Should I weight myself weekly or monthly?

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stefaniemazz
stefaniemazz Posts: 179 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Normally I weigh myself weekly, but after my cheat day I had a doctor's appointment and he weighed me and I had gained 3 pounds!! I'm assuming that was water retention.

So I try not to weigh myself daily.

But I see a lot of people on here recommend monthly?

Weekly or Monthly?

Replies

  • moment_to_arise
    moment_to_arise Posts: 207 Member
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    don't weigh yourself. take measurements. its a MUCH better indication of your progress.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Whatever you want. Seriously - it's all your own personal preference.

    Some people like to see the daily fluctuations; some get stressed over those daily fluctuations and only weigh weekly; some (usually those in maintenance, it seems) just check in once a month or so to make sure nothing "weird" is going on.

    I haven't noticed that many people recommend monthly weigh-ins - most are weekly recommendations. I've seen many recommendations to wait a month after making changes to diet and/or exercise, just to make sure that any changes are "real" changes, and not just water weight fluctuations.

    But, again, whatever you feel comfortable with should be fine.
  • stefaniemazz
    stefaniemazz Posts: 179 Member
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    But are the daily fluctuations from water weight and the foods I have eaten.

    How do I know how much I actually weigh? On Saturday I weighed in at 126, Sunday I weighed in at 129.
  • Ferrous_Female_Dog
    Ferrous_Female_Dog Posts: 221 Member
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    I think I'm gonna go with monthly, right after my period ends. Take measurements too!
  • lawlorka
    lawlorka Posts: 484 Member
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    Nobody ever knows exactly how much they weigh - there are too many variables.

    I weigh every day. I don't mind the fluctuations because I know the TREND is downwards. I downloaded an App called Libra, I enter my weight into that every day. It shows me my trend, and estimated trend based on my daily weigh ins. It displays it on a graph. As long as the red line on the graph is going down, that's all that really matters to me.

    This week you might have a high weigh of 129 and a low weight of 126...next week you might have a high of 128 and a low of 125, so the trend is moving downwards so therefore you are losing weight.

    If however, after a few weeks you notice no movement in trend, or an upward trend, then you need to reassess your calories in/calories out.
  • fitfan11
    fitfan11 Posts: 544 Member
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    throw away the scale and get a very inexpensive tape measure! Seriously, if you are into numbers then you are in it for the wrong reasons.
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    It was always told to me to weigh only once a week, preferably once a month even. But not so long ago I read when losing weight it's better to weigh more frequently, so you know how it is going with the weight loss and how the body reacts?! Still I think measurements tell more then the scale.
  • gobonas99
    gobonas99 Posts: 1,049 Member
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    It is really personal preference. *I* like to see the daily fluctuations and how what I ate the day before, TOM, etc effects my weight (ie woah - gotta make sure I only eat at X restaurant once a month!). I log my weight daily on fitbit.com (free account, I don't have a fitbit product) - my fitbit account is tied to my account at trendweight.com - that site takes your daily weigh-ins and extrapolates your "weight trend" - I started using trendweight.com in mid-October....this is my trendweight chart for the past 6 months (pre-mid-Oct was just the weights I had logged on MFP):
    6m.png

    You can see that my daily weigh-ins are all over the place, but my trend line has an overall downward slope. :)
  • Mav3rick54
    Mav3rick54 Posts: 180 Member
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    Nobody ever knows exactly how much they weigh - there are too many variables.

    I weigh every day. I don't mind the fluctuations because I know the TREND is downwards. I downloaded an App called Libra, I enter my weight into that every day. It shows me my trend, and estimated trend based on my daily weigh ins. It displays it on a graph. As long as the red line on the graph is going down, that's all that really matters to me.

    This week you might have a high weigh of 129 and a low weight of 126...next week you might have a high of 128 and a low of 125, so the trend is moving downwards so therefore you are losing weight.

    If however, after a few weeks you notice no movement in trend, or an upward trend, then you need to reassess your calories in/calories out.

