How often do you WEIGH YOURSELF?

Christie_Smith

Just starting my weightloss journey. Got 126lb to lose. (9 stone exactly!)

How often do you weigh yourself? Most people recommend weekly or monthly...just wondering what works for others.

asellitti6523

I find weekly works well. Daily I find to be too much because it makes me way too obsessive to an unhealthy level. Monthly IMO is a bit too long because you can go weeks thinking you are making progress and you go into it with a number in your head on what you expect the scale to say and if it doesn't match up (heavier) it can be discouraging. Weekly allows you to take inventory of the changes and adjust quicker without having to wait for monthly.

sijomial

Daily for me.
Doesn't make me at all stressed as I regard it as useful data to keep an eye on my weight trend. Each day's number on its own has very, very little significance to me whether up, down or same as yesterday.

It's not just the frequency to think about, it's also the mindset and emotions to consider around weighing yourself. There isn't one frequency that works best, or is even appropriate, for everyone. It is well worth having a good think about the personal aspects as continuing to monitor weight is one of the key factors of being successful long term so don't make it unpleasant or give it the power to derail you.

glassyo

Once a week on Saturdays after my morning/early afternoon walk, bathroom, and shower. Then I take the average of all Saturdays and log that on the last Saturday of every month.

Ghostofachance

No matter how frequently you weigh (it sounds like I'm in the majority thinking it should be at least weekly), it's important to do it the same way each time. For instance, I follow the same routine: after I wake up in the morning, after I use the restroom, and without clothing. If you change the variables involved in your routine, your "weight" could be off as much as 2-3 pounds. Good luck to you!

jaredsaccount

I'm just starting again but I've lost a lot before. I like weighing myself daily, first thing, no clothes. When I used to weigh weekly, if that one day was a bad day and I gained, I took it very hard. When I weigh daily, I can see it goes up a little here and down a little there... But overall, the plan works if you just keep working it.

westrich20940

That all depends on you and how it affects you. Often times I see people here post that they weight themselves daily or weekly but are upset when the number on the scale doesn't go down. If that's going to be an issue then I'd suggest weighing yourself every month. The truth is the scale will not always go down and isn't always going to be the best indicator of success. If it doesn't bother you that it goes up or stays the same then weight yourself however often you want.

I personally don't think that weighing every single day or even week gives good data that is usable. You want to use your weight as an indicator of whether or not you are in an appropriate calorie deficit (if losing weight is your goal). Since there are so many variables that can affect the number on the scale, it's more useful to weigh once per month in order to really see the overall long-term pattern. Make adjustments based on that.

When I was actively losing weight I'd weigh myself every 3-4 weeks. Now I only weigh myself if I feel like my clothes are fitting differently.

Lietchi

I weigh daily every morning and log the weight in Libra. It's just data to me - more data points means a better view of my weight trend. I don't get upset about it, so it works for me.

It's been very informative to weight daily, discovering how my cycle influences my weigh-ins, as well as my food and exercise (for example temporary upticks after high sodium/high carb meals like sushi).

JBanx256

I weigh daily - roll out of bed, hit the loo, brush my teeth, step on the scale. I use a weight trending app and understand that fluctuations are part & parcel of the process.

NYPhotographer2021

I like to weigh daily, same time every morning. After bathroom duties, and before my shower. Weight fluctuates so much, weighing daily helps me see how and why I may gain or lose. I know that if I were to gain a pound or so, it's not fat. It's just water weight and will leave my system eventually.

landair2600393

I weigh every morning because I feel like it's a new day and I may need to work harder if I show a gain.

perryc05

I also weigh daily every morning. I feel it keeps me accountable and on track.

Alan2159

I weigh myself every day in the morning and at bedtime. It’s only stressful if I know I have ate bad. I’m slowly dropping weight and weighing myself frequently is actually inspiring.

GemmaM_x

@Christie_Smith
I'm another who weighs in daily.

