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Is it a good idea to weigh yourself every day?
Replies
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paperpudding wrote: »IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »If you react emotionally to the scale, no.
If you don't react emotionally to the scale, it's not super important but you can learn things about how different factors affect your weight from carbs to water to sodium to alcohol, etc.
Yes you can - if you want to.
For those of us who are not bothered about learning how different factors like that temporarily affect our weight ( what I called before minutiae of data - wasn't meant to be a 'character laden term' just an objective phrase describing above) then no need or point in doing that.
I would argue that it is way less than super important , it isn't important at all unless you want to know it.
And nothing wrong either way ie learning such stuff or not.
Back to whatever works for you.
What I found it did for me was it helped me come to expect to have a low weigh in on Saturday AM after having great diet adherence since Monday and conversely to expect a high weigh in on Monday after consuming higher calories on the weekend. That resulted in the ability to REMOVE any emotional response to the scale, which for me (and many others) is hugely beneficial.
Minutiae of data for you? Fair enough. For me? Absolutely not.
Edit: I'm not disagreeing with you, simply pointing out that whether it's minutiae is individual.1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.
Actually if you already know your trend is downward, tracking just the drops is eliminating noise. This is what my chart looks like during the actively losing phase of my weight loss (had already lost 25 lbs before joining MFP)
Granted this is not going to help you figure out why you aren’t losing weight, or what you are doing wrong. But when I’m accurately tracking calories I don’t need to do those things. I’m not one of those people who can say “well weight loss isn’t linear,” because yeah, for me it pretty much exactly is.3 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
Disagree.
Tracking the trend and reporting/recording progress can indeed be two separate things, it's not at all uncommon.
I track my trend all year but for the start of the cycling season I drop to my best riding weight - I just record the drops when I know that a new low weight is a "true weight" rather than a downward fluctuation. No data is discarded or even discounted.
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janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.
They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.
They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.
They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.
This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.
Better than I could have explained it and spot on. Thanks!3 -
rheddmobile wrote: »
Actually if you already know your trend is downward, tracking just the drops is eliminating noise.
Yes, it eliminates the noise, an excellent description of why I now just record the drops as daily weighing means you do not miss when proper drops happen but it also generates a heck of a lot of noise..
When I started out I used to record it all on MPF but I ended up with a very jagged line, pretty but not information I found useful. So over time I stopped doing that and just do the drops and I now can easily when my drops have occurred without having to fight my way through the daily fluctuations.
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janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.
They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.
They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.
They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.
This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.
So we can all say we weigh the lowest weight we've tracked, even if we weigh 10 lbs, 20 lbs, or 100 pounds more than that.
ETA
It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.
I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
Disagree.
Tracking the trend and reporting/recording progress can indeed be two separate things, it's not at all uncommon.
I track my trend all year but for the start of the cycling season I drop to my best riding weight - I just record the drops when I know that a new low weight is a "true weight" rather than a downward fluctuation. No data is discarded or even discounted.
Yes. Two. Separate. Things.2 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.
They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.
They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.
They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.
This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.
So we can all say we weigh the lowest weight we've tracked, even if we weigh 10 lbs, 20 lbs, or 100 pounds more than that.
ETA
It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.
I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.
Actually, no. If your recent minimum was 3 days ago, you can probably assume that you haven't gained a large amount since then. If your recent minimum was 3 weeks ago, you should probably eat less. Don't forget that you're still weighing yourself daily and you can see the scale showing you gained 20 pounds since your recent minimum.
The choosing a minimum is what I do in the Give Yourself 10 Days challenge. I have up to 10 data points, and I choose the minimum for the previous rounds. That's because I sometimes have salty food, and I gain heaps. This can take up to 3 days to lose the salt related water. I tried using an average but if I went to Subway (which is riddled with salt) twice on the 10 day period (day 1, day 7 say) my average weight would be higher than the previous round when I didn't go to Subway at all. That's why I gave up using average and now only use minimum for previous rounds.2 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.
They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.
They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.
They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.
This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.
So we can all say we weigh the lowest weight we've tracked, even if we weigh 10 lbs, 20 lbs, or 100 pounds more than that.
ETA
It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.
I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.
Obviously your weight is whatever it is on the scale at any given moment. But, not being a boxer, I have no interest in my scale weight as such. I’m interested in fat loss, which is much better represented by the chart which eliminates the noise from daily water fluctuations. There is overwhelming evidence my method is accurate over the long run.3 -
I weigh daily for a number of reasons. Firstly, I log it in to Libra and I like to see the trends because I like numbers. Secondly, it has become helpful in managing my IBS - if I am holding on to water weight all of a sudden (not including when I have takeaways or anything where I would expect a fluctuation) it is usually because I have accidentally eaten something I shouldn't have so I can go through and check my diary - I don't always get the pain but I do get the bloating so this is just another useful way of identifying foods I need to be careful with.
There is nothing wrong with daily weighing if you are emotionally resilient enough to cope with fluctuations and apply logic to those fluctuations - i.e. I have takeaway every Saturday so Sunday's numbers are a mess.1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.
They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.
They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.
They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.
This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.
So we can all say we weigh the lowest weight we've tracked, even if we weigh 10 lbs, 20 lbs, or 100 pounds more than that.
ETA
It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.
I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.
If one is in the midst of consistent weight loss, there's absolutely nothing misrepresentative or misleading about tracking just the new low weight.
Again, the trend being tracked IS the weight loss, it's just not the overall day-to-day weight. It's a legitimate way to track progress when one is in the midst of consistent weight loss (and since this user is recording their daily weight on a calendar, they have all the data they need to determine if weight loss is being consistent).
