How often do you WEIGH YOURSELF?

Janatki

I used to find the scales daunting & triggering and weighing weekly would have some influence on overeating (fog eating) behaviours. However I have more knowledge now about scale fluctuations & water retention and now enjoy the daily fluctuations of my weight going up & down and figuring out the whys & where fors! Collected lots of data now & following being very ill with Covid, realise that it is just a number that can help or hinder if I let it! 😉
Edited - for appalling spelling!

Christie_Smith

Thank you everyone! I think I am going to weigh daily and see how it goes!

wildrosewood

I weigh in daily, but I don't stress about it. I just like more data points, and feel like more information leaves me with a better understanding of where I'm at and where I'm headed.

papercut2k

Usually weekly on a Saturday or Sunday. Unless, I am on my cycle then I skip that week. I have done daily weigh-ins before but I would only pay attention to either the lowest day or the number on Saturdays or Sundays only. I don't really psych myself out with the scale unless it has been a month with no progress or loss of progress (serious weight gain).

wilson10102018

If you believe me that weight fluctuates 4-6 pounds having nothing to do with weight loss but everything to do with the amount of water retained and contents of the digestive tract, you will weigh every day and ignore the daily variations and look only at the trends.

AnnPT77

So many threads on this topic!

I've weighed myself daily when not traveling, pretty much every day since . . . 2013? . . . even before trying to lose weight. First thing in the morning, after bathroom, before eating/drinking, same state of (un)dress every time. I used to put a dot on graph paper (on the inside of my linen closet door, next to the bathroom where the scale is): Date on the X (horizontal) axis, weight on the Y (vertical) axis. When trending apps became available, I put it in Libra (for Android) instead.

The daily number is completely emotionless, for me - just a data point. Trends matter, over weeks and months. Day-to-day, it's more about water retention and waste. When I started trying to lose weight, I was glad to already have familiarity with my personal random weight fluctuations, what caused them, how long they tended to last, etc. That was reassuring insight.

I do weigh occasionally during the day, for reasons like assessing my hydration strategies during exercise or the like. I tend to weigh less in the late afternoon than at my "official" AM weigh-in.

I feel sad for people who assume that scale weight within a day or across a small number of days is feedback on how "good" or "bad" they've been with exercise and eating. It's not.

Scale weight over a day or few goes up/down mostly because of water and waste-to-be. It might as well be random. Over weeks to months and beyond, there's a trend, and that will show fat loss. (Our bodies are 60% or more water; that's the big hitter.)

People who struggle emotionally with weight fluctuations, and can't moderate that reaction, are probably better off weighing rarely, and instead using clothes fit or tape-measurements or some such at rarer intervals to assess progress. Those who can be philosophical about the scale roller-coastering can learn from daily weighing. Weighing within a day is mostly measuring what we ate/drank/sweated/urinated/defecated recently. That's useful information for those who are athletically active, and may be interesting/amusing for others who can put it in perspective. It also provides more data points for a trending app, which is statistically useful.

Anyone who thinks varied scale weights within a day are about body fat gain/loss, or are a gauge of how "good" or "bad" they've been . . . should re-assess.

azuki84

Once a week and look at monthly average. Since I am maintaining anything +/- 2 pounds will not mean anything. Body composition > number.

hodgeshailey1186

Currently I weigh in only once a month! I started in a similar position as you in March of last year and i'm now down 108 pounds. When I first started losing weight I would look at the scale daily. I feel like that had major pros and cons? Because on one hand it would help keep me committed to what I was doing and reminding myself why I started, but on the other hand if my weight stayed the same or even went up 1-2 pounds then I would be devastated. I started researching and found that your weight fluctuates a lot, especially for females, due to multiple outside factors. Depending on how much water retention you have, any buildup in your gut, if you're on your cycle... so it just seems counter productive to compare your weight that often because you're not getting an accurate reading when weighing yourself everyday or multiple times a day. I would recommend once a week; when your first get up after you use the restroom and before your eat/drink anything. Just remember there is so much more to health than that number. Best of luck, keep us posted on your journey!

bymyslf892

I’ve just started back up and I’m weighing daily or every other day. Before I was ignoring it and pretending I was losing when I was wayyyy overeating. So, I’m working on that now and weighing daily helps me keep it at the forefront of my mind.

hesn92

I used to every day but I've been gaining quite a bit of weight over the last several months and it's causing me stress I'm buckling back down on MFP and I will probably weigh myself once a week or so.

