I have an obsession with my scale

melissa968

I can't stay off the scale. I weigh myself at least 4 times a day, sometimes more. I guess I figure I need to weigh in at least once a day so I can see what's going on. I would hate to be doing something wrong and it take a week for me to realize it, then I'm behind again.
How do you manage to only weigh in once a week?

terbusha

Doing that will drive you nuts. Weight fluctuates (from day to day and within a single day) several pounds depending on a number of factors. Follow the plan that works and trust the process. Exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet. It works.

Allan

KellyGraceP4

My advice would be to throw the scale away, it seems to me you are obsessing over the least important part of a healthy lifestyle which is how much you weigh. Keep that healthy lifestyle, eat right and the results will come. Your ultimate judge of success should be the mirror and the way clothes fit your body.

uconnwinsnc1

I can't stay off the scale. I weigh myself at least 4 times a day, sometimes more. I guess I figure I need to weigh in at least once a day so I can see what's going on. I would hate to be doing something wrong and it take a week for me to realize it, then I'm behind again.
How do you manage to only weigh in once a week?

Just don't do it. You won't gain anything by weighing yourself multiple times in one day. All you'll see is your weight go up throughout the day and you might get frustrated. Put the scale away and stop.

Archerychickge

Sounds like at least a little OCD... put that thing away where you can't see it and don't weigh for a while. Gotta break the cycle. I used to weigh at least once a day too, it started being problematic for me if it didn't move.... Had to take a step back and rethink it until I got my head screwed back on straight.

KarenJanine

Best solution is to put the scales away and not weigh yourself, or try and restrict it to once a week or so.

If you really can't resist hopping on daily, use a weight tracking app such as Happy Scale - it will monitor daily weight fluctuations and predict a 'true' weight.

2013sk

OMG I used to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank god not anymore!

One minute you've lost a few lbs, then up a lb, then lost, then up 2lbs...........URGGGHHHHHH!!!

Its a mind game trust me!!

THROW THAT UGLY SCALE OUT THE WINDOW..... OK weigh once a week, same day, same time : )

Ps) Take pictures and measurements - So much better this way!

xx

Kate7294

I tend to weight once a day but know it's just being OCD. (I don't get upset at this point when I regain, and lose a pound. Though while not at my goal I'm fairly happy where I'm at.). I also measure once a week. I'd take the advice of the other posters and put it away. Your ticker says your close to your goal. Probably at more of a recomp stage at this point. I'd take measurements once a week if you need to.

steff274

I weigh myself everyday I need someone with cat burglar skills to come into my house and steal my scales!!

Kate7294

Double posted

melissa968

Thank you all. Icanplay3 actually challenged me to only weigh in together on Monday mornings. What a great idea! I'm really going to work hard at resisting that urge to weigh

Ainesilver

I weigh myself every morning partly since I recently started tracking my intake with MFP and partly because I have been changing up my diet once a week as I see what is helping or not with my allergies and other conditions I have to deal with. I want to make sure I am keeping on track with the weight loss when I make dietary changes.

If you can deal with the fluctuations in your weight without getting discouraged, then weighing yourself daily is fine. Otherwise weighing once a week or just taking measurements would benefit you more.

Kalikel

I weighed obsessively when I first got the scale. Now, I get on once a day, log it and forget it.

I don't like the weekly weighing. Scales fluctuate a lot. How would I know if my Sunday Morning weight was three pounds higher than it would've been on Saturday or Monday? I want to look at a week and know my average weight for that week,not whatever pops up on one day.

I realize the trends are the same and the daily totals make no difference. I could weigh once a month and it would be the same deal.

I could never weigh myself and the weight loss would remain the same.

But I'm hooked on daily weights and don't consider going weekly.

nicsflyingcircus

I weigh daily (usually, I was out of town this weekend, then busy this morning so I haven't in something like four days), but I can do that because I am not concerned about day to day fluctuations based on my menstrual cycle, water weight, etc. I know I am logging as accurately as I can, so I am also not concerned that my weird fluctuations are actual weight gain. More interested to make sure that the general trend is downwards.

So in the morning, after I pee and before I get dressed, I step on the scale, step off, and move on. I later enter the weight in a spreadsheet I keep, and log it if it's lower than my last logged weight (my own little quirk) and move on.

Done.

funchords

I am tracking two sets of weigh-ins...

#1 My bathroom scale -- naked, in the morning, before coffee and breakfast, about 5x a week
#2 Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) -- clothed, before dinner every Tuesday night

Each set is different but overall both sets are showing the progress nicely.

I'm not obsessive about the weighing. Weight is a lagging indicator -- it's the last thing to change after all of the effort and logging.

What people should focus on are the leading indicators -- days straight of logging, hitting their targets, meeting their exercise commitments, weighing food correctly. Do these things right and the scale will simply do the right thing.

silentKayak

Multiple times a day doesn't make sense. There are too many variables. What you're mostly weighing is the food you've eaten and the water you've drunk.

