Is anyone else obsessed ...

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  • Donald_Dozier_50
    Donald_Dozier_50 Posts: 395 Member
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    I am in a program with the VA (Veterans Administration) Hospital and weighing daily is required and each time I step on the scale the results are automatically transferred to the weight control office and to my doctor's office :)
  • KarlaH9801
    KarlaH9801 Posts: 362 Member
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    I weigh myself daily. Early a.m., and I use an app called Libra. It uses your daily weight, and your weekly and monthly averages to show you a trend. I like seeing that, even though my daily changes can be huge, the overall trend is good. Or not. It helps keep my overall weightloss in focus. You don't have to lose every day to lose overall.
  • Aliviuum
    Aliviuum Posts: 67
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    I moved mine out of sight and have told myself that I should only weigh in once a week. I'm thinking it'll get me excited about weighing in and I can keep track of my progress realistically.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
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    I weigh every day because I find it motivating. Whether the scale moves up or down, I'm motivated either way. My mood isn't tied to the number on the scale. If it is up, I just adjust to get my weight back down again.
  • shadus
    shadus Posts: 424 Member
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    What is wrong with weighing every day?

    Because weight fluctuation on a daily basis due to activity level, sodium, hydration level, time of day, and how full your bowels and bladder are make daily weights completely moot more or a less unless just marked down and viewed as a general trend over time. My weight at 9p is typically +4-7lbs from my weight at 9a. I didn't gain 4-7 lbs in day. Weigh ins are only as good as your consistency over the time period... the larger the time period the more likely there is an average degree of consistency.

    To see an example in real life (assuming you're generally healthy): Weigh yourself in the morning. Weigh yourself at noon. Weigh yourself in the evening. Then do the same the next day but add an extra teaspoon of salt to your food (total over the whole day) over the course of one day but don't increase your water intake drastically to compensate and eat EXACTLY the same foods. Watch the massive weight change upward in your weigh-ins... and then see a day or two later your weight is back to moving normally on its normal trend after your body has flushed the salt and water.

    Weekly is better because it helps take some of the variability out of the equation... longer is typically better up to the point of reasonable correction time if an error has been made without backslide. I find a week is a good compromise, two weeks would probably be better but I like the accountability of a week.

    There are exceptions to that though, a friend of mine has a scale that transmits his weight information to a website which tracks his weight trends over time... that's useful and if you're hard tracking your weight long term on a daily basis, good for you... but it's not really a good day to day evaluation tool because its still going to fluctuate on a daily basis, but for building more information and tracking trends in the long run its very useful.

    For ME, having a weigh in come in higher than my last is very discouraging... day to day that happens off and on due to the reasons listed above. It rarely if ever happens on week to week and never on bi-weekly unless you inhaled a few tablespoons of salt the day before the weigh in which is very apparent.
  • BigDnSW
    BigDnSW Posts: 641 Member
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    No. I am in for the long term.
  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
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    Data is useful. It can be empowering or debilitating depending on how you utilize it. If you just weigh yourself and don't record it, it could drive you batty. Track it over long periods of time and it can be liberating. I track daily. I get fluctuations as high as 5 lbs day to day. But plot that over time and clear trends tend to emerge. I am in maintenance now and the scale helps ensure I stay there.

    Tom

    weightloss20130712.png
  • Scaramouche73
    Scaramouche73 Posts: 3
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    My wife and I weigh once a week on a Saturday morning before breakfast and before any coffee etc.

    Once a week at the same time of day is enough and shows you the best results that give you I spurs too throughout the week.

    Certain anomalies in the body means your weight could fluctuate daily, plus scales are always slightly inaccurate by a few pounds either way.

    Is it worth weighing every day just to learn that you've put a pound on, when this could be due to inaccurate scales or anomalies in the body and through no fault or lapse of your own? That can be so demotivating.

    Rather weigh myself once a week and get a good result than everyday and chance a bad one!
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    What is wrong with weighing every day?
    For people prone to anxiety etc, it's not generally a good idea as a heavier weigh in can ruin their whole day.

    For those who want to track trends, it's fine.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    I weigh myself every day and I don't have a problem with it at all. I don't get caught up in it though. I think it's great to recognise that the scale does go up and down during the week. All I really care about is that from month to month, the numbers are going down.

    If I was only weighing once a week, or a fortnight and that day happened to be an UP day, I would be discouraged. But weighing vp every day means that I'm in touch with the pattern and the numbers and it doesn't overly bother me.

