How Often Do You Weigh-In?

knewbegin

I am beginning my weight loss journey and was thinking about how often I should weigh in. Whats your take?

moorme01

I weigh in once a week first thing in the morning. I think any more than that is overkill, as your body fluctuates. And be sure it's at the same time of day and same day of the week, as your weight fluctuates throughout the day.

nanainkent

my vote is once a week. resist the urge to do it daily. resist the urge to do it several times a day. These only lead to disapointment if you stay the same or do not lose. so once a week. Anyway it takes a 3500 calorie defecit to lose a pound and you cannot do that in one day.

urhere

I weigh myself most days first thing in the morning. I only count one weigh in each week, but the other days it helps me to keep on track. If I've gained, I can usually see it came from something(s) I ate or an increase in activity that may have caused some water retention.

I was just reading in "Health" that people who have been successful in losing weight and keeping it off weigh themselves daily and use the information to make little adjustments so they won't have to make big adjustments later. Makes sense to me.

feefie04

I think it depends on how well you can handle the natural fluctuations of weight loss. I weigh quite often (up to twice a day when I am curious), but only record net losses. I like to watch the weight go up and down normally, so that when I see a strange jump either way I can try to think about why.

I think weighing often (twice a day at most) helps you to realize how your body naturally gains weight throughout a day, week, or during periods of stress. Knowing the natural cycles will help you pick out plateaus faster, and you will also be less "freaked out" by a 1 or 2 pound gain, than if you only weigh once a week (this usually only happens if you weigh at very different times, like morning vs evening, or after a large meal, etc).

I'm not against weighing once a week... I think it is the best way to go. But if you can handle watching your weight naturally fluctuate then I think it would be a valuable experience to weigh twice a day and make little mental notes on what you see.

Edit: I wanted to mention that I have been losing consistently for 4 weeks (6 lbs) but often will see gains of 1 to 2 lb within a day, which will gradually go down overnight). It feels normal, I'm definitely losing, and doesn't stay with me, so I don't fret over it.

PinkHurricane88

I weigh daily after I wake up in the mornings, but I only have an official weigh in day on Friday mornings.

alaskaang

I weigh and track daily. Even have a spreadsheet that I log into and graph from. But it doesn't bother me to see fluctuations. My charts show lots of ups and downs, but as long as the overall trend is moving in the right direction, I don't stress over it. One thing daily tracking did really help was figuring out food intollerances. I can gain up to 5lbs overnight in water retention if I eat something that my system doesn't like.

mgmlap

once a month..i rely more on the tape measure and how my clothes are fitting

21June

Usually every two weeks. I do not own a pair of scales because if I did, I'd be on them every five minutes!

mgmlap

once a month..i rely more on the tape measure and how my clothes are fitting

crystelnicole

I used to ALWAYS be on the scale. Now I weight myself once a week/every two weeks. Good luck!

roycruse73

I weigh myself every morning after the toilet and before I eat. But I only record my weight Monday mornings.

The scale does fluctuate by up to a kg during the week but ive always lost a good sum by the end of the week

I also recalculate my goals every Monday after Ive entered my new weight - I don't see the point of waiting until Ive lost ten lbs as it will be a big jump down in my net calorie goal rather than a weekly small decline.

jzammetti

When I began I weighed up to three times each day - I felt like I needed to know what my body's natural weight rythym was and discovered I would fluctuatue up to 4.5 pounds over the course of one day. Knowing this helped me stress less over those natural fluctuations. At the beginning, I lost rapidly and weighed frequently. Recently, however, since I have less than 10 pounds to go, I weigh once a month only.

emtjmac

Every day.

kelsgosse

I weigh daily so I can see a trend and it gives me more motivation when you see it going down. Even if it is only 0.1lbs

nphect

i weigh myself every day out of curiosity of what water flux is going on in my body, but as far as weight loss or gain, i only take a week snapshot seriously, or somewhere around a week, maybe 6 days, maybe 9 days, depending on what the water is doing in my body, and i guesstimate where im at.

Cokamo

You can weigh as often as you like, however, choose one day a week (the same day and time every week) that you count. For instance, I weigh on Friday mornings before I have anything to eat/drink, after I got to the restroom and just before I step in the tub. I may step on the scale intermittently during the week but I only count my Friday to Friday weights.

ZugTheMegasaurus

I weigh "unofficially" every morning and record it only on Saturdays (regardless of whether it's up or down). I find it helpful because I learn how my day-to-day behavior affects my weight. It lets me see trends and correct course faster than if I had to wait several weeks to notice (if I were weighing only once per week).

That said, if weighing daily is appealing to you, you cannot put much meaning at all into those numbers. There are days where you're two pounds heavier than the day before. There are days where it looks like you lost a lot but it's back the next day. You have to realize that scales weigh everything, not just the fat you want gone: bones, organs, blood, digestive contents, everything. Weight is a rough measure and the long-term trend is what matters; I just find that weighing daily helps keep that clear for me.

angeliqueann

I weigh daily after I wake up in the mornings, but I only have an official weigh in day on Friday mornings.

i do the same exact thing! :happy:

joyous504

I weigh myself every day and record it. I want to see exactly what is going on with my body and weight loss/gain. I hear all the time you shouldn't weigh yourself daily, but I don't care, it's what works for me. I've been able to take the ups and downs on the scale without getting discouraged if it goes up one day and stays there for a week. I think it's more discouraging if you've been working hard all week and the scale goes up after your last weigh-in, but you don't understand why.

Tsubomi_CB

I try to weigh myself once a week. If I weigh more than that, I start to get obsessive with the scale ... This varies from person to person ...