Are you weighing yourself too much?

AshCarlson

Hello all!

I was hoping to get some feedback into the devil of a scale and how often others weigh themselves. I think this is my biggest self destructive diet practice and really would like to wean myself off from it. I catch myself weighing in each morning and even throughout the day when I know its going to say a higher number! Help!

I have been struggling with weight for a few years now and this is the time that I need to change, both physically and mentally :happy:

WarmDontBurn

I weigh myself daily but it helps me. I think we are al different in what motivates us. For me when I see a good number I am like "Yay it is working, keep it up" however when I get on and it shows a gain it makes me work harder! I have been off the "wagon" for a bit now and it was nice to not weigh daily but I am back to it! The numbers really seem to get my butt in gear.

Sorry not much help I know but you have to do what works for you!

Rivah67

I weigh once a week on a Saturday morning. As in the week I'm to busy getting the kids up for school

lindseyelyzabeth

i couldn't agree, more. i really have to force myself to not weigh in, daily. my goal is to weigh in, once a week. but, it usually ends up being twice a week. as cliche as it is to say, if we're doing the right things - i.e. tracking our food, meeting our calorie goals, incorporating exercise, drinking water - we're going to lose the weight. it's science. we don't need a scale to justify this for us. plus, we KNOW if we are doing well. you can feel it in your body. that doesn't mean it doesn't also feel good when that number on the scale is less, it just shouldn't be our only focus. i am right there with you, girl. i would really try to stay away from weighing in multiple times a day. you're body fluids are going to adjust throughout the day, so your weight will, too. don't trick your brain - you'll go crazy!

AshCarlson

Thank you guys for the support and your own experiences.

Lindsey- it was so nice to hear that I'm not the only one! I've had so much trouble with this in the past and its so hard to not weigh myself. I just need to remember that hopefully doing all the steps mean I will when I do get on the scale. Any personal tricks to not weighing yourself? haha I think the more I think about it the more I want to do it!

catcrazy

I weigh daily, or I did until I hit a static with masses of water weight. I find it helps me understand the daily fluctuations better. Seeing it going down each day is also a great motivator. I stopped weighing myself daily when my ankles blew up as I knew there would be a gain and I didn't want to risk upsetting myself seeing this when I KNOW I have been 100%. Now I've finally cleared the water I'll probably be back up to weighing myself daily. I only record it on Sundays tho..thats my weigh in day

mamacremers

I also weig myself daily. It is my daily motivator. to either work harder or to keep going. I don't obsess about it. I just weigh in, record it and think about what I'm going to eat and do for the day. It feels like i've been at a standstill for the last month, but then when I look at my calendar, I can see the gradual loss as I go.

I also do it every day at exactly the same time (right after I wake up) with the same clothes on (or off...), so my weight isn't skewed by clothes or what I've eaten so far.

Craig772

I tend to weigh daily but report it weekly as there's too many fluctuations. I tend to weigh, stand off and repeat until I get two readings the same or near enough. Always straight after getting up in the morning.

AshCarlson

It really is such a tough thing to not use the scale as a destroyer of dieting too. What do you guys do when you've worked out and ate right the day before and the scale in the morning still reads more? I guess that is my biggest destroyer. Thoughts?

Natural

everyday, but i weigh in once a week. daily keeps me in line - it's my compass, let's me know if i need to stay on course if i have gone off.

i know weight fluctuates, so i don't get toooooo crazy if it goes up. i know i'm doing the work and eating right. most of the time.

Jourdan_Rystrom

Hey

I weigh myself every day in the morning with no clothes on (hehe!) just to see where I'm at. It's a wake-up call and a motivator for me, and I work hard no matter what the scale says.

What you want to do in your case is weigh yourself on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I would do it 3x a week this way because during the week it will help you stay on track, but during the weekend you don't have the weight number so you HAVE to work hard and not slip up for the scale to stay the same or go down on Monday! I think that's a good idea. I wouldn't suggest weighing yourself any less than once a week though, because not knowing your weight can cause you to gain unknowingly and you have nothing to compare to or look at for how you're doing.

Best of luck :happy:

- jourdan

meggonkgonk

You really have to do what's right for you. I like weighing myself daily or at least a few times a week. For me, I weigh in on MWF nights and have my official WI on Sat mornings when I update MFP. I compare each weight only to my weight at the same time the week previous and its really encouraging to see the range go down (and cuts down on my disappointment when I weigh more on other scales- like the doctor's office). If you can't move off of weighing in often, I recommend this way, because it can help keep you from obsessing over ever . 2 lbs. Here's an example of my last 3 wks

Date Mon Wed Fri Sat
11/8 161.2 160 159 159
11/15 159.4 159 159 158
11/22 158.6 158 157.6 157

lindseyelyzabeth

Thank you guys for the support and your own experiences.

Lindsey- it was so nice to hear that I'm not the only one! I've had so much trouble with this in the past and its so hard to not weigh myself. I just need to remember that hopefully doing all the steps mean I will when I do get on the scale. Any personal tricks to not weighing yourself? haha I think the more I think about it the more I want to do it!

i'm not doing this, currently, but if i saw myself going back into a pattern of weight myself daily, i would. put your scale out of sight! up high in a linen closet or something where you don't see it everyday. it's kind of the same thing with food. if we don't see it, we don't want it. the less you see it in your bathroom, the less likely you are to be tempted to get on it. hopefully that helps! just remind yourself that overusing your scale isn't getting you any closer to your goal, it's actually killing your will and drive to get there (at least it does for me). getting on that scale more doesn't make you any skinnier!

