the day severely undereating or overexercising, some others may just give up. They've yet to understand that its the long term trend that is important not the daily ups and downs.

cgvet37

ccrdragon wrote: »

The issue I have with a weekly weigh-in is that what you eat the day before the weigh-in (and also your physical activity) could have a significant effect on the scale weight.

As an example, if I were to weigh my self Monday and I get X, Tuesday I get Y and Wednesday I get Z (all about the same or trending down), then Wednesday night I have a heavily salted take-out meal (and even tho I stay within calories) my weight on Thursday is up 3 lbs because of water retained from the salt. By having the daily value, I have the opportunity to look at what I did for the week and realize that the Thursday weight is a blip and not part of the general downward trend that the rest of the week's data indicated.

You can also 'game' the once a week weigh-in value by purposefully eating light or drinking less water the day before so that the number on the scale is less (yes, people really do things like this - ask any WW coach who has been in the business for awhile). It is really difficult to try and 'game' the system with daily weigh-ins.

By weighing myself every day and recording the info in a trending app, I know the trend is downwards and is (to me at least) a much more meaningful data set than once a week weigh-ins. The curve on the daily trend is more precise than the curve on a weekly weigh-in.

I weigh myself Saturday morning first thing. My week is very stringent when it comes to my caloric intake, and I exercise every day. The weekends I eat what I want within reason. So I would never weigh myself on Sunday or Monday for the reason of water retention. I have had one week out of six where I was up one pound, instead of my normal two pound loss.

chris89topher

I didn't read all the comments but I bet I know pretty much what they said. I do weigh every day, but do it at the same time in the same conditions. After potty and before food. Otherwise, like you said it ranges all over the place during the day based on what you eat. My weight goes up and down 5 pounds during the day but settles back to "normal" first thing in the morning. That's the only way to get your "true" weight.

The_Enginerd

Like others stated, I do weigh myself daily at this point because more data points gives me a better idea of my fluctuations and more points for trend analysis. Even when I was doing weekly, weight fluctuations could mask progress when losing weight at a slower pace when closer to goal weight. It would take several months of staying the course and watching the long term trend to see the results and determine any potential adjustment.

My daily weight can swing by a pretty decent amount.
edit: This graph is weighing first thing in the morning each day. Swings throughout the day can be just as large.

rheddmobile

JessBbody wrote: »

I've seen countless threads where people are checking in with their weight on a daily basis.

I feel like every article, every book, and every piece of anecdotal advice I've heard or read about fitness has said that it's a terrible idea to weigh yourself every day. They say you should only weigh yourself one a week or even less, and on the same day, first thing in the morning, naked.

Reason being, from what I gather, is that weight fluctuates wildly day to day depending on the food you eat, how much water you're retaining, how bloated you are, if you're on your period, etc.

It seems like you could be 0.2lbs lighter tomorrow and 0.4 lbs heavier the following day, especially if you weigh yourself at a different time of day, after you've eaten, etc.

It makes more sense to me to do it once a week to see if you've made any real progress over the course of the week. Seems like it would be healthier mentally, too, because you would be less obsessive about the number on the scale and less likely to beat yourself up if the scale shows you gained a little (probably because of sodium or water or carbs).


Admittedly I only get weighed once a month, and that's not enough. I think seeing a little progress after one or even two weeks would give me a huge motivation boost.


What do you think about daily weigh-ins?

See, the problem with this theory is that weight does fluctuate every day, sometimes by several pounds, due to waste, water, etc. If you weigh yourself one week after a good night’s sleep, rest, and poop, after a day of running when you are slightly dehydrated, a week before your period, and the next week when constipated, retaining water from a big bowl of low calorie but high sodium soup, retaining water in your muscles from a strength workout, having had only six hours of sleep, and right before your period you might think you have gained four pounds, when in fact you had LOST a pound of fat! Weigh every day, have some sense about it, and you will learn what makes you fluctuate and get a picture of what’s really going on. Four data points in a month isn’t really enough to know what’s up.

A problem happens when some people insist on believing that every little scale fluctuation means something. However, weighing only once a week and trying to control for circumstances doesn’t prevent scale fluctuations. It just limits the pointless freakout to one day a week.

lynn_glenmont

I think if you have a good understanding of how weight fluctuates in response to differing hydration levels and the weight of food/waste in your digestive system, either daily or weekly should work fine for you.

I think if you don't have a good understanding of those things and tend to react emotionally to fluctuations, neither daily nor weekly will work that great for you. It's about the person's understanding and reactions; it's not about the method.

Edited to correct a typo.

paperpudding

I've always weighed weekly, usually on a sun evening.

This works fine for me and doesn't cause any freak outs. It's quite enough to know what is happening for me.

I don't think there is a right or wrong to this but I do see some smugness or self superiority from some daily weighers - as If nobody could weigh weekly and manage fine on that.

rheddmobile

paperpudding wrote: »

I've always weighed weekly, usually on a sun evening.

This works fine for me and doesn't cause any freak outs. It's quite enough to know what is happening for me.

I don't think there is a right or wrong to this but I do see some smugness or self superiority from some daily weighers - as If nobody could weigh weekly and manage fine on that.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to come off as smug. And I imagine if your weight or rate of loss is mostly steady and predictable one day a week would work. There are even people out there who naturally go from year to year without gaining or losing weight and can probably manage with a yearly weigh-in at the doctor’s office! I still don’t agree that weighing once a week will prevent people who freak out over every little fluctuation from freaking out, since they will still fluctuate, only with far less insight into why. That’s specifically the situation I meant to address.

paperpudding

yes freaking out could happen with any system if you dont understand fluctuations and the concept of downward trends.