We're not talking about someone clocking a weight of 115 and continuing to report that even though they now weigh 140. It's more like a situation where someone tracks a weight of 130, is 131 the next day, and the next week is then 128. Nothing is compromised by not logging the weight of 131. If this person was only weighing weekly and logging that weight, nobody would be like "You're logging wrong, that's not a trend!" So why insist that someone log day-to-day "noise" if that's not their preference?
Now if one tracked a weight of 130 and then in subsequent weeks was 131, 132, 133, 134, and didn't log those at all and continued to assume they were 130, that would be an issue. Keep in mind there is absolutely no evidence that this is what is happening here. We're talking about someone who is actively losing weight.7 -
I weigh daily because it really does help keep me motivated. If I only do it once a week, then I tend to slack off for half the week and then panic/starve/workout like crazy the couple of days before the weigh-in. If I do it daily, it helps keep me on track every day.4
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IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »paperpudding wrote: »IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »If you react emotionally to the scale, no.
If you don't react emotionally to the scale, it's not super important but you can learn things about how different factors affect your weight from carbs to water to sodium to alcohol, etc.
Yes you can - if you want to.
For those of us who are not bothered about learning how different factors like that temporarily affect our weight ( what I called before minutiae of data - wasn't meant to be a 'character laden term' just an objective phrase describing above) then no need or point in doing that.
I would argue that it is way less than super important , it isn't important at all unless you want to know it.
And nothing wrong either way ie learning such stuff or not.
Back to whatever works for you.
What I found it did for me was it helped me come to expect to have a low weigh in on Saturday AM after having great diet adherence since Monday and conversely to expect a high weigh in on Monday after consuming higher calories on the weekend. That resulted in the ability to REMOVE any emotional response to the scale, which for me (and many others) is hugely beneficial.
Minutiae of data for you? Fair enough. For me? Absolutely not.
Edit: I'm not disagreeing with you, simply pointing out that whether it's minutiae is individual.
Well, yes.
I already said that- minutiae of data is uneccesary for me.
No issues with anyone else doing it in whatever way works for them. Of course it is individual.
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.
Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.
Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?
It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.
I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.
They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.
They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.
They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.
This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.
So we can all say we weigh the lowest weight we've tracked, even if we weigh 10 lbs, 20 lbs, or 100 pounds more than that.
ETA
It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.
I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.
I think you are being pedantic.
Highly unlikely anyone says they weigh 100 lb less than they do, using tracking method you are objecting to.
I dont think any lurkers would interpret posters method as meaning that and it doesn't matter how plotting data " really works " this isn't a scientific study, it is one person's method that works for them.
4 -
I weigh myself everyday.
The frequency at which anyone weighs themselves is a personal decision and whether it is helpful or harmful or neutral depends on the person.1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.
I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.
This is a weird discussion as it is up to each of us how we use mfp. However, since I have more mfp friends I have discovered another reason for only telling mfp when I reach a new low weight: mfp is set to notify friends if what is recorded is weight lost but not if it is weight gained. One of my friends is frustrated as she is hovering around a weight, gaining a few, losing a few, but pretty static; she keeps getting congratulations for her loss, but actually it isn't happening.
So at present mfp thinks I weigh 0.3 kg less than I did this morning. I know that! And for ages while I was regaining weight mfp thought I weighed about 1kg, then 2kg, then ... 5kg less than I actually did, because that was my last recorded weight. I updated mfp when I started to lose again so that it could give me accurate suggestions about food intake, not because I need the mfp graph to be accurate. I use my own spreadsheet for accurate data.
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I am generally an every day weigh-er but I have recently hit an interesting snag, just in the last couple of months, that every time I reach a weight-loss goal I weaken and have a treat day.
Always had treat days and I get straight back on with the regular eating plan after but before I did not indulge because I'd lost a hunk of weight "so could" and instead picked an occasional weekend when I would allow myself a day without calorie counting, literally as a treat.
So at the moment I am not weighing myself at all, in fact I have put my scales out of sight so as to resist as I really need to break the "food as a reward" cycle I seem to have fallen into.
Not worried about not weighing myself as I know if I stick with the programme, food and exercise, I will be losing but I guess we all like to measure our progress. My intention being to hold off for another fortnight.
Anyone else experienced this? Any advice?4 -
This question is not really about what so-called experts say. But rather what you want. It is not a right or wrong...As folks have mentioned if it motivates and helps you, then do it. If not, then don't. Personally, I weigh everyday - same time, same manner, same scale. I have come to anticipate the fluctuations and am not bothered by it. I know that if I suddenly lose 1 - 2 lbs in a single day, that it will go back up...as long as I keep at what I do, then I know it will not go back up much more than it went down. An the cycle continues. Here is an example from my Garmin Index S2 scale.
3 -
I don't think daily weigh-ins are the best. I've dealt with eating disorders before and it was the scale that broke me. Sure, once a day doesn't seem to bad, but it easily turns into twice a day, then before you know it six times a day. I realize that some people don't get obsessed over it, so it does depend on the person. However overall one won't see much difference on a day to day basis, and it can be discouraging sometimes. You aren't (and shouldn't) be losing a pound or more a day, so I found that a once a week weigh in is a lot more motivating and exciting when you can actually see more of a change. Just be careful with the scale, I almost lost my life a few years ago and the last thing that went through my mind was that I was about to die at x weight. Remember that the scale is a tool to help, not a worldly force that defines you as a person.3
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