My case for weighing yourself every day.

martywilcox

I have often heard that you shouldn't weigh yourself every day because your weight will fluctuate and you may be discouraged. Well if you weigh in once a week and that happens to be the day you fluctuate up, tell me that is not discouraging having no weight loss in a week.

Ok getting to my point, I weigh in every day and today just happened to be a new low and that is encouraging. If I am up a pound tomorrow big whoop, I am fluctuating but if I reach another new low in a few days or a week from now, hey that shows real progress and makes me want to hit another new low. Maybe it's a case of "whatever works for you" but to me it just makes more sense of tracking real progress.

Thx,
Marty

martywilcox

Oops probably in the wrong section sorry. I haven't really had enough success yet

Scottish_charlene_84

Yip i weigh in eveyday coz i was fed up having such a good week then getting to weigh day and being in tears. now i know it goes up and down and weighing everyday helps me see every step

lizblizz2012

I weigh myself about 5 times a day so that I get a feel for which parts of the day I am the heaviest/lightest. Also just because I like seeing my numbers go down! And like you, I get excited when I hit that new low! Of course I don't weigh in every day on MFP... usually every week or so, or whenever I have gone down a full pound. I agree with your thinking! It really is the best way to monitor your weight.

bamadwl

I do weigh every day because I like to pattern the ways my body reacts to different work out regiments and different types of foods I'm eating. Some might say I'm obsessed, but I've lost around 145 lbs doing it this way thus far,

drkatiebug

I weigh every day as well. It helps with awareness of the correlation between what I eat and water retention.

MemphisKitten

Sometimes being up a pound or two is a "trigger" for people with eating disorders. And those of us who have issues like that tend to become obsessed with the scale; once a day weighing becomes two, three, four, five times a day weighing and then starts to become a problem. We just don't want people to develop obsession with the scale because it can ruin lives. But if weighing once a day helps you stay on track and isn't a problem, then it's okay to do so.

rieann84

i also weigh every day, in the morning. sometimes i'll weigh in later at night just out of curiousity. keeps me accountable and won't let me get too far gone before i do something about it.

maricash

I completely agree. I also think it's important to record your weight. If you record it and graph it you will see that even though your weight goes up and down all the time, the trend will be obvious whether you are losing/gaining/maintaining. If everyone did it this way it might cut down on a lot of the "I lost/gained blank pounds in 1 week/day/night" posts too.

mcpjan

I weigh in everyday too. I do it at the same time everyday. I can see days that I do well and days that I am retaining water. I find it very encouraging when I reach a new low. Yes, today is a new low tomorrow I might be up a little tomorrow, but in a few days I will have a new low. By watching my weight daily it helps keep me on track.

sarahg148

There are pros and cons for weighing in everyday, once a week, once a month or once a year. I think it really depends upon the individual. There is no right or wrong. Have a great weekend!!!

auroranflash

I used to be a defender for weighing every day, saying "as long as you don't take the fluctuations personally, it's no big deal". I'd even weigh multiple times a day, just to "see the difference".

Then I realized that no matter how hard you try, that number may slightly tweak your mood and affect you for the rest of the day if that's how you start your day off. And that number is dependant on so many things that could be going on in your body, it's not fair to you to have that set the tone for your day.

I've "lost" 8lbs overnight from being dehydrated. I've "gained" 8lbs in a day because of ..... something. All of it is arbitrary when it comes to your actual health and body fat %, which is what you're aiming to reduce - not your body's actual weight, but the chubber.

So it's much more logical and kind to your psyche to just weigh once a week or even once a month on the same day, under the same conditions (in the morning, no clothes, after the potty) and watch the trend, rather than nitpick at the details.

Say you were actually logging this weight every day.... your graph would look like this: /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I'd rather have a long linear downslope. It's much more encouraging, and it takes away a lot of the stress and perfectionistic thinking.

Apazman

I map my daily weight on a calendar (Dry-erase). Write it in green if its lower than the day before, red if its more than the day before and purple if its an all-time low. When I start stacking green days during the week, I try harder and harder each day .. because it will lead to that really special purple day! and nothing feels better than a new all time low!.

MaudeBeige

I weighed myself twice a day every day for months and then tracked it on an Excel spreadsheet with maximum and minimum trend lines... Over the top?! It worked for me!!! The thought of ups and downs didn't worry me because I knew that the general trend was down.

TheNEWMonicaB

I weigh and log every morning too! I wouldn't do it any other way.

Bentley2718

I weigh every day as well. It helps with awareness of the correlation between what I eat and water retention.

This is mostly what you're tracking if you weigh yourself daily--although water retention can be influenced by factors other than what you eat (such as exercise). I think this is a matter of whatever works for you. If you find weighing yourself daily useful, and do not become obsessive about it, or let fluctuations freak you out, go ahead and do it. Other people find it works best to weigh themselves less often, and some people opt not to weigh at all, but to use how their clothing fits as a guide. Whatever works for you as long as it's actually working for you (i.e. you're not just ignoring a problem).

fizzletto

I agree that weighing every day can help. It's important to keep track of which days you fluctuate up and down, and then once you know which days you tend to fluctuate, go back to weighing once a week or whatever, on your low days.

For example, I used to I weigh myself every Thursday. I never really saw any progress from week to week, sometimes my weight would even go up. And then suddenly I'd drop 4lbs in one go. Once I started weighing on Sundays instead of Thursdays, I found a much steadier progression each week.

nbischoff15

Yep - I am a 'weigh every day' person, too. In the morning before getting dressed.
I do understand the 'obsession with weighing' comment - but think that for a lot of people, weighing every day isn't a bad thing - as long as you do understand that you may fluctuate some from one day to the next.

wahmx3

Exactly why I weigh daily! I would hate to miss seeing the new low weight!

I have often heard that you shouldn't weigh yourself every day because your weight will fluctuate and you may be discouraged. Well if you weigh in once a week and that happens to be the day you fluctuate up, tell me that is not discouraging having no weight loss in a week.

Ok getting to my point, I weigh in every day and today just happened to be a new low and that is encouraging. If I am up a pound tomorrow big whoop, I am fluctuating but if I reach another new low in a few days or a week from now, hey that shows real progress and makes me want to hit another new low. Maybe it's a case of "whatever works for you" but to me it just makes more sense of tracking real progress.

Thx,
Marty

Bentley2718

I used to be a defender for weighing every day, saying "as long as you don't take the fluctuations personally, it's no big deal". I'd even weigh multiple times a day, just to "see the difference".

Then I realized that no matter how hard you try, that number may slightly tweak your mood and affect you for the rest of the day if that's how you start your day off. And that number is dependant on so many things that could be going on in your body, it's not fair to you to have that set the tone for your day.

I've "lost" 8lbs overnight from being dehydrated. I've "gained" 8lbs in a day because of ..... something. All of it is arbitrary when it comes to your actual health and body fat %, which is what you're aiming to reduce - not your body's actual weight, but the chubber.

So it's much more logical and kind to your psyche to just weigh once a week or even once a month on the same day, under the same conditions (in the morning, no clothes, after the potty) and watch the trend, rather than nitpick at the details.

Say you were actually logging this weight every day.... your graph would look like this: /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I'd rather have a long linear downslope. It's much more encouraging, and it takes away a lot of the stress and perfectionistic thinking.

Very well put!

digitalyssa

I weigh daily, but only log weekly.