AshCarlson

I think you guys have the right idea, maybe 3x a week weigh in would be great! I especially like the idea of weighing naked :laugh: so that I know that there is nothing effecting my weight! Thanks guys!

By the way, what weigh scales work best? I think I just have a generic one and was wondering if its worth to upgrade!

frogmama

I officially post my Monday morning weight to MFP. However, I do weigh in every morning. I have been graphing this daily weight for several weeks now, though Monday is the "real" weight. I have found some interesting patterns. I normally get up for work at 3:30 a.m. My days off are Thursday and Friday and I usually sleep in until 8. Almost every week, I have my lowest weight on Thursday and Friday! Does sleeping longer make me weigh less? LOL. I think not, but when the weight is up a few tenths of a pound on Sat, Sun and Mon (the official weigh in day), I don't worry about it. I have also found that it makes a difference what type of work outs I do on Saturday and Sunday. I pretty much do cardio Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri and Weight training on Tues,and Sat or Sunday.This is only because that is how my schedule works with classes offered at the gym. I do some hiking on the week-ends too. I never get weighed later in the day because I know that that is going to me more and that would frustrate me!

I know that it is not recommended to weigh yourself every day, but you need to find out what works best for motivating yourself.

AshCarlson

i'm not doing this, currently, but if i saw myself going back into a pattern of weight myself daily, i would. put your scale out of sight! up high in a linen closet or something where you don't see it everyday. it's kind of the same thing with food. if we don't see it, we don't want it. the less you see it in your bathroom, the less likely you are to be tempted to get on it. hopefully that helps! just remind yourself that overusing your scale isn't getting you any closer to your goal, it's actually killing your will and drive to get there (at least it does for me). getting on that scale more doesn't make you any skinnier!
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What powerful words! I love that "getting on that scale more doesn't make you any skinnier!" that is definitely a motto going on my bathroom mirror as a reminder not to get on it as much. Thanks so much girl!

MonsteRawr

I used to be a daily weigher. I thought it was keeping me on the straight and narrow, but it was actually making me obsessive. I was letting my entire day be either made or ruined by what that scale said. Now I weigh myself once a week, and it's worked much better for me. Sure, it gets frustrating when it feels like I wasted a whole week when I gain weigh, but it also makes those losses all the more exciting when they're a whole pound or two instead of .02 pounds at a time!

What I'm trying to say is that some people need that daily feedback, and others need to push it to the back of their brains for a week. There is no right or wrong time to weigh yourself, just the one that works best for you!

meggonkgonk

IDoes sleeping longer make me weigh less? LOL. I think not

Sleep is really dehydrating- so if you are sleeping longer and weighing less, this makes sense.

bobdubya

I used to do the same thing. But this attempt I VOWED to only do it once a week. Having much more success. You can't win be constantly weighing yourself. When I weigh myself often it hurt me no matter how it went. If it was down real good I'd say to myself, " Well, this is going to come off pretty easy" so then I'd just have a cheesburger. LOL If it was a bad number I'd say this is going to be a pain and put it off to another day. LOL Good or bad weigh-in on a daily basis just caused me to stray after a couple weeks. Now that I do it once a week I'm more focused on changing my lifestyle.

potluck965

I weigh myself multiple times during the day and night. I feel the need to micromanage my weight loss as this is the first time I have been actually successful.

It doesn't make me crazy to do this, I just like to know exactly where I am in the scheme of things. If I can't weigh myself it doesn't make me crazy either.

However, I will not record a weight loss until I have "owned" that weight for a couple of days at least, or gotten below it.

I don't think anyone can say what is good or bad about weighing. If you are comfortable with what you are doing and enjoying the weight loss (as I am) I say do what works for you.

WeightingForSara

Hey hunny! I know you struggle with the scale all too well. I was literally letting what the scale said in the mornings dictate how the rest of my day was going to go. I actually had my husband hide the scale from me! So now he brings it out on Saturday mornings, he and I both weigh and then he hides it again. It's sad to say I had to go that route but it was impossible for me to get a grip!

crissi66

I try and weigh in twice a week. Just as a reference for myself. My real weigh in days are wednesday mornings before i hit the gym. I try and hope on sunday nite just for the hell of it. But i tried weighing in everyday and it was giving me a serious complex so i had to stop.

AshCarlson

Hey hunny! I know you struggle with the scale all too well. I was literally letting what the scale said in the mornings dictate how the rest of my day was going to go. I actually had my husband hide the scale from me! So now he brings it out on Saturday mornings, he and I both weigh and then he hides it again. It's sad to say I had to go that route but it was impossible for me to get a grip!

I really enjoyed this feedback! I think I may have to enlist my husband to do the same thing...Thank you :happy:

Beth720

IDoes sleeping longer make me weigh less? LOL. I think not

Sleep is really dehydrating- so if you are sleeping longer and weighing less, this makes sense.

Actually the amount of sleep you get DOES impact your weight loss (or lack thereof), but it has nothing to do with "dehydrating you". Your body releases growth hormones at certain points in your sleep cycle, and if you're asleep long enough for them to be released AND your body isn't still working on say digesting dinner or a snack, that will cause weight loss. If you don't get enough sleep for your body to get to the release point or you eat a lot right before bedtime, then you won't see the benefits.

edorice

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