How often should you weigh yourself?

bbelles1

I was hoping to get some opinions on how often you should weigh yourself? I don't want to become so obsessed with weighing myself going through the up's and down's of trying to do it everyday. I am trying to lose about 80 pounds and in about a week and a half I have lost about 12 pounds. Thanks for the feedback!

1newcat

If my tainer had her way, once a month. I do it twice a month, not even weekly because i find my body goes through cycles weekly and i get a better picture on a bi-monthly basis of what is and isn't working. But that's just me, we're all different and it certainly takes a lot of energy to keep away from the scale those off weeks. Lol

DanaDark

Once a week. Same day of the week. After urinating. While naked.

That is the best way to keep everything constant. The contents of your bladder can add several pounds. Different clothes weight different amounts. People's weight naturally fluctuates throughout the day due to hydration level.

carliekitty

I weigh myself twice a month. If i weigh myself more i get frustrated and negative.

TravisBikes

I weigh myself every time I lose weight.

missanagarcia

i weigh myself once a week. on the same day. before breakfast

links_slayer

I step on the scale once a week - after my Saturday morning workout.

Kitty_Kat_meow

Firstly wow well done! I weigh myself once or twice a week depending what I'm up to

sigsiddy

A smart friend of mine recommended Thursday mornings. Thursday morning as soon as you use the bathroom.. naked of course.
Thursdays work great for me. I still get on the scale randomly... but record my Thursday weight.

cheerforsteelers

Every hour. Just kidding. I try for once a week maximum though I've been out of a scale for a while and need a new one. The number on the scale isn't the most imporant thing. Don't forget to measure and see how your clothes fit, of course.

LexThaSongbyrd

Since having bariatric surgery, I weigh myself daily, first thing in the morning after using the bathroom, with underwear on or no clothes. It may seem obsessive to some, but alot of the people in my support group find it beneficial to do it daily. I want to see how daily eating habits, water intake, time of the month and even poor eating days effect my weight daily. If I notice anything drastic (outside of a few lbs of water weight that go up and down from day to day), I can catch it earlier and immediately go into a plan of action (early prevention) to avoid serious gain that could get out of hand within a couple weeks or month...I can see if i need to go back to some more protien shakes everyday, up my proteins for each meal, cut back on sodium/carb intake, etc. That's just been my experience so far and it works for me.

Gothangelik

It's funny I see this topic right now after updating my status about 2 minutes ago. And this is what I wrote:

"Weighting yourself according to me.
Most accurate way: having a personal scale and stepping on it naked once a week (same day and around the same time), after waking up in the morning. Pee and maybe poop first if you can (I'm serious).
Worst way: using the scale at the gym after a workout. Again, that's according to me."

alaskaang

Totally depends on your own preference. I weigh every day in the morning. Weight fluctuates up and down somewhat on a daily basis. Weighing daily allows me to become comfortable with fluctuations and track the trend over time which is the important part. After awhile you will understand your typical range, mine is 4lbs. Anything above or below that set range is actual gain or loss.

creativecarabao

Im doing it a little differently . I'm not really concerned about weight loss. I know I have to lose weight, and I'm taking my journey here on MFP . My goal isnt a certain amount of weight. I really want to try to eat sensibly, and accurately and just be honest with myself. I know I'm losing weight, my clothes are getting big and people are starting to ask questions and comment. Not being focused on the weight has really a breath of fresh air. I only weigh in if I go to my parents house for the sake of doing it. So the scale isnt something that stares me down and tells me to do more or I failed. I know just by looking at my MFP log Im doing well. 95% of the time I come in just under my calorie limit, so i guess I achieve my goal almost every day. Weight loss is a mere side affect.

my two cents.

waldo56

I do every day.

But I'm a data nerd. I've got a spreadsheet that keeps track of a moving average of my weight, my calorie intake/burn, and calculates my non-exercise maintence amount to keep track of what my metabolism is up to. First thing in the morning I take my weight and update with yesterday's numbers (I also weigh in before and after exercise (when I remember), if the number is lower I use it, the lowest number is a better measure than same time of day). I need charts and graphs to satiate my inner nerd.

Been doing this now more than a year and a half, I reached my (first) goal weight about 9 months ago.

One of the best ways to prevent post-goal relapse is to weigh yourself daily (or at least fairly frequently).

concordancia

Should? As often as you need to in order to keep you on track, but not often enough that you become neurotic about it. No one *needs* to know their weight unless they are flying in a small plane or jumping on a trampoline.

skydiveD30571

Ive always done it in the morning, right when I get up, once a week on the same day. It's been the most consistent method for me. I'm curious as to how my weight fluctuates so the last couple weeks I've been doing it daily though, with the understanding that it will go up and down. It's "official" only once a week just like normal.

marieautumn

i used to weigh in daily. it was way too stressful though since our weight changes day to day for various reasons.
now i weigh once a month, same day and same time every month.

cuterbee

I have to admit that I weigh almost every day I am at work (where the scale is) mostly because I can't believe I'm actually losing weight. I only update my weight once a week, though. It's a nice feeling to step on the scale and see it lower than it's been since 2005.

