Weighing oneself; how often?

sealionwoman23
sealionwoman23 Posts: 42
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been weighing myself daily to keep an eye on how I'm doing and recording my weight weekly, but I'm wondering what other people do. The disadvantage I can see with the daily weighing-in is that I sometimes get discouraged with what I know are uncontrollable fluctuations. Does anyone have a system that seems to work well?
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Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I have been weighing myself daily to keep an eye on how I'm doing and recording my weight weekly, but I'm wondering what other people do. The disadvantage I can see with the daily weighing-in is that I sometimes get discouraged with what I know are uncontrollable fluctuations. Does anyone have a system that seems to work well?

    I weigh daily for the datapoint and don't let the value discourage or encourage me. I look at the trend overtime only when I want to evaluate my progress but to get an accurate trend I like to have that data on hand.
  • TheRealKingTony
    TheRealKingTony Posts: 19 Member
    I generally only weigh myself if I poop in the morning, lol
  • theJTfitness
    theJTfitness Posts: 142 Member
    I weigh myself every morning after I wake up. The kicker is that I don't let one or two pounds sway my mood or how I feel about my diet. If you can't deal with fluctuations (not a bad thing, many can't) possibly try once a week. If possible try to be consistent about the time you weigh. I'm usually about 2-3lbs heavier after dinner than I would be after waking up in the morning.
  • firestation12
    firestation12 Posts: 21
    Once a week on Saturday morning. If I lost weight during the week it will encourage me not to eat to much over the weekend. If I lost little it will also encourage me not to eat to much over the weekend. Works for me.
  • piratesluver
    piratesluver Posts: 105 Member
    Friday mornings! Once per week seems to be the best way to go about it IMO.
  • craft4fun
    craft4fun Posts: 76 Member
    I weigh every morning.
  • hacker1234
    hacker1234 Posts: 225 Member
    I mostly weigh once a week. Every Sunday morning as soon as I get up.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    I like to weigh daily first thing in the morning. Aria scale logs it for me in both FitBit and MFP. Don't sweat the fluctuations, its normal. What I do like to do is look at the patterns in weight and the food or exercise that went with it. There are some really cool graphs and charts on MFP when you select a weekly view. I can almost tell you the day before if I am going to lose weight tomorrow. I don't obsess about it, I just find it entertaining.
  • meltedsno
    meltedsno Posts: 208 Member
    I weighed on July 1, 2013.... then not again until November 23(or there abouts) for a pre op physical.... haven't weighed since then... may do so on July 1, 2014 -- not sure yet... Why???

    Because I got frustrated with seeing the daily fluctuations as well...back on July 1, 2013 I decided to give it a month before I weigh... that month came and went.... my clothes were feeling considerably looser and figured this was much better than a number on the scale.... The November weigh-in was for a pre op physical to fix a broken wrist. Even then, I stepped on the scale with my eyes closed and told the nurse that I didn't want to know what I weighed. She complied and didn't tell me. It was when I was in recovery after surgery when I decided to ask what my weight was... omg... imagine my surprise when I realized I was down 52 pounds at that point... I can honestly say that would NEVER have happened had I been weighing every day as I was in the past, because I would have grown frustrated with the fluctuations. So... it's been 5+ months since that November weigh-in.... not sure what the number on the scale says, but the size number in my jeans is a 6.... don't need to know any more at this point.... my clothes speak for themselves...
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    once a week
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
    I last weighed myself sometime last fall, don't recall what month.
  • PinkyPan1
    PinkyPan1 Posts: 3,018 Member
    Every Friday morning.
  • briggitte59
    briggitte59 Posts: 52 Member
    I generally only weigh myself if I poop in the morning, lol

    HAHHAHA too funny :laugh:
  • Colombianchick29
    Colombianchick29 Posts: 298 Member
    never daily!! i do it once a week, especially if im changing up my meals to make sure i am doing better not worse.
  • thatjosiegirl
    thatjosiegirl Posts: 362 Member
    Daily, first thing in the morning! I like to be able to track the patterns of how my body manages things like hormonal fluctuations and sodium intake. I'm a control freak and I like to have a good idea of where I am at on a daily basis. :smile:
  • DrJenO
    DrJenO Posts: 404 Member
    I have been weighing myself daily to keep an eye on how I'm doing and recording my weight weekly, but I'm wondering what other people do. The disadvantage I can see with the daily weighing-in is that I sometimes get discouraged with what I know are uncontrollable fluctuations. Does anyone have a system that seems to work well?

