How often should I weigh myself?

AnnaGalbina

I've been overweight since I was a child so I was never in the "healthy" range before. I've lost weight sucessfully with MFP before and I loved it, so now I'm back and having a pretty good week. When I have my "good" days I want to see results right away to tell myself that my hard work pays off, so I weigh myself almost every morning. I have been trying to weigh myself just once a week but I'm so excited about my weighloss I can't resist and have to weigh myself every morning. So is anyone in the same boat? Who weighs themselves once a week and who does it almost every morning? Which way would be the "proper" way? Any thoughts on this?

katamus

I weigh myself every morning. But I don't think the number matters. Maybe it's just curiosity? I weighed 1.5 lbs more today than yesterday.. But I know that I didn't "gain" fat or anything. It's almost like a game for me now... I guess how much I think I'll weigh in the morning based off of how bad I was with sodium and water the day before.

emd528

I'm the same way, I want to see results immediately and weigh myself almost every day, but then sometimes I feel like the number going up/down doesn't matter as much because it fluctuates a lot. Then, when I do lose weight, it doesn't feel like as much of a victory. How do people stay motivated day to day but still feel like the number going down means something?

junipearl

i feel like weight fluctuates too much to make a difference daily.
I like to see big changes, so I weigh in once a week

AnnaGalbina

Okay, I'm going *try* to weigh myself just once this week. I've hidden the battery from my scale, that way it'll be too much of a hassle for me to weigh myself every morning..

QueenofScott

I have chosen to weigh once a week. When I get to my goal weight, I think I will choose to weigh everyday, just to keep things in check, and not let the pounds start creeping back on. Tired of yo-yoing...ready to lose this and keep it off!

RougeIllusion

I record my weigh-ins once a week on Fridays but I weigh myself a couple other times during the week to see that I'm losing a little and if I haven't I'll tweak my diet and workout a bit to make sure I do lose something by Friday

mynameismita

I weigh myself every morning, but I take the reading with a grain of salt. My weight fluctuates anywhere from 1-5 pounds everyday due to circumstances beyond my control. I also take measurements because I find those far more rewarding and telling. I took mine last night and even though I haven't really lost much weight in awhile, I apparently lost like 10" due to conditioning.

seandominguez

There's the psychological idea of the "positive feedback loop". Let's say you weigh a half pound less tomorrow than you did today (even if, in reality, it's 'just water weight'). Would that be empowering to you? Imagine you worked out really hard for an hour and your scale said 3 lbs lighter than it did earlier in the day. How would that make you feel?

If you can let the little victories empower you and put to heart that little defeats are temporary, I say weigh yourself every day. It really does allow you to make those adjustments when necessary.

katevarner

When I was trying to lose, I weighed twice a week (Wednesday because it was the day I started my program and wanted a weekly weigh-in and Fridays). It was hard not to weigh more frequently, but I didn't want to derail the work I was doing by seeing a scary number. Now that I'm in maintenance, I weigh every day. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I've lost the weight before and then gained it back and then some and don't want to go there again.

ABrideToBE

I weight myself every morning just to keep track. I do it every morning, almost as soon as I wake up. I can't wait to see my progress

Twiliightmoon

I weigh myself once a week, or every 2nd week. I also record my measurements which is a better indication to me that my body is changing.

I know this is a flaw that I have, but when I weighed in every day and found I gained even after being so careful with food and exercise, I would have a tendency not eat as much. In my head I know this is wrong, but I felt this way I could keep the scale going down.

MissMormie

In science when you're tracking a number that fluctuates a bit you increase the amount of times you measure.
For your weight this means that you'll get the most accurate number by weighing more often and taking the average of these numbers as your weight for that week.

Now unfortunately we're not robots that live by numbers in that way. (Otherwise you wouldn't need to lose weight to start with.) So a big part of it is psychology.

We know that daily changes in weight are mostly due to other reasons than fat loss. So if you can keep that in mind when you weigh every day and don't feel bad if the number goes up some days then by all means weigh yourself daily. If on the other hand you're the type of person that can't ignore a higher number some mornings, you're better of not weighing yourself daily.

For me, weekly is better.

There is another option however, which really attracts me. You weigh only when you've build up a deficit of 35.000kcal. This'll be only every few weeks, so you're seeing a lot less of the daily fluctuations and do get the big picture. If only I had the patience for that

minizebu

In science when you're tracking a number that fluctuates a bit you increase the amount of times you measure. For your weight this means that you'll get the most accurate number by weighing more often and taking the average of these numbers as your weight for that week.

I have been weighing myself daily and recording my weight on a chart I keep in the bathroom. Once a week I make a note of the high and low of the week. I also enter the data into a spreadsheet and calculate a high, low and average for the previous seven days. (See the graph that is my profile picture.)

I do this, because, for me, this is entertainment. I enjoy it. I look forward to waking up each day and checking the scale, because I am progressing in my weight loss goals.

I am not perturbed by the day-to-day changes in my weight, because I have learned through observation that my weight can fluctuate by as much as three pounds in one week, but my average weight is trending downward.

Do what works for you.

HOWEVER, you should be aware that if you weigh yourself only once a week, then you may catch yourself at a high point for the week one week and at a high point for the week the next week. This will appear to you as if you have not made any progress, when in fact you may actually have had a drop in your average weight. As the previous poster says, the best way to be sure is to measure more often and take an average.

Hope this helps!

MzStarrQueenB

Once a week Monday is a good day to weigh in.



If you set your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.....



http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8987-serious-diet-support-group

adpatrick92

In need of some friends to keep each other motivated! Add me!

Javelin3o4

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HOWEVER, you should be aware that if you weigh yourself only once a week, then you may catch yourself at a high point for the week one week and at a high point for the week the next week. This will appear to you as if you have not made any progress, when in fact you may actually have had a drop in your average weight.
Hope this helps!

Thanks I never really thought about that.

kaylakissane

I stick to my healthy eating habits and use myfitnesspal to help me keep track of my portions. I only weight myself once a month. If you weight yourself too often you will get demotivated when you don't see those pounds dropping off. However, waiting a month you should defiantly see a decrease which is the best feeling! Don't worry about the number on the scale so much as eating healthy and daily exercise. I gauge more of how my clothes fit than to the number on the scale. Had to go get my work clothes altered the other week, and it was an awesome feeling