How does weighing once a week make sense?

Generally people don't weigh every day as weight loss can be frustrating and you don't want any set backs. For example; weigh on a monday -2 lbs, weigh on tuesday +2 pounds. This would potentially make you very disheartened. If you weighed just once a week, your lower calorie count is more likely to produce a consistent loss than weighing every day.

To be honest, if weighing every day gets you to your goal, go for it.

I see a lot of people on here saying, "Weight fluctuates! Don't weigh everyday...weigh once a week!" I don't really understand the logic behind that...if weight can really fluctuate that much (which I KNOW it can!) wouldn't it be possibly counterproductive to only weigh once a week? If I weigh every day I can see the fluctuations. If I weigh once a week...what if THAT'S the day it fluctuated in the wrong direction and now I think I've gained weight when maybe I haven't...

Just curious as to the logic behind this...

You're right. Best off weighing once a month.

The problem with weighing every day or more than once a day is that the weight fluctuates throughout the day depending on food and fluid intake plus what you do that day so unless you're happy to monitor without attaching emotions to the numbers, best off staying away from the scales, otherwise it can be a soul-destroying experience.

I honestly weigh almost everyday. I just like to keep it fresh in my brain so I know if I start to get lazy or trick myself into thinking a night of pizza, wings, beer and cake aren't going to effect things. I don't enter in my weight to MFP everyday. I just do it for me, to keep myself on track.
I think that recommendation is also to remind people that you can do everything right and have a great food and exercise day and you still may not loose any weight. In fact, you may gain weight if you had too much salt or if (for girls) you are getting your period etc..... They recommend that mostly not keep people from getting easily discouraged.

I agree w/ OP regarding what if you're up on the one day you weigh. So, I am a daily weigh-er, BUT I put it all into perspective... I use a little tip from some PhDs regarding our love/hate relationship with our scales. If you are addicted to your scale and are compelled to weigh daily (mememememe), a good rule of thumb is to first weigh at the same time of day and under the same circumstances (e.g. w/o pjs after morning potty break... haha) then average all of those daily weights and use that as your weekly 'true' weight, as your weight WILL fluctuate daily due to many factors. Then, you can average your weekly 'true' weights and see what your monthly weight is.... This is a more accurate picture of where you are over time... It also takes some of the stress out of the fluctuations you might see daily so you don't obsess over it.... Just MHO, so always check it out for yourself! )

if you weigh yourself at the same time each week you see a general weight trend rather than the fluctuations. you are supposed to weigh yourself at the same time so that your body is in the same state it was in during previous weigh ins. weight fluctuations occur throughout the day due to sodium and water intake, undigested food and excrement in your intestines, and other factors.

so if i weigh myself every monday morning at the same time, i'm keeping my weigh in as close as possible to the same conditions that i had on previous monday mornings and that helps reduce error (it doesn't completely get rid of it, however, as there are things you can do sunday that influences your weigh in on monday). on top of that, your weight doesn't change considerably much from day to day, so you want to wait at least a week between weigh ins so that you either see results or you see that you have stalled. even better would be weighing in only once a month and as long as you are consistent with calorie deficits and exercise then you should see results.

or better yet, take measurements

Once a week is recommended for those people who will see their number go up 3 pounds and instead of realizing it's just a natural fluctuation, feel that they've failed and go eat a large cheese-lovers pizza while sitting on the couch watching Serenity crying themselves to sleep when Wash gets killed...

Or that could just be me...

:laugh: If I weighed in every day, I'd want to jump off a building.

With that being said, you weigh in when you see fit. I do a "check in" once every 2-3 weeks and that works for me. I don't want to be crazy about a number on the scale

I weigh myself once a week at the same time every wednesday morning , it works for me , and dont usually weigh myself any other time now . weighing every day gets me too worked up , the scales are down then they are up .so only once a week now .x

I started recording weekly quite a while back. Consistently, Saturday mornings, after bathroom, before eating/drinking. I chose Saturday because, according to trends I had seen in my weight fluctuations, that's the day I tend to weigh the least. But I will record on Saturdays whether it goes up or down (I'm in maintenance). The reason that I do this, and tend to recommend it, is because our weights DO fluctuate so much daily, I've seen so many people get disheartened because of those fluctuations. You can generally get a better view of the way your weight is trending if you record once per week (or probably even if you do it every two weeks/month, etc). I actually do weigh myself most days, but only record it on Saturdays.

I weigh everyday, 1st thing in the morning, and record it. It helps me recognize the foods/behaviors that have impact, especially since I calorie cycle. Once I reach my goal and get into maintenance, my plan is the switch to weekly.

Like most things in life -- whatever works for you...

If I weigh once a week...what if THAT'S the day it fluctuated in the wrong direction and now I think I've gained weight when maybe I haven't...

Just curious as to the logic behind this...

Yeah, I've thought of this too. So here is what I do (which is seriously neurotic)

I weigh every morning and keep a spreadsheet of daily weight. At the end of each week I take the highest and lowest weights and record that range in a separate column on the spreadsheet. This way I can see trends while factoring in daily fluctuations.

For MFP I record Friday's weight and every other Friday I measure.

I said it was neurotic, didn't I?

It makes sense to me if it stops at least a few of these posts a day "Haaaaaaaaaalp me, I gained 9 pounds overnight. Why can't I lose weight??! I'm just going to quit! Haaalp! Call an ambulance!"

I started recording weekly quite a while back. Consistently, Saturday mornings, after bathroom, before eating/drinking. I chose Saturday because, according to trends I had seen in my weight fluctuations, that's the day I tend to weigh the least. But I will record on Saturdays whether it goes up or down (I'm in maintenance). The reason that I do this, and tend to recommend it, is because our weights DO fluctuate so much daily, I've seen so many people get disheartened because of those fluctuations. You can generally get a better view of the way your weight is trending if you record once per week (or probably even if you do it every two weeks/month, etc). I actually do weigh myself most days, but only record it on Saturdays.

Sounds quite logical

I weigh every 12 weeks or not at all....

I weight every day...to impatient for once a week.