The Scale...

mcwicker
mcwicker Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So... does everybody weigh-in with MFP daily, weekly, monthly? I have always had a habit of weighing everyday. In fact, I wake up, use the restroom and weigh myself like clock work every morning... is this a bad habit to have?

Replies

  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I read somewhere that people who weighed in weekly lost more than those who weighed in daily... (and I just tried to cite my source and all I could find were articles that you should weigh yourself daily ahahhaha I'm probably wrong)


    Anyways, I weigh in weekly on Fridays :)
  • Mendelianparakeets
    Mendelianparakeets Posts: 45 Member
    I have an awful habit of weighing daily too, but I only record a weight if it's been consistent for at least three days (and even that can be faulty).

    So I guess the moral of the story is not to stress too much about what the scale says. If you are making lifestyle changes that involve a balanced diet and some kind of physical activity, chances are your body will change for the better (muscle mass gained, shrinking waist/neck, etc.) In the end, weight is just a number that can vary due to all sorts of factors.
  • Owsla135
    Owsla135 Posts: 350 Member
    That's my routine too. I've heard it said that you should weigh once a week or once a month, but I am really too OCD for that. It bugs me when I see a little fluctuation up, but I am getting used to the pattern. It also helps me to make any adjustments before anything gets out of hand.
  • newmooon56
    newmooon56 Posts: 347 Member
    I put a new weight or measurement on MFP when I discover them. My rule is 3 days in a row of the new weight Im putting it in.. if I got up and down from there its whatever til I see a new weight. Weird way to track maybe - I know ..

    As for how offen I weigh? Once- every morning.
  • Kristy_Albritton
    Kristy_Albritton Posts: 20
    Everyone tells me not to weigh myself daily, that it can be discouraging. But, I do anyway and they are right...it IS discouraging. So, I keep telling myself that I'm going to stop. I always want to make sure that I'm going down and not up! But my doctor told me that your weight is like your blood pressure, it changes on a minute by minute basis.
  • flyingpurplemonkey
    flyingpurplemonkey Posts: 105 Member
    Everyday. Honestly, usually more than once a day. I find it interesting to see how my weight fluctuates not just throughout the week, but throughout the day as well.

    In my opinion, if you can do it daily and be ok with the number you see (not let the fluctuations get to you and bring you down), then you are fine. There is not a "Right" way of doing it. If it works for you, and not causing you to stress too much, then keep on doing whatever you want.
  • SJCon
    SJCon Posts: 224
    Weigh everyday but only record my weight Saturday Morning in MFP, Daily go WiFi to Fitbit.
  • tiffanympm
    tiffanympm Posts: 62
    My water weight fluct is about 3lbs. I do it sunday mornings after my potty break.
  • wfriddell
    wfriddell Posts: 12
    I Focus on a goal to loose 6-8 lbs every two weeks, therefore my weigh-ins are on Friday every two weeks. At my weight, i fluctuate depending on water retention etc. So if you are weighing yourself everyday don't take it too much to heart if you up a lb or 2.

    I also like to think of it as a goal for myself to achieve that loss and i have 2 weeks to prove it. Just what i do, but i'm not sure what is correct or not.
  • campi_mama
    campi_mama Posts: 350 Member
    I weigh daily as well, but only record once a week. I look at the overall trend. If it effects how you choose to eat/feel/workout, then it's probably a problem. For me, I find it interesting to see how my body "weight" changes from day to day :)
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,276 Member
    I weigh myself every morning but I only record my Monday weigh in.
  • alfpalmer
    alfpalmer Posts: 150 Member
    my scale went away today. I was weighing every day, stressing and getting discouraged. So I put it away and will try weighing on the 1st and 15th.
  • mollymoo89
    mollymoo89 Posts: 202
    Depends on your own personal preferences. I used to weigh myself multiple times daily and the scale actually became my enemy. Since I am so close to my goal weight (within 5 pounds), I actually haven't weighed myself since the 1st of the month and have been going on how I feel and my clothes since I'm now more concerned with toning up. Just find out what works for you but also know that there are other ways to record your progress like measuring!
  • vodkoffee
    vodkoffee Posts: 160 Member
    I don't know why there is so much hate for daily weighing, calling it "awful" or "compulsive." I see it on here a lot and it seems strange. I have felt it was much easier to monitor my weight with daily weigh-ins and keeping a moving average. Studies have shown that daily weighers are more likely to lose weight and keep it off. http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_section_details.asp?text_id=3868&channel_id=159&relation_id=30113

    I don't log my daily weigh ins here, though. I don't want to spam my friends. I find that when I weigh daily, small fluctuations don't bother me, and I can usually figure out why they happened based on my food intake, i.e. sodium or glycogen. When I weighed in weekly, if I was having a bloated day, I'd just see that number on the scale and it would depress me. Now I know the patterns of my body and can shrug off small gains.

    But whatever works for your mindset...
  • VaTarheel87
    VaTarheel87 Posts: 5
    I've stopped weighing every day to avoid discouragement. I weigh mid week just out of curiosity, but am only recording my weight each Sunday morning. Measurements...every two weeks.
  • fmbomzo
    fmbomzo Posts: 382 Member
    I weigh daily, first thing in the morning. It's not a bad habit unless you start stressing over the fluctuations. I'm a numbers geek so I can't resist tracking it daily and looking for trends. My body is actually pretty predictable based on my eating habits, sodium intake, level of exercise, intensity of strength training, carb intake .... it reacts fairly consistently to these factors. It's interesting to observe. My official weigh-in for weight loss tracking is Sundays though.
  • fitQueenbeast
    fitQueenbeast Posts: 298
    The only problem with weighing daily is the fact that the body tends to fluctuate up to 5 pounds per day. That is enough to drive anybody insane. I started weighing once every three to four weeks. My fitness plan is not dependent so much on the scale as the measurements, how my clothes fit, how I feel, and my endurance and strength levels. :-)

    Erica
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
    In my humble opinion, you need to factor in a couple of things before you decide how often to weigh yourself:

    1. What type of person are you, are you analytical and like to have information on everything? Do you have these traits in everyday life? I know I am, and I like to see incremental gains and losses. Information is key to me, and I am now at the point where I can tell what the number is going to be before I get on the scale, knowing my body, my diet, what I've been doing in the last couple of days etc.

