How often do you WEIGH YOURSELF?

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.

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.