My weight can easily fluctuate 5lbs in a day depending on water intake, sodium intake, alcohol, temperature, period.

For me, I like seeing these huge jumps up and down, because I can then rationalize that there is no way I have gained 5lbs overnight. If I weighed less often I wouldn't feel able to be so sure, if that makes sense?

What do you feel would work for you? If you were to weigh weekly and, after a "perfect" week you weighed 2lbs more, would it bother you? Would seeing your weight go minus 2lbs, minus 1 lb, plus 3lbs, minus 4lbs, etc. be better?

If you decide to weigh daily, I beg you to use either Happy Scale (iOS) or Libra (Android) for logging. It will give you trend lines and give you an estimated future view.

Here's my actual log, year to date, and March:

Cheesy567

Daily, it’s a good routine for me to keep me on-track, and the daily fluctuations have come to be curious at first and now comforting and fun at times. Big milestones come (and go and bounce around) several times when you’re losing slowly and weighing daily.

I’ve had times of large and fast regains in the past, those were times when I wasn’t aware of my weight at all— didn’t own a scale way back then— or more like several years ago when I was yo-yoing and would stop weighing myself, or was less consistent with weighing myself during the weightloss process overall.

I’ve learned that the daily weights are a touchstone habit for me, they keep me on-track, aware, and steady. I might plateau or choose to go into maintenance if it’s stressful, but I haven’t regained and have continued to lose since maintaining that habit.

Deni_R

Daily. I've always been told that you should weigh yourself once a week and I've always done that but I found I lived and breathed what was on the scales and my emotions were too involved. If I didn't see the loss I thought I was "owed" for my hard work I was devastated and being an emotional eater it was a recipe for disaster.

I've found weighing daily takes the emotion out of it for me. It's just something I do at the start of my day, the ups and downs sometimes make sense depending on what I've eaten the day before, sometimes don't and that's ok. That's just my body doing it's thing. The trend is down, that's all that matters. I never thought I'd be so at peace with the scales. They've always been my nemesis but weighing daily has taken away most (lets be honest I still hate them sometimes) of the emotional power they had over me.

creativecook18

I weigh daily and then recently adjusted down 100 calories on my diary to get off a plateau and that worked. It keeps me accountable. Great work all. Fitness Pal diary is helping me stay on track.

NishaJoyClint

I weigh three times a week. Just to see how my loss is going and if I need to adjust my calorie intake. So it would be the beginning of the week, mid week, and the day before my official weigh in. I use to weigh in every day but that drove me nuts.

pbpunisher

Christie_Smith wrote: »

Just starting my weightloss journey. Got 126lb to lose. (9 stone exactly!)

How often do you weigh yourself? Most people recommend weekly or monthly...just wondering what works for others.

I weight myself every day. You just have to realize there will be some fluctuations day to day. But that's what noom recommended and I agree. It's always a daily reminder. I'm down 25lbs since Jan 10

cwolfman13

Usually 2-3 days per week and then take the average...generally Wed, Thurs, and Friday mornings before I've eaten anything and after the restroom before my shower. Waiting until Wednesday helps to clear out some of the water weight from the weekend as I usually eat out once or twice, beer, and I can often be very active on weekends on hours long hikes or MTB treks that can cause quite a bit of water retention.

You're always going to have natural fluctuations so it's important to just recognize that and understand that they are completely normal and natural. By occupation I analyze data and numbers and there is a fine line between not enough or too much data for meaningful analysis. A small sample of data points for example, doesn't really give you a full picture of what's happening and what to project out...too many data points can create a lot of noise to filter through, etc.

IMO, monthly weigh-ins would require a considerable amount of time to collect enough data points for meaningful analysis and getting a picture of what's really going on. For example, if you were to lose 1 Lb per week on average for a total of 4 Lbs in a month, that might not actually show on the scale with a monthly weigh in due to fluctuations...I can be up or down 2-3 Lbs day to day...If I weighed in monthly, it's very possible that I would have lost 4 Lbs of fat, but that is masked on the scale by 3 Lbs of water weight on that singular weigh in day.