Only you really know how often you should be weighing yourself. If it makes you anxious to see the scale fluctuate, then you should probably pick a day (once a week, once a month) and weight then.

marieautumn

Should? As often as you need to in order to keep you on track, but not often enough that you become neurotic about it. No one *needs* to know their weight unless they are flying in a small plane or jumping on a trampoline.

i disagree. if your goal is to lose weight, you obviously need numbers to track your progress. Yes you can use "how your clothes feel" but thats not really a reliable, measurable unit.
I've been working my butt off for almost 12 months and i'm at the end of my "weight loss journey" (of course the healthy habits i've adapted will continue), and i want to be able to say "I worked hard and I lost ___ amount of weight!"

browi

Every Morning, after waking up.

Is that too often? Don't know - that's how do it....

halleyg2

Once a month max for me. Numbers on the scale are too depressing for me to handle. Even if I lose weight, I still hate seeing that large number. It's a reminder of how long it will take to fit into my clothes again. Once I achieve my goal weight. I'll weigh myself two or three times a week.

GoldenGopherDad

I weigh myself everyday but my "Weigh In Day" is Monday morning when I wake up.

I like to see where I am at every morning but I know that there are fluctuations each day so I find that the 1 day a week (same time/day every week) is the best measure of where I am at overall.

byHISstrength

I weigh every morning. I don't let the result ruin my day. I don't want to wait a week or two to find out I didn't lose anything.

babymaddux

i had been doing it first thing in the morning and last thing at night! i've now put the scales in a wardrobe and shut the door and they are staying there for a month! i want to eat right, not starve to drop a number or two. once a month may well become my new norm as i've got past the morning panics now

syrklc

I am pretty new here. I have been weighting myself daily. I plan to start weighing weekly. It is depressing to weigh daily.

minkakross

There is no right or wrong answer. I weigh daily because I don't get freaked out about small changes and like to monitor trends so that I stay on track. Not everyone can do that without getting a little crazy. Bottom line is what makes you most comfortable, helps you feel like you are in control and doesn't add more stress to your weight loss journey.

daj150

You need to ask a different question; How frequently should I record my body statistics?

Weight fluctuates and is only effective when tracked at consistent intervals over a long period of time for the purpose of (usually) losing weight. So, as mentioned, pick a day of the month, week, every other week...doesn't matter, and weigh yourself then. ALSO...take your measurements. That is typically a better way to see results. Also, as time goes by and your clothes start being too loose, that usually means you are losing weight, lol.

keepitcroosh

If you really want to see results, my suggestion is to put the scale away completely and stick to measuring yourself! If you are working out, you may not see results on the scale. A perfect example coming from personal experience. I weighed 170lbs before i worked out 5x a week (cardio + weight training) and only ate healthy clean foods for about 4 months straight. When i went to see how much i had lost on the scale, i was not even a single pound lighter. BUT, what i looked like and how i felt was very different from the beginning . I was much thinner, toned, etc. If you keep checking the scale, it can and probably will discourage you and make you want to give up.

The results that youve seen is unfortunately unrealistic, and not a good way on how you view a healthy lifestyle. ( eating healthy and excersizing regularly) . Ive done it too, it took me a long time to realise that its just water weight. . The chances of it being actual fat is slim to none. Most people aim for 1-2 pounds a week. At the beginning, i was losing 10lbs here and there, then all of a sudden, it just stopped. I was very upset about it because the previous results were so big and exciting. Now i dont focus on the scale at all but how i feel and look. Seriously, try measuring yourself! Youll see the results much much better. And try to at least use the scale minimally like once or twice a month .

goldfinger88

There's no right or wrong answer here and everyone has an opinion. But most experts suggest once a month or once a week is enough. If your clothes are fitting and you can tell you're doing ok, weighing yourself daily or too often is useless. All you get are fluctuations and they just depress you when they go in the wrong direction, which they will.

I had to break myself from the habit of weighing myself daily. I didn't really get a true picture of what was happening. What I've found is that it's more important to use a good tape measure and track your measurements. The scale weight is not all that important. Oh, I know that everyone thinks it's everything. But, it's not. The tape measure tells the true story.

I suggest you weigh no more than every five days - seven if you can hang on. And, even better, monthly. On the other hand, if you feel yourself getting too big for your clothes, you better jump on the scales and see what's going on so you can adjust your diet. That's not going to happen if you're eating right, however.

chelchelt

Once a week on the same day or once every two weeks. If I go two weeks weighing every week and don't loose I stop weighing for a month so i don't get discouraged. I try to go by how my clothes fit more then the scale because it fluctuates so much,