I just think some people love minutiae of data and others, like me, are happy with knowing the general gist of what is happening.

No right or wrong.

janejellyroll

paperpudding wrote: »

I've always weighed weekly, usually on a sun evening.

This works fine for me and doesn't cause any freak outs. It's quite enough to know what is happening for me.

I don't think there is a right or wrong to this but I do see some smugness or self superiority from some daily weighers - as If nobody could weigh weekly and manage fine on that.

If someone is weighing weekly and is happy with that amount of data, I see no reason why they should change. It's all about what works best for someone in managing their weight.

ReenieHJ

tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »

Some people can't cope with the natural daily fluctuations and a natural gain fluctuation sends some people into a tizzy and they spend the day severely undereating or overexercising, some others may just give up. They've yet to understand that its the long term trend that is important not the daily ups and downs.

This is completely me and my mindset. So once a week for me. I don't want to become a slave to the scale.

mburgess458

I really don't understand the mindset of weighing less often because of fluctuations. There are still fluctuations in a weekly weigh in, you just have less data/information. If you happen to weigh on a low weight (dehydrated for example) day this week and then next week you weigh after a salty day (so more hydrated and maybe even retaining water) you'll think you gained weight. If you weighed every day you'd know the trend is what you expect... or you'd know it isn't what you expect and that's real and you need to change something.

ritzvin

Same reasoning for me too ... If a daily fluctuation freaks someone out, I can't imagine them not being extra freaked out by a weekly weigh-in being higher. (and unless they have a significant amount to lose, that IS going to happen some of the time).

nanastaci2020

It works for me because it is part of my routine. But also because I don't get hung up on the # and understand my body's month long trends. (Which I understand from having many data points from daily weighing.)

On the other hand, if I get off routine slightly it does not derail me. I don't take the scale when I go out of town, for example. And if for some odd reason my morning routine is interrupted then I don't get on the scale. Like if I wake up with a headache and down some Advil with a glass of water, then I won't bother to get on the scale AFTER drinking water.

With many data points, one can see a picture form. For daily weighins, you really need 2-3 months or more to see that pattern. But if you're weighin in weekly, doing so for 2-3 months should show you a similar outline. Just without as much detail to know you're likely to be up on day x of your cycle and down on day y.

nanastaci2020

The main problem, perhaps, comes to those who are new to the process and have unrealistic expectations, and give up after 1 or 2 'bad' weighins. But that can happen easily no matter how often one weighs in.

briscogun

I generally weigh every day. Do I take a few days off every now and again? Sure! But generally I'm of the mindset that you can't manage what you don't measure. So I weigh every day (for the most part), log it, and keep track of the average so I can manage my trends.

ddavenport6962

I like to weigh once, sometimes twice a week, i find that daily is too often to deal with flutuations!!!

paperpudding

mburgess458 wrote: »

I really don't understand the mindset of weighing less often because of fluctuations. There are still fluctuations in a weekly weigh in, you just have less data/information. If you happen to weigh on a low weight (dehydrated for example) day this week and then next week you weigh after a salty day (so more hydrated and maybe even retaining water) you'll think you gained weight. If you weighed every day you'd know the trend is what you expect... or you'd know it isn't what you expect and that's real and you need to change something.

I don't weigh weekly BECAUSE of fluctuations - did anyone say they do that?

No I wouldn't think I gained weight if one reading was up a bit and one was down a bit and not sure how you know what all weekly weighers would think?

I would accept it as fluctuations within a range - unless the trend was continued rise.
I can still see the trend is what I expect on weekly and I don't need more data or information than that

Do what works for you, no objection to that.

Objection is to inability to understand anyone doing differently and tone of telling us what we should think and do.

*edited by a MFP volunteer moderator

Lietchi

paperpudding wrote: »

mburgess458 wrote: »

I really don't understand the mindset of weighing less often because of fluctuations. There are still fluctuations in a weekly weigh in, you just have less data/information. If you happen to weigh on a low weight (dehydrated for example) day this week and then next week you weigh after a salty day (so more hydrated and maybe even retaining water) you'll think you gained weight. If you weighed every day you'd know the trend is what you expect... or you'd know it isn't what you expect and that's real and you need to change something.

I don't weigh weekly BECAUSE of fluctuations - did anyone say they do that?

No I wouldn't think I gained weight if one reading was up a bit and one was down a bit and not sure how you know what all weekly weighers would think?

Maybe you don't. But I have seen plenty of people say they can't handle the fluctuations and weight weekly because of that. So it is one of the strategies being used by people regarding weigh-ins.

My weigh-in strategy is my own, for all sorts of reasons. More data is better, I believe, especially having chosen a slow rate of loss: easier to spot the trend. And also interesting to see how my body reacts to what I eat, to my exercise etc. But some people don't need or want that data, that's fine.
One other reason for me is purely psychological: weighing daily keeps my head in the game. Any time I stopped weighing myself, I gained weight. My boyfriend weighs weekly or oven less, but has very few weight issues, so it works for him.

Mellouk89

I weigh myself everyday cause I don't count calories, I use the scale, the mirror and body measurements to track my progress. It works well.