    Totall agree with this ^^

    I weigh daily as well. I do not stress over the up and down numbers. I just am looking for the downward trend. For me, I would probably hate "making" myself wait a week to weigh...that would stress me out. But as others have said, do what works best for you psychologically. There is no one RIGHT answer.
  • Brianna716
    Brianna716 Posts: 303 Member
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    Did you ask him the last time his scale was calibrated? What about the last time for the one you regularly use? Were you wearing more clothing, had eaten before hand, etc? There are lots of variables.
  • ElizaB84
    ElizaB84 Posts: 105 Member
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    I weigh once a week and measure once a month to get a more well rounded picture.

    Different scales can make your weight vary wildly. My scale has me at one weight and my friends scale has me at another (almost 10lbs more, I like my scale better lol), and when I used to go to the gym it was also a different weight.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Whenever you want...whatever is going to work best for you. I personally weight in 3-5 times per week. I like data points...the more date points, the better analysis can be performed. That said, I understand daily weight fluctuations and I know the science behind all of this...I know that if I increase the intensity of a workout I will weigh a good 3 Lbs more the next day...and i don't freak because I know it's not fat...'cuz science...and I have about 16 months worth of trending data to analyze so a day or even a week at this point is rather insignificant.

    Personally, If I were you I would do some additional research on how the body works and how all of this weight loss/weight control stuff really works...because even if you weigh in weekly or monthly issues can arise due to these natural body weight fluctuations and if you don't understand how your body is working you are apt to get discouraged.

    Individuals who obsess about the arbitrary number on the scale tend to know very little in regards to what makes up that number...it's not all fat.
  • stefaniemazz
    stefaniemazz Posts: 179 Member
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    Did you ask him the last time his scale was calibrated? What about the last time for the one you regularly use? Were you wearing more clothing, had eaten before hand, etc? There are lots of variables.

    I was wearing all my clothes at the doctor's and it was the day after my cheat/re-feed day.
  • bhorsoft
    bhorsoft Posts: 3
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    I weigh weekly at the same time on the same scale just before a shower. I weigh 3 times and record the average of the three.

    I relax my diet on the weekends as that is when I go out with friends and eat out instead of in. I try to make the right choices, but know I'll eat more calories at a restaurant than I do at home. In past attempts, I would weigh on Monday, but I would see the results of my weekend on the scale. Now I weigh on Friday so my better habits of the week help balance out the previous weekend on the scale.

    I try not to let ups and plateaus discourage me and look for the trends. Weighing more often wouldn't help much more in determining the trend and weigh monthly really wouldn't give me the feedback in time to know if what I was doing is working as expected.
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Whatever you are comfortable with that won't make you spaz. If you can handle weekly, then do it weekly. If that isn't helping your state of mind, then do it monthly. However, I agree that measurements are also at least as useful if not more useful than the number on the scale.
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
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    Whatever works for you, as long as it's consistent.

    I hate getting weighed at the Dr's! I always weigh myself first thing in the morning without any clothes. Especially this time of year I can easily be wearing 5 pounds of clothes with jeans, a sweater and boots, and I don't carry a purse so I've got key's, wallet, change, etc, and I always carry my Nook (electronic book) to Dr's offices.

    And it's always frustrating for people who haven't lost weight but have gone down a size or 2 in clothing, but all the Dr. looks at is the number on the scale! :huh: (**steps down off soapbox**)


    Just remember:

    521475_10151636449745200_1133158168_n.jpg
  • ladyengineer
    ladyengineer Posts: 4 Member
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    I don't think it really matters, I like to weigh everyday because I just like to know where I am in relation to yesterday and make sure the trend isn't going up :). Piece of advice: Whatever you do, don't get a new scale! I did that last time and it completely derailed my motivation. My new scale showed me as 10 lbs heavier and I just lost it because I was just getting to my first goal weight. Now, I've gained it all back and then some and am starting over but I will NEVER buy a new scale in the middle of trying to loose weight.
  • Katrina090
    Katrina090 Posts: 32 Member
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    I weigh myself every day, but then log it once a week :)

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