9 times out of 10, your lowest weight for the day will be first thing in the morning. So my recommendation is, weigh once a day, naked, after you eliminate waste and before you drink or eat anything.

Then use an app like HappyScale to log your weight daily. Set all your reports to "predicted". Your REAL weight is not the number you saw on the scale, but your predicted weight for the week, which is (loosely speaking) the average of all your daily weigh-ins for the last 7 days.

That will keep you from going crazy over daily fluctuations. And more importantly, it actually shows a trend - is your weight increasing, decreasing, or staying the same over time? Last week the scale showed me weights 3 days in a row each of which was an increase over the previous day. But I'm not worried about it, because the trend is downward - my AVERAGE this week is 1.5 lbs less than the average last week.

SabrinaLily

If you really can't resist hopping on daily, use a weight tracking app such as Happy Scale - it will monitor daily weight fluctuations and predict a 'true' weight.

I just downloaded the app! Thanks- looks interesting!

girlviernes

Checking anything multiple times will increase obsessiveness. I had a friend who (as an experiment) tried doing body checking (e.g., using one hand to check size of wrist) multiple times per day and within a week was totally obsessed with her body.

Personally, I like a little bit of added obsessiveness since I am usually too laissez-faire about things. Therefore, I find it useful to weigh first thing every morning. This also lets me see the trend over time, and I track the average for each week and focus on that.

However, I think if I were more of an obsessive personality type, I would definitely need to limit to once a week.

shexy16

Take out the battery, and have someone that lives with you hide and only give it to you on weigh in day. If you live alone, take it to work and leave it, and bring it home on weigh day. I used to be an obsessive weigher too.

luckypony71

I weighed obsessively when I first got the scale. Now, I get on once a day, log it and forget it.

I don't like the weekly weighing. Scales fluctuate a lot. How would I know if my Sunday Morning weight was three pounds higher than it would've been on Saturday or Monday? I want to look at a week and know my average weight for that week,not whatever pops up on one day.

I realize the trends are the same and the daily totals make no difference. I could weigh once a month and it would be the same deal.

I could never weigh myself and the weight loss would remain the same.

But I'm hooked on daily weights and don't consider going weekly.

^This is me too.^

My hubby loves to weigh several times a day. Before workout, after meals, before bed, when ever. He is in maintenance and doesn't log his food. The scale helps him decide if he can skip cardio for a day or cut back on the food a tad.

sallybaine

Am I too attached to the scales?

At my gym there are 2 types of scales - the old school ones with the sliders you move across, and an electronic one. I don't know how to measure myself on the old style one, so I use the electronic one. But it was mysteriously gone on Saturday so I asked one of the gym staff to weigh me on the old ones. He asked me how much I thought I weighed, and I said 63.5kg, at least I did last week. He moved the sliders around and then said '63.5kg.' I was devastated. I had slaughtered myself for the entire week and had a 0kg loss. I almost felt like crying. It really broke my heart and left me shattered and disheartened. Anyway, the next day at the gym the electronic scales were back and I went to weigh myself just to make sure. The scales said 62.3kg. I was FURIOUS at the guy who incorrectly weighed me, thinking 'F*@#wit, arsehole, d*#ckhead.' I'm seriously contemplating writing an anonymous letter of complaint. He clearly didn't know how to use the sliders and just repeated what I told him.

Is this irrational/extreme behaviour? How do I relinquish my addiction to the scales?

onefortyone

Am I too attached to the scales?

At my gym there are 2 types of scales - the old school ones with the sliders you move across, and an electronic one. I don't know how to measure myself on the old style one, so I use the electronic one. But it was mysteriously gone on Saturday so I asked one of the gym staff to weigh me on the old ones. He asked me how much I thought I weighed, and I said 63.5kg, at least I did last week. He moved the sliders around and then said '63.5kg.' I was devastated. I had slaughtered myself for the entire week and had a 0kg loss. I almost felt like crying. It really broke my heart and left me shattered and disheartened. Anyway, the next day at the gym the electronic scales were back and I went to weigh myself just to make sure. The scales said 62.3kg. I was FURIOUS at the guy who incorrectly weighed me, thinking 'F*@#wit, arsehole, d*#ckhead.' I'm seriously contemplating writing an anonymous letter of complaint. He clearly didn't know how to use the sliders and just repeated what I told him.

Is this irrational/extreme behaviour? How do I relinquish my addiction to the scales?

This is irrational and extreme, yes. The guy probably didn't even do anything wrong. That amount of weight variation is normal within a 24 hour window. I have gone up and down by 5lbs overnight sometimes, depending on exercise intensity, hydration, food volume in my tummy, and how long it's been since I last pooped. It's 100% normal.

I'm not an expert so I can't tell you how to crack your addiction, aside from cold-turkey avoiding the scales. Keep on logging and keep on exercising. Just don't weigh yourself any more. It is a lot like any other addiction, and cold-turkey is one method of cracking it. Good luck