    2. Here's the proviso, only do this if you aren't going to obsess over the details! If you don't know that a high sodium day will cause you to retain water for a couple of days, that you will weigh more after a heavy weight training session etc etc, don't do it. If seeing a higher number than expected is going to put you in a bad mood and effect your eating or exercise that day, don't do it!

    3. Also realise that the scale, whilst convenient, is an inaccurate measure of progress. Take some 'before' pics NOW (I really wish I did), and measure the key parts of your body (neck, chest waist, thigh). Over time these will give you a much better indication of your success.
  • dunlunicor
    dunlunicor Posts: 189 Member
    I weigh multiple times a day, 2 or 3 depending. It helps me to be okay with the fluctuations. I'm to the point where, based on any number of factors, I can say what my weight is going to be before I weigh in with about 90% accuracy. I think it's helped me find my rhythm. But yeah, at first I was easily discouraged.
  • TexasTroy
    TexasTroy Posts: 477 Member
    Weighing in daily wont hurt you but it wont help you either in terms of long term goals. The only thing weighing every day will do is frustrate a lot of ppl. Your body doesnt change overnight- you will weigh less in the morning than you do in the evening...you will weigh 2 pounds less one day and the next you have gained it all back. That's due to a lot of reason's but mostly water changes in your body. It can drive some people nutty to look at the fluctuations on a daily basis. Your body composition doesnt change that much on a daily basis but your mood can if you get frustrated at loosing one pound one day and gaining 3 pounds the next. A better practice is to measure your weight no more than once a week-do it at the same time of day, preferable in the morning before you eat. Bodyfat changes take time so there really isnt a need to weigh every day.
  • alxinhim2
    alxinhim2 Posts: 81 Member
    I weigh myself every morning after I use the bathroom as well. I think it is really up to you. Personally I like to every day, but some like to weekly, monthly, etc. Knowing how much I weigh every day helps me keep going for my goal. If i gain a pound.. i try harder.
    So far... 11lbs in a few weeks.. so something is working! haha
  • bellstalker
    bellstalker Posts: 30 Member
    I weigh daily...but don't stress about it. I post my weight once I've stayed at it for 2-3 times. I am close to my goal and concerned with toning now...scale isn't everything!!
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
    I find that when I weigh daily, small fluctuations don't bother me, and I can usually figure out why they happened based on my food intake, i.e. sodium or glycogen. When I weighed in weekly, if I was having a bloated day, I'd just see that number on the scale and it would depress me. Now I know the patterns of my body and can shrug off small gains.

    This is a very good point. I weigh myself daily and record the changes on a chart that I keep taped to the wall in the bathroom. The day to day fluctuations do not bother me. Once a week I look at the last 7 days and I mark a dot next to the lowest weight during that 7 day period. This helps me to observe the trend. (It's easier than plugging all the data into an Excel spreadsheet and actually calculating a moving average.)

    One thing that I have noticed is that if I look simply at, say, one Friday and compare it to the following Friday, there is sometimes no change or maybe a 0.2lb change. The reason for the small variance or even no change is that we all have water weight gains/losses, depending on our sodium intake, how much we drink, what time of the month (for women), etc.

    I sometimes wonder if the people who claim to be on a plateau are weekly weighers. They may just be catching themselves at a point where one week their water weight was down and the following week their water weight was up, so it looks to them like they have had no progress.

    I think that if you are going to weigh yourself, either do it every day and don't let the day-by-day changes bother you, or do it far less often, like once a month (or once every two weeks like one of the other posters mentioned).
  • SJCon
    SJCon Posts: 224
    Weighing in daily wont hurt you but it wont help you either in terms of long term goals. The only thing weighing every day will do is frustrate a lot of ppl. Your body doesnt change overnight- you will weigh less in the morning than you do in the evening...you will weigh 2 pounds less one day and the next you have gained it all back. That's due to a lot of reason's but mostly water changes in your body. It can drive some people nutty to look at the fluctuations on a daily basis. Your body composition doesnt change that much on a daily basis but your mood can if you get frustrated at loosing one pound one day and gaining 3 pounds the next. A better practice is to measure your weight no more than once a week-do it at the same time of day, preferable in the morning before you eat. Bodyfat changes take time so there really isnt a need to weigh every day.

    How do you know that the one day you weigh in your week is representative of your true or trending weight? That day could have been the day after a hard weight workout or salt fest and you are holding water. Seeing a daily weight lets you at least guess as to what is going on. IMO
  • marcenepea
    marcenepea Posts: 364 Member
    I weigh in most days, but only log my weight on Mondays. Well except for this Monday because I went crazy over the weekend, so next Monday I will log. Hopefully that will be a bit more accurate.
  • MuffinTopCadz
    MuffinTopCadz Posts: 17
    No i weigh once a month, i will get discouraged if i dont see any movement
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
    I think it's up to you and how stepping on the scales daily might make you feel. If you find you haven't had a loss or you've gained would ruin your day then I would say weigh in less frequently.

    The body's weight fluctuates so much that I would find daily weigh-ins really dis-heartening.

    When losing weight I would weigh in once a week and now I weigh in about once a fortnight.

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