Is it really important to weigh yourself?

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AngelicxAnnihilation
AngelicxAnnihilation Posts: 336 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I don't own any scales at my house and I think that I would start obsessing over the number if I started to weigh myself. I'm already obsessing over the calorie number and its only been a few days. So I was just wondering if it was a necessary thing to keep track of the weight, and if so why. Thanks for your comments and advice :) !!

Replies

  • thedancingleper
    thedancingleper Posts: 158 Member
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    It really depends on the person. If you obsess over that number too much and weigh yourself 10 times a day, it's probably not a good thing. If weigh ins are something you do moderately and it encourages you to keep going, then sure, why not?
  • Suzib76
    Suzib76 Posts: 2 Member
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    I don't have any scales in the house either, it would be far too tempting for me. I go the the chemist once a week and get weighed
  • Meraid
    Meraid Posts: 148 Member
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    Scales can be a bad thing if you obsess over the number, but I like to know how much I weigh so I do weigh ins once a week and then I measure every two weeks and take a picture when I need motivation!
  • Illona88
    Illona88 Posts: 903 Member
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    It's handy to know if you're still going down and when you have hit target.

    But you can also do that with a measuring tape.

    Just don't weigh too often. Once a week max.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    buy a tape measure instead... the inches are more important than the number on the scales!
  • megg0616
    megg0616 Posts: 59 Member
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    If you obsess over it then I would use a friends scale to get a starting weight. Then just use your clothes and pictures to gadget your weight loss and then when you see or feel a difference in clothing or pictures use a friends scale again to see where you are. That could help to motivate you more.
  • magentastorm
    magentastorm Posts: 1
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    Several years ago I decided that weighing myself was a pointless obsession and I stopped doing it. When I finally got on a scale I couldn't believe that I had put on 40lbs. Had I weighed myself once a month even, I would have caught the increase before it became a huge problem. My clothes got really tight but they were loose to begin and I fooled myself into believing I hadn't put on much weight.:noway:
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    I had about 100 lbs to lose when I started MFP. About 2 months ago I stopped weighing myself and started paying more attention to my clothes and how they fit. I'm happier knowing that my pants fit better than obsessing over my scale
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    I do daily which isn't recommended.

    That way if I do see a nice figure I feel better, if I don't, it may give me a little more motivation to stick to targets, do a bit more exercise etc.

    However, I'm already probably at a point that would be considered 'unhealthy' as far as speed of weight loss goes - though I reckon I'm ok; seeing that I'm me and not a generic clone, as I have done it before ok.

    I do want to start doing regular measurements with a tape measure (maybe not every day) to get a better picture.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    I weight my self every other week with my nutritionist. My weight loss comes after bouncing up and down from holding water and if I weigh myself more frequently than every other week I make myself nuts.
  • NocturnalGirl
    NocturnalGirl Posts: 1,762
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    Not important at all. But just so you can track your progress use the mirror or tape measure or something. But no, not really important.
  • avocado12
    avocado12 Posts: 197 Member
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    I think so yes, it helps you stay in control. Not weighing yourself allows you to ignore any weight gain. I don't know why anyone wouldn't weigh themselves? It helps you keep on track.

    I weigh in every day in the morning, it keeps me on track and stops me binging as I know weigh in is the next day - I've lost 50lbs this way so it works for me.
  • mowu
    mowu Posts: 245 Member
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    Personally I don't think it's really important to weigh yourself - it is just a relatively easy way to monitor a specific kind of progress, and monitoring your progress is what I think is important.

    Whether you use your weight, tape measurements, body fat percentage, pictures of yourself, improvement in performance while exercising or some other marker representative of your goal is up to your own preference - but if you don't track your progress in some way shape or form, how are you going to evaluate whether or not what you are doing is working or needs to be adjusted?
  • mfp_1
    mfp_1 Posts: 516 Member
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    It's more important to weigh your calorie dense food than your body. Do you have digital food scales?
  • 1holegrouper
    1holegrouper Posts: 323 Member
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    If you are disciplined about your other numbers (calories, sets, reps, measurements) then don't worry about the scale. I think as you progress though this wil become less of a stressor for you and become just another tool to provide you with feedback.
  • AngelicxAnnihilation
    AngelicxAnnihilation Posts: 336 Member
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    thanks for the advice everyone, I'll look into getting one. @mfp_1 I think I have some electronic food scales around somewhere, I usually eat frozen premade food(tv dinners), trying to break that habit though.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Kershaw's ready meals were a staple of me losing a good lot of weight.
    A lot are pretty low calorie.

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