How Often Should you weigh yourself?

A friend once told me she weighs herself every other day? Is that too much? How many times should you weigh yourself?

Help please!

Replies

  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    It depends. I weigh almost every day but I also don't let scale fluctuations bother me. You weight can fluctuate 5-10 lbs every day. If it's going to freak you out to see your weight changing that much then you should probably stick with once a week.
  • timeforsomethingsweet
    timeforsomethingsweet Posts: 131 Member
    Hi =D Ive most definately come to the realization that weighing myself everyday is driving me bonkers!! I get so crazy about the # and it shouldnt be that way. We are more than a # on the scale! Lets try to not let ourselves be defined by a #! Try to stick with once a week. I just did that. My day is going to be Friday. Good luck!!
  • buffcleb
    buffcleb Posts: 150 Member
    I weigh myself a couple of times a week... usually when I get home from work just before dinner... Dinner is my big meal so I figure I am at my furthest point from it at that point... its worked for me..
  • PaleoChocolateBear
    PaleoChocolateBear Posts: 2,844 Member
    I weigh myself about once a month and I do it right when I wake up in the morning to get what I like to call a true number since I haven't eaten yet
  • peace_pigeon
    peace_pigeon Posts: 120 Member
    I weigh myself every morning. I am trying to maintain a healthy weight, so I just want to make sure that there are no changes (up or down) or surprises :) When I was losing weight, I only hit the scale once or twice per week, otherwise I would get frustrated and not see progress quickly enough.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    When I was losing weight I weighed myself every other week so that I wouldn't be bothered by the fluctuations in my numbers. Now I am at goal an my nutritionist has me weighing myself every week so we can make sure I'm sticking to my goal.
  • I weigh myself about 3 times a week. In the morning. I don't get too concerned with small fluctuations.
  • Twylyght
    Twylyght Posts: 224 Member
    I used to weigh myself everyday. I started getting discouraged by all the ups and downs with fluctuations that I decided one week to not weigh myself for a whole week and that's what I've been doing ever since. It gives me more motivation because the loss is usually much bigger. But each person has their own ways and reasons so you just need to decide what's best for you.
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  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    It depends. I weigh almost every day but I also don't let scale fluctuations bother me. You weight can fluctuate 5-10 lbs every day. If it's going to freak you out to see your weight changing that much then you should probably stick with once a week.

    This is me too. Even now in maintenance I still weigh every morning.
  • TTHdred
    TTHdred Posts: 380 Member
    If you are able to remain focused and not get distracted (unmotivated or overly confident) by the fluctuations you can weigh yourself as often as you like. The average person would do once per week. That is because it is in line with what is typically agreed on as the acceptable weight loss goal of a pound per week. But we are all different colors of the rainbow, so each their own.
  • Becoming_A_Butterfly
    Becoming_A_Butterfly Posts: 2,534 Member
    There is no "should" regarding how often to weigh yourself. What frequency motivates you, helps you stay on track, gives you the feedback you need to make adjustments? If I weighed myself every day, the little fluctuations would make me crazy. Some people do better with a daily weigh-in, some don't. I weigh in once a week because that is what works for me.
  • purplelizzard
    purplelizzard Posts: 93 Member
    I weigh every day, every other day, but I only log weekly.
  • ladybuggprincess99
    ladybuggprincess99 Posts: 142 Member
    I weigh everyday. I like seeing the change, no matter how small. Hey, 1/10 of a pound is a loss! :)
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    I weigh daily, first thing in the morning. There have been days when my morning weight was nearly 3 lbs. more than the previous day. But the overall trend is downward. John Walker explains how to use weighted moving averages to filter out the noise in his free online book "The Hacker's Diet" (http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/) - not, however, for people who don't like math (though Walker's website lets you set up a free account to track your weight online and do the math for you). If you use such an average, you can see how even a daily increase fits into an overall downward trend.

    I used to weigh myself weekly, which sometimes resulted in one week's number being higher than the previous week--which was really discouraging. With daily measurements, I can see the trend more clearly.

    But my approach doesn't work for everyone. As long as you're honest about what you eat, measure exercise accurately, and have configured MFP correctly, you shouldn't need to weigh yourself except occasionally, to check your progress.
  • lvtruu1
    lvtruu1 Posts: 211 Member
    How often matters little.

    The fact

    If you are in a caloric deficit, you are losing weight. No matter what that scale tells you on a given day.

    I used to do it twice a day. First thing in the morning than right before bed for "fun".. Now I'm trying to gain weight/muscle so occasionally more often but usually just once a week. All measurements last day of the month.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
    whenever you damned well please. I do it once a week. Sunday morning.
  • Mykaelous
    Mykaelous Posts: 231 Member
    I think that you should do so whenever you think about it, but only once a day and in the morning if possible. Like someone else said your body weight can fluctuate so don't put a bunch of emphasis on the number. I just want to have a nice smooth graph when I look back and it can help you notice if something negatively or positively influences your results. For example I switched from eating an omelet to a salad for breakfast at my local school and noticed that my weight loss slowed by about .5 lb per week even though the calories were stated to be the same. When I looked into it the nutrition didn't include the croutons they put on it so that was an extra 200 calories a day I didn't know about.
  • ellepribro
    ellepribro Posts: 226 Member
    I weigh in once a week. Every Friday morning at around the same time wearing the same thing to get the most accurate number possible.
  • Boobookittyfq
    Boobookittyfq Posts: 454 Member
    You should tape yourself, not weigh yourself ... sometimes you feel and can see improvement vs what the scale says.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    A friend once told me she weighs herself every other day? Is that too much? How many times should you weigh yourself?

    Help please!

    That completely depends on you. If you can't handle and/or don't understand natural body weight fluctuations and have panic attacks because you're up a pound from yesterday because you haven't dropped your morning deuce yet, then frequently weighing yourself is probably a bad idea.

    I weigh daily because I understand natural body weight fluctuations and the non-linear nature of weight loss and non-static nature of maintenance...so those fluctuations don't bother me and I like have numerous statistical data points to work with.

    I also put a lot of stock in measurements. In RE to scale weight, you have to understand that number represents a whole lot of different things, not just fat...the scale only tells about 1/4 of the story.
  • ShmareParks
    ShmareParks Posts: 88 Member
    I weigh myself a lot, but I don't let it "count" more than once a week. Every Sunday morning, in my undies, before breakfast, I weigh myself "officially" and that's the weight I log on MFP. If I stay roughly within my calorie and exercise goals (minus my one "cheat day" per week), then that Sunday-morning weight goes down by one pound per week.

    If I let the other days/times' weight count, though, you would see my MFP progress go all over the map, because in a single day I might be 6 pounds heavier from clothes or a big meal or water bloating or who knows what else. That's why it's best not to take note of your weight more than once a week. The fluctuations can really get to you if you are relying on them.

    Focus more on measurements than weight, because exercise can actually bring your weight up while melting away inches!

    Good luck!