Just a few questions

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Ok, so I'm a newbie and I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to get where I want to be. So I have a few questions that hopefully people can help me with. First off, what is the best time of day to weigh yourself? Should I do it in the morning as soon as I wake up? How often should I weigh myself? I find myself getting discouraged if I weigh myself to often and don't see change. What time of day is the best to excercise? Lately I've been switching it up, sometimes in the morning sometimes after work. If I work out in the morning, should I weigh myself before or after a workout? Should I start out with cardio first and then do strength and toning? Sometimes I start with cardio, do S&T and then go back to cardio if I've got some extra energy.

Thanks in advance to anyone who has tips, I appreciate it!

Replies

  • LynnW52
    LynnW52 Posts: 1,151 Member
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    Ok, so I'm a newbie and I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to get where I want to be. So I have a few questions that hopefully people can help me with. First off, what is the best time of day to weigh yourself? Should I do it in the morning as soon as I wake up? How often should I weigh myself? I find myself getting discouraged if I weigh myself to often and don't see change. What time of day is the best to excercise? Lately I've been switching it up, sometimes in the morning sometimes after work. If I work out in the morning, should I weigh myself before or after a workout? Should I start out with cardio first and then do strength and toning? Sometimes I start with cardio, do S&T and then go back to cardio if I've got some extra energy.

    Thanks in advance to anyone who has tips, I appreciate it!
  • RachVR6
    RachVR6 Posts: 3,688 Member
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    Try reading this post, it may help answer a lot of your questions. :flowerforyou:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition
  • teacheratkins24
    teacheratkins24 Posts: 65 Member
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    WELCOME!

    I weigh in once a week in the morning, right after I wake up, and in the buff.:laugh:
    My workouts vary.:tongue: I usually do my walking and pilates in the morning and then try to walk on the treadmill while watching TV with my hubby of a night for at least an hour.

    Just make sure to log EVERYTHING you eat. I try to log my food before I eat, that way I can see how I've used my calories for the day and it usually helps me make better choices.

    Best of Luck to You!:flowerforyou: :drinker:
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    There are lots of opinions on all of these matters,

    But in my experience, truthfully, what works best for you is what is best for you. As far as weighing yourself goes, you should certainly do it at the same time of day and wearing the same clothes every time you do it. But I think that anything more than once a week is overkill. (IMHO) Know that your weight fluctuates quite a bit because of a lot of factors, so it will go up/down a pound or two for apparently no reason sometimes.

    As far as working out goes, you should do what feels best to you. I myself work out in the afternoon, but if I have something scheduled that would conflict with it, I change the time of my work out. When I weight train, I do what I'm calling a "cardio sandwich" where I get on the elliptical for half of my time, do my weights, then finish my cardio. According to my HRM, I burn more calories and stay in a good cardio zone for the entire workout this way. So, if that's what working for you, I say go for it!
    :flowerforyou:
  • diannholland1965
    diannholland1965 Posts: 782 Member
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    I am with Vivia on this one.
    Do what YOU feel works for you, Sometimes it is trial and error. sometimes you get it right off the bat.
    What works for me might not work for you.
    The tricks that Vivia does for her, might not work as well with me.
    As for the weighing.
    Personally I belive more in the zipper test then the weight test. BECAUSE I think that the more you weigh yourself the more you are bugged by the scale.
    More times then I can count, I have seen women worry that they weighed themselfs andsaw a gain and then thought WHAT IS THE POINT!
    As a HUMAN your weight is GOING to go up and down.
    But the clothing texst works VERY well.
    When the jeans that you considered your tight jeans you slide into in the morning. THAT feeling is outstanding!
    --Diann...
  • IUChelle423
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    That was very helpful - thanks!
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    Hi guys- My first post-

    I started on Saturday, and I weighed myself at the gym, and on my new at-home scale. It said 237. (Awful)
    I have been faithfully staying within the calorie amounts, and have done about 30 min. of exercise each day.
    I know we're supposed to weigh only once a week, but I hopped on that scale this morning and it said 230. I thought NO WAY. So i took measurements as well. 1 inch missing in waist, 1.5 inches missing in hips.
    Can this be real? Is it because I measured on day 1 in the afternoon, and measured today first thing in the morning? I don't want to get all excited over nothing. I set the parameters so that I'd lose 2 lbs/week (since my BMI is 36), intending to get less aggressive as my BMI goes down.

    I want to get happy over this, but my husband tells me that time of day is crucial and what I'm seeing is probably not totally genuine. He says because of gravity working on you all day that your measurements will be smaller in the morning, and also points out that I was clothed (and wearing shoes) the first time I weighed, and not clothed the second. I know the scale thing is probably not a true 7 lb loss, but what about the inches? What do you guys think?
  • LynnW52
    LynnW52 Posts: 1,151 Member
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    I'm in the same boat, either way I'm sure you've lost something either in inches or in weight, so keep going!!! :bigsmile: