my new plan is to weigh only once a month.

I think its a great idea,I am doing the same this month as weighing myself every week only brings discourage

It is a great idea- if you can hold out and not take sneaky peeks! We women fluctuate SO much that we look like we've put weight on at certain times of the month, but if we weighed before the bloat begins, we'd feel like we are seeing great progress each month, rather than the down, down, same, up, down again pattern we get!

when you are weighing yourself every week it can be very discouraging if you haven't lost anything.

I disagree. It all depends on how you choose to think about that inside your own mind. It is possible to have an attitude shift.

When I see a gain or no loss, I tell myself that it's just a shift on water weight. I remind myself that "some weeks you lose weight and some you lose millimetres". This makes me GLAD to see the scale not move and I imagine myself having lost 2mm all over, and smile.

When I see a gain or no loss, it spurs me on to be even stricter with my diet. It's a battle - me versus the scale. I'm going to keep on being super strict until I force those scales to go down.

Works for me.

YMMV.

I weighed every morning up until about 6 weeks ago. Mostly to assure myself that I wasn't back sliding. Now that the weight is coming off at a slower pace, I am weighing once a week, also to keep track of where I am.
Once a month would be too long for me. Weighing more often lets me know that I am going in the direction that I want to be going.

Has anyone else done this? Did it help or was it too hard? Thoughts? I don't habeas a scale at home right now anyway.

Doing that is okay if you stick rigidly to your calories and do not veer off and also that you know for definite that your daily calorie allowance enables you to lose weight.

However, if you are prone to cheat days etc, you may find that weighing once per month is not a good idea because you will be unable to see if you put weight on or stay stagnant until that month is up. At least with once per week weighing, you can keep your eye on it all and adjust accordingly.

I agree with this!! This is what I normally do - but since I have been in The Biggest Loser Challenges, I've had to weigh myself once a week (I go to my docs office to weigh myself cause it's most accurate and I don't want a scale). When I am done with the biggest loser challenges, I'll go back to weighing once a month as that is when I see the best results (honestly!)

I think WAAAAAY too many people get focused on the scale weigh (HAHA) too much and it can actually (in my opinion) discourage you to the point of giving up (watched too many friends with that fate due to their obsession with scales and numbers).

But keep in mind, what works for me may not work for others. This is just my opinion

Has anyone else done this? Did it help or was it too hard? Thoughts? I don't habeas a scale at home right now anyway.

Doing that is okay if you stick rigidly to your calories and do not veer off and also that you know for definite that your daily calorie allowance enables you to lose weight.

However, if you are prone to cheat days etc, you may find that weighing once per month is not a good idea because you will be unable to see if you put weight on or stay stagnant until that month is up. At least with once per week weighing, you can keep your eye on it all and adjust accordingly.

I partially agree to both of your posts. Weighing once a week made me realize that I needed to change my caloric intake to around 1660 calories instead of nearly double that (based on my stats here on mfp). So it's good to find a caloric intake that enables you to lose weight first.

The phrase "cheat days" should be banished. It makes people feel guilty for indulging once in a while. I say if you are going to have a treat, make it a CHOICE not a CHEAT. Consciously make that decision. There is no rule book that says you cannot have a chocolate bar or cake or chips or something once in a while, as long as it's not every day and you actually do think of it as a treat. I find for myself, it's best if I enjoy a couple cookies or something once a week because it PREVENTS me from binging when stressed, depressed or just for the heck of it (obviously not everyone has this issue lol).

Imagine if you only weighed once per month and you lose nothing doing it that way either, that would be even more discouraging. However, if you had continued to weigh once per week, you would have been able to adjust your calories and exercise in order to continue losing.

Now, with this post, I have to say it is not MORE discouraging. If you are REALLY eating clean and exercising according to your goals for weight-loss and you HAVE been losing, maintaining or gaining a little bit isn't such a huge deal by the end of the month because A.) Muscle weighs more than fat and it's VERY possible that you've gained muscle while shedding fat B.) If you measure yourself and you find you maintain or gain a little, it's again, VERY possible you've lost inches. The scale number is not the only number that counts, but obviously is an important number nonetheless. But it's not everything.

For example, when I lost 115 lbs between 2011-2012, there were a few months where I didn't lose any pounds, in fact I even gained up to 7 lbs in one month and instead I lost 12 inches around my body and my legs were more toned. Perfect example.

Losing weight is a numbers game, but most importantly you have to watch what you're eating & actually DO the work and exercise, and I strongly encourage people to keep their measurements per month as well as your weight because you will notice a difference in one or both of them!!

Hi there,

Sounds like a good plan to me.

I am also doing no scale March as I only have 10lbs to lose (currently 142lbs) and so seeing a lose of 0.2lbs or even nothing each week has been demotivating me! I know I am eating really well and exercising 5 times a week or more so I have decided to give the scales a rest and use the mirror and tape measure to track my success as that is what really matters right. We're all doing this so we look good and feel healthier, not for a number on the scale.

Let's do this

HERE HERE!! Good luck to you on your last 10 lbs!! I hear those are the hardest pounds to lose! :flowerforyou:

I ONLY weight once a month anyway, as my scales at home are broken and I see a dietician once a month and she is the only one who weighs me and I trust her scales.