constantly wanting to step on the scale?

The scale is a tool, just like a hammer or a saw is a tool. Some people are perfectly content never using an ax or a shovel, and it works for them. Others use a hammer a couple times, bang their fingers each time, and say never again.

My point is, every tool has a purpose but may not be needed by every single person. Every tool also has the potential to be mistreated or misused, but also be of great benefit.

Now for the scale. There are some people who just need to see a number every day while others don't care about that particular number, and still more people are content with once a week/month/year....whatever sort of time frame they set. The easy part is knowing how often you want to use the scale. The trickier part is knowing what to do with the numbers you see from them.

For those of you who do not like scales, that's great. This section does not pertain to you. That being said, everyone who uses a scale, no matter when they weigh in, needs a general principle. That is to weigh yourself the same time of day every time you weigh. By this I mean right when you get up if that's what you like, or right before bed if that is when you do it. But comparing weight in the morning one day to the evening another does not work. You have eaten more at the end of the day than you do at the beginning, so obviously you will be heavier at the end of the day. This renders the scale useless.

For the daily weighers, you can do a couple different things. The first thing, is to weigh yourself every day, and compare each day to the previous. This is the most basic weigh to do it, and also the least helpful except to possibly set a goal saying "I did this yesterday, so maybe I will do something different." What I find to be better is to weigh yourself every day, and write the number down somewhere (preferably a spreadsheet on the computer or something). Then, the next day, you write the number in another column. You will end up with seven columns, one for each day of the week. Then, you start another row for the next week, so the Mondays are all in one column, Tuesdays are all in another, etc. Then you can compare your Mondays to your Mondays and so on, which becomes more useful than simply comparing one day to the next. There are a couple reasons I suggest putting the weigh ins in a computerized spreadsheet. The first reason is that you can add notes saying what time you weighed yourself (before bed or in the morning), if you had anything to eat before weighing yourself, and other personal notes. The second is that you can create a graph that will show graphically what your weight is doing over a period of time, with each line representing a day of the week. If there are any abnormalities you can look back at that particular day in your food diary and see what you did differently.

Now for the people who weigh themselves, but not daily. You pretty much have things in hand. Just be sure to weigh yourself on the same day of the week each time, and do it at the same time of day each time. The spreadsheet idea could be useful, but it isn't as important for you as it is for the daily weight checkers.

Sorry about the length of the post.

twice a day for me. but the morning weight is what i truly pay attention to. i like doing it for motivation--whether i lose or gain.