    I weigh daily for the datapoint and don't let the value discourage or encourage me. I look at the trend overtime only when I want to evaluate my progress but to get an accurate trend I like to have that data on hand.
    ^ This. I am a data junkie.
  • Insomniac8
    Insomniac8 Posts: 182
    2/3 times a day. I'm obsessed LOL!
  • HappyLilThang
    HappyLilThang Posts: 11 Member
    I weight myself weekly using the scale at my grocery store. I decided to get rid of my home scale last year as I had a tendency to become obsessive about it. I would end up weighing myself numerous times a day and would also get discouraged by fluctuations. My problem in the past has been giving up my efforts as soon as I felt I wasnt losing weight quickly enough or when I felt I had `ruined everything` after a bad day. My goal this time around will be to not punish myself when I have bad days and stay focused on my goal and continue on.
  • gostumpy
    gostumpy Posts: 156 Member
    Every morning. That way I have lots of data in MFP, and I can see the trend, instead of having an off-day once a week and thinking I made no progress... this way I can see daily flucuations which is kind of cool to me. I stand on the scale praying for it to say less than last time, if it does, I'm really happy, if it doesn't, I look forward to the next day!
  • gotolam
    gotolam Posts: 262 Member
    If I'm at home, I weight myself 6 or 7 times a day. Basically, every time I go to the bathroom. The movement in weight/BF is interesting and quite predictable based on what I've done. One way or the other, it's just data.
  • leon0897
    leon0897 Posts: 35 Member
    I typically weigh every morning and nights when I work out. If I work out at night I know that whatever I weigh after I will weigh between 1-2 pounds lighter typyically. The mornings are my gauge for the day though and I'm happy when I eat throughout the day and I only weigh a few ounces then I did in the morning, then I know I'm doing it right. 40 more pounds to sub 200 and 70 more pounds to target weight!
  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
    I also weigh daily for the datapoint but don't pay much attention to the actual number. I use an app called WeightTrend+ and input the weight there. It then calculates a "moving average" for me -- this is a 7-day average of my daily weights. So even though there are ups and downs, my trend weight is always going down, which is what I pay attention to.

    I then record my trend weight in MFP once a week. So in my ticker where it says 10 lbs lost, that's based on my trend weight for Wednesday. If I had told MFP my actual scale weight that day, it would have been 12 lbs down from my start, but my trend weight is always a little higher because it is factoring in the seven previous (and slightly heavier) days. I am okay with this because I'd rather acknowledge that I haven't actually lost the weight until it doesn't "come back" the next day.

    There are other apps that calculate a moving average -- I've seen other MFPers use Happy Scale, I think it's called. I know other folks also just use an Excel doc.
  • nburleson
    nburleson Posts: 2
    I do daily, because even though there are daily fluctuations, I like seeing the numbers. They're encouraging, and knowing that I am steadily in a downward trend helps me with motivation for the coming day.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I have been weighing myself daily to keep an eye on how I'm doing and recording my weight weekly, but I'm wondering what other people do. The disadvantage I can see with the daily weighing-in is that I sometimes get discouraged with what I know are uncontrollable fluctuations. Does anyone have a system that seems to work well?

    I weigh daily for the datapoint and don't let the value discourage or encourage me. I look at the trend overtime only when I want to evaluate my progress but to get an accurate trend I like to have that data on hand.
    ^ This. I am a data junkie.

    Yeah me too, total data junkie...if I didn't exert some self control to reign in my addiction I'd probably be weighing my scale too.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Oh and to those who state that weight loss isn't linear I get what you are trying to say but honestly if you are consistant in your diet then the trend over time is very much linear at least in my experience both now and when I dieted several years ago.


    My weight as measured by scale every morning for the most recent 45 days:


    2s9ojdg.png

    r-square sez linear at 1.3 pound loss per week average. Considering I am aiming for 1.5 pound loss per week not to shabby. You look at it day to day it bounces all over the place but you look at the long term trend you get a pretty accurate read. I can pretty much tell you what I'm going to weigh a month from now with decent accuracy. More data you have, easier it is to establish a trend.
  • amongstthewildflowers
    amongstthewildflowers Posts: 89 Member
    Good to know I'm not the only one who weighs everyday! I always do it first thing in the morning, after I use the bathroom and before I eat or drink anything. The only time I really frustrated is when I had a great day the day before and am expecting to see a lower number but don't. It's hard not to get discouraged in those moments.
  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
    Yeah me too, total data junkie...if I didn't exert some self control to reign in my addiction I'd probably be weighing my scale too.

    This made me smile. Every morning I take and record my basal body temperature before getting out of bed, examine Fitbit's assessment of my sleep from the previous evening and clip it to my pajamas to start counting my steps for the day, and weigh myself -- all before my morning shower.

    For a good chunk of this first month of MFP, my temperatures were a little wonky and so I was also taking an OPK every morning for about 10 days. Not even trying to conceive. If OPKs weren't so expensive, I'd probably pee in a cup every morning just to have another piece of data to record.
  • wehave4
    wehave4 Posts: 97 Member
    I generally started weighing myself every 5 weeks. MFP gives you a reasonable goal that you should hit with the daily diary logins food and exercise you are taking in daily and I just plan on reaching that goal every 5 weeks. So I weigh myself every 5 weeks. :smile:
  • Polishprinsezz
    Polishprinsezz Posts: 249 Member
    every other week for me. usually wednesday mornings.
  • PurpleCupcakes01
    PurpleCupcakes01 Posts: 141
    Everyday

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