    The other aspect is that the scale is not an accurate picture of success. It's just a number and does not take into account all the small goals and positive changes in life toward a healthier new you. What matters is clothes, size, photos and the person looking back in the mirror.
  • CherylP67
    CherylP67 Posts: 772 Member
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    I weigh daily and use an app called True Weight. It takes all of your data and gives you your true weight based on the data you enter. The more days you enter data, the more accurate your true weight is. If I'm up a day, my true weight is usually lower so I'm not bothered. It graphs your actual weight and true weight. I see my patterns and it helps. I usually hit a low weight, then my weight goes up a pound or so then trends back down, levels a few days, then hits a new low weight and the trend continues. I realize weight is just a snapshot of that moment, but I love information.
  • lilbearzmom
    lilbearzmom Posts: 600 Member
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    I wanted to add that once I am in maintenance, I am planning on weighing every day. Just not while losing. If you're not the type to get upset about daily fluctuations, and you are able to think logically about it, then daily is probably fine. I get frustrated and for some reason logic does not enter my mind when the scale goes up. I admit it. :blushing:
  • peacelovegore
    peacelovegore Posts: 7
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    The hardest part is the first few times, but once you stop weighing yourself everyday and focus on the actual progress you are making, the scale doesn't seem so important.
    Just get away from it long enough to break the habit
  • pwittek10
    pwittek10 Posts: 723 Member
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    I do not think of it as being obsessed, I think of it as staying on target.
    I weight morning when I first get up and again before I go to bed.
    I am on summer break right now and I have a tough time with my weight
    maintance is very hard.
    The change when how many calories I burn due to work is enough for my weigh to go up
    I eat the same number of calories but I am not burning the same.
  • 257_Lag
    257_Lag Posts: 1,249 Member
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    There's nothing wrong with daily weighing as long as you have the right mentality. I even recommend it!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1042349-why-i-weigh-daily-repost
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    What is wrong with weighing every day?

    "They" (who is "they" anyway?) say you shouldn't because your weight can fluctuate throughout the week, between water weight, TOM, etc.

    And it can, but that doesn't make weighing every day "wrong." I weigh every morning now, and I fully expect the fluctuations that come with water weight, extra sodium the night before, TOM, etc, and they don't bother me. Generally "they" are talking to people who freak their *kitten* out when they see a 1-2+pound bump up on the scale in one day when "they" say, "maybe you ought to weigh only once a week if it's going to freak you out so bad that you experience NORMAL DAILY FLUCTUATIONS."
  • Ann_Marie_2x_MORE
    Ann_Marie_2x_MORE Posts: 68 Member
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    I don't own a scale at home, and the scale at the gym is in a part that I just don't go to regularly. So, problem solved - I'm overdue for my weekly weigh in, so I'll find out something today.

    In general though, you don't lose enough daily to weigh in daily - so I think it's like watching paint dry, and I'm just don't have enough patience for that.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    I know it's going to fluctuate a few pounds up and down on a daily basis, so I don't bother. Weighing once a week gives me a better consistent view.
  • Evilmuffin666
    Evilmuffin666 Posts: 132 Member
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    Apparently I am obsessed. Not only EVERY day....... up to 5 times a day. I know I shouldnt be I do.
  • sati18
    sati18 Posts: 153 Member
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    I weigh every day, sometimes even a few times a day if im a home all the time. ive done it for years so the fluctuations dont bother me really. i'll only start worrying if theres a 4 or 5lb gain that lasts more than a few days.

    i actually find i go more mental when i can't weigh myself, i'm recovering for bulimia so if im away and cant weigh esp if i have no access to mfp to log my foods thats when i stop trusting that i can eat the food and not sweat about whether i feel a bit bloated after. i guess that might be a bit different to when you're losing weight but for me a couple of pounds up or down from the last time i weighed myself doesn't bother me, i always think it's gonna be far worse than it is.

    except with pizza hut.... never weigh after pizza hut, its like half a stone of bloat :S

    If you want to take the 'edge' off worrying about the scale going up of down i suggest getting a cheap sewing tape measure and doing a set of measurements , tummy, thighs etc... and doing that once every couple of weeks (before you eat anything) as thatll give you a better picture of what is happening with your body. inches mean an awful lot more than lbs imo and if the scale shows a gain but the measurements havent changed then you absolutely dont have anything to worry about

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