Weekly would give you more data points, but again, you might weigh in on a "heavy" day where water or waste in your system is muddying the waters. As a trend, I tend to have my lightest day on Thursday...heaviest weigh in is usually Wednesday and Friday tends to be somewhere in-between. For a time I used to weigh in daily, but those additional data points weren't really providing me with any more meaningful data than weighing in 3 days per week...it just made for excess noise.

ChickenKillerPuppy

When I was losing I weighed in weekly. In maintenance, I weigh daily. And I use Happy Scale weight trending app. I have mixed feelings about weighing in. I feel like weighing in daily helps take some of the power out of the numbers, because if I can get past the emotional part of seeing the fluctuations, I get that my weight does fluctuate, but overall I am maintaining. My weight fluctuated between 117 - 123 during the month of March, but overall, I think I weighed exactly the same on April 1st as I did on March 1st, which tells me I'm achieving my goals in maintenance. And Happy Scale has told me that I basically stayed the same when you average it all out over the month.

Part of me, however, wants to stop weighing in because it is still a source of stress, and just weigh in monthly or if my clothes fit differently, etc. I would still weigh and measure and count my calories, but I have a pretty regimented routine, so sometimes I think I could just stop weighing myself, but still keep up all my other good habits, and be much happier.

It's so hard to know what to do. The stupid number holds so much power for so many of us, and I keep reminding myself it's just one data point. But I also know that in the past, when I would get off track, I stopped weighing myself, so I feel I shouldn't do that.

Good luck, and I hope you find a plan that works for you. I will say using Happy Scale helps a lot.

Kiyomoo

I know people highly recommend not doing this, but I check my weight about three times a day.

kamaboko1

I used to do it everyday, but not now. Why? I don't need a scale to tell me I'm fat. My clothes do a much better job of it. Now I try on particular pair of pants. Think of them as my "goal" pants. When I can fit into them, then I'll know I'm where I need to be.

MelodyMomof2

I weigh once a week, at same time of day. I dont worry if I don't lose. I know that there are fluctuations. Usually if I don't lose one week, I lose even more than I expected the next.

cynthia_h

I am also in the "daily" camp. It keeps me accountable and lets me react more quickly to negative weight results.

RockingWithLJ

I step on the scale most mornings to see where I'm at. It's not for discouragement If I gain weight or encouragement if I lose weight just making note of the scale change. I prefer non-scale victories over scale victories so having a set weight to lose in my mind is discouraging especially when you don't always Trend downwards because that won't always be the case. Some other goals that I set to achieve is to be able to do chin-ups without assistance or to be able to do push-ups without having to drop to my knees or to jog around the block without getting winded. I would slowly increase those goals as I reach them so I kept challenging myself. Then each morning when I step on the scale it's not as big of a thing if it goes up or if it goes down since I have other factors to look at

GeminiLady159

Another vote for Happy Scale app! It smooths the fluctuations out. I also love it for tracking mini goals- I have a big overall goal too like you and I like seeing the percentages towards my total.

wilson10102018

I weigh every day.

It allows me to overcome the shock of gaining 3 pounds after following the plan to the letter. Because at 3500 calories per pound, there is no way I have 10500 extra calories in one day. So it became obvious to me that it was fluctuation due to intestinal tract contents and water retention. Hence, no more worries about the fluctuations. And, for me it always averages out and my loss graph looked like a steady slope down. Now almost perfectly flat when viewed at a distance. But, I have to think those 3 pound gains through every time it happens.

thornro4

hi i weigh twice a day - once in the morning and once at night.

michellelawson00

Good mornin! Personally if I weigh too often I get in my head about how well I'm doing or not doing. My weight can fluctuate from morning to afternoon and from day to day. I end up chastising myself and losing focus. So I try to keep it to 1-2 times a week. That works well for me. Stay close to these boards and let us support you!!!

kerrymelissa1

I weigh in on Wednesday.