NailinItWithJen

I personally weigh in every day. But I usually only record it weekly, It's hard to not feel discouraged sometimes but I find I stay on better track when I know I'll be on the scale every morning.

Kiwi2mfp

Daily. This works for me. I don't freak out if I don't lose much for a few days...I just try to understand why. Did I eat too much sodium? Did I work out real hard and retain water from it? I also enjoy watching the micro trends of my weight loss. I have noticed I lose .2-.3 pounds a day. I try not to go over 2 pounds a week though. But under "reports" on myfitnesspal I can watch my chart steadily go down. You can do the same when weighing weekly but I'm just funny like this I guess lol. But, for some people, weighing everyday can cause problems for them. If that is you, then don't weigh but once a week or monthly.

Clendenen49

You must everyday. No excuses. Small fluctuations are normal day to day but then after a while you'll see weekly how much you lose / gain per week average and then adjust calories according to your goals. So simple. Dont let emotions get you. Just keep going. Let's gooooo.

Sinisterbarbie1

I weigh daily, in the morning before showering, and record it weekly. I generally know what the scale is going to say based on what I have been doing (eating, exercising, travel, etc.) but I still find myself acting like a gambler at a roulette wheel whispering the number I want to see under my breath!

IAmTheGlue

I weigh infrequently. Whenever. Maybe at the doctors office or once a month. I can see my weight loss through body changes so I rely on that. I used to weigh every day and I’m not sure why I stopped.

My mom used to work with two ladies who had lost a lot of weight on SlimFast together. They had a scale in their office break room and both weighed in front of each other first thing in the morning. They had a 4 pound range and if they weighed outside that range they did slimfast for lunch until they were back in range.

I can remember them explaining it to me as a kid and now I think it does make sense. They were keeping each other on track and had maintained for years with that method. My mom thought it was terrible and was very negative about their maintenance plan but… whatever works!

corinasue1143

Every day after I pea, before I do anything else, including wake up my brain. I write it down, but if you asked me at noon how much I weighed this morning, I couldn’t tell you. I check my weight loss average app occasionally to see which direction it’s going.

chrismacboy

I never do. Sets me up to fail.

xrj22

Daily. I feel like it is a good idea to remind myself each morning what I am doing and to keep it active in my mind. Generally I find it motivating either way. If the number is higher than I want, then I have motivation to eat less. If the number is low, I feel good about it and want to stay on track. I find myself wanting to avoid the scale when I know it will be bad news, and that is a bad trap to fall into. Better to know the truth and think about next steps than to avoid the info and keep procrastinating or falling off the wagon.

JaysFan82

Every Wednesday. Weighing daily seems silly.

rosiekin

Rarely! In fact, I’ve weighed myself twice since 2018, both times in the past 8 months. During my weight loss journey, I weighed monthly, and continued with that for a couple of years after I reached my goal. Then for the next couple of years I weighed yearly. At the end of last year, I suspected I’d lost quite a bit of weight through walking a lot, and I was beginning to get too fixated on how much, so I reluctantly/nervously stepped on the scales. I am currently trying to stabilise my weight, and next steps will be to put on a few pounds. At some point in the next month or so, I may step back on the scales to reassure me my weight is going in the right direction. Then again, I might just rely on the maths, and how my clothes fit. Each to their own… do what suits you best.

LukeAMarkham

I weigh daily but only to be able to take the average of the week - it’s that average I’m paying attention to. I’ve only recently come to understand the daily fluctuations (see Ann’s super helpful post above for a great explanation!) and it was a game changer for my mindset.

AWayToGo0322

I've started to see a PT who weighs me monthly along with measurements. I find that's to long in between for me personally so I weight myself at home weekly. I find that if I do it daily a become obsessed with the number on the scale and it can have a negative impact rather than positive for me. I've got around 130lb to lose and I've struggled with dieting for over 10 years. This way seems to be working the best for me - especially adding the measurements in as sometimes you see it in the inches rather than the lbs!