Not Weighing In?

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jmayerovitch
jmayerovitch Posts: 71 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've been on-and-off dieting for years, and this time around I decided not to weigh in more than once or twice a month. The reason being that big, daily weight fluctuations would really demotivate me in the past. "I already gain five pounds in the last day, so what will this twinkie matter?"

I'm thinking I'll tally up my net calories on the day I do weigh in and figure out my deficit from my TDEE. Then I can compare my actual weight loss from my expected. Since I'll be doing it over the long run, it should be more accurate than weighing myself every day.

Anybody else avoiding the scale (on purpose)?

Replies

  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    I can't really respond with what you want I'm afraid as I weigh everyday, but I have a question, for you and for anyone else that weighs every month/week. Before I start I want to say I'm not trying to convince you to weigh every day by any means - do whatever works for you - I just want to know how you deal with this situation.

    So we know that we can fluctuate by lbs from day to day. You could gain 3-4lbs overnight, then find it all gone again the next day. So if you only weigh once a month, how do you know that the one day you weigh isn't one of those days, and start getting discouraged over not losing for nothing? Looking at my own weigh-ins, for example, last Sunday I weighed 131.6. The Sunday a month ago I weighed 132. If I weighed once a month I would have been upset that I'd only lost 0.4lbs for the month, and wouldn't have known that I'd got down to 128.6 just a few days before the second weigh-in. I also wouldn't have known that the day before and day after I weighed in I was 130.4. I just can't understand how having less data will make it more accurate, because you won't know these things.

    Again, I'm not trying to say you shouldn't weigh once a month if you think it'll help you. I just know that I would get far, far more discouraged about thinking I hadn't lost anything in a month than thinking I'd suddenly gained 5lbs in one day, because I KNOW I'm not going to gain 5lbs of fat overnight. Just wondering what your (and anyone else's) thoughts are on this.
  • Cynnie20012
    Cynnie20012 Posts: 33 Member
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    Me. I am officially 2 weeks with MFP but trying to eat healthy and exercise since June (with 1 worse holiday week). I did not weigh in since June when I was 138 lbs but I feel in my clothes that there is a progress. I will only weigh in around 1 September, trying not to put too much expectations on it.

    I usually weigh myself on Saturday morning (before or after having a glass of water) in about a week after the end of my periods. Then I usually get most optimistic results ;)
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
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    I weigh myself every couple of days, I just can't help myself, but I've never had any fluctuation, my weight has either stayed the same or gone down. I always weigh myself on a morning after going to the bathroom as I know I'd weigh different on an evening after eating all day.
  • sg992
    sg992 Posts: 60 Member
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    In the past I've always weighed myself weekly, then once the scale stopped steadily going down I switched to once every two weeks (always on Sundays). Normally then I continue seeing the number drop and feel better all round.
  • jmayerovitch
    jmayerovitch Posts: 71 Member
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    DemoraFairy: This is definitely a possibility. I'll have to see how it goes. I imagine that what will happen is that if I end up with a really bad number in relation to my expectation, I'll probably re-weight myself a couple days afterward to see if it's a "glitch" or not. I'm hoping that a month will put me outside the standard deviation for my weight loss. I'm also trying to judge my weight loss more on how certain articles of clothing fit. For instance, I wear the exact same pants (well, not the exact same, but identical) every day to work (not by choice, I'm Army) and I know they're a little bit baggier than they were a few weeks ago.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    DemoraFairy: This is definitely a possibility. I'll have to see how it goes. I imagine that what will happen is that if I end up with a really bad number in relation to my expectation, I'll probably re-weight myself a couple days afterward to see if it's a "glitch" or not. I'm hoping that a month will put me outside the standard deviation for my weight loss. I'm also trying to judge my weight loss more on how certain articles of clothing fit. For instance, I wear the exact same pants (well, not the exact same, but identical) every day to work (not by choice, I'm Army) and I know they're a little bit baggier than they were a few weeks ago.

    Probably a good idea. Clothing is also probably a better thing to go by. I personally tend to base everything on weight, since all my clothes were baggy before so don't feel any different and I seem to be incapable of accurately measuring myself. Anyway, I hope everything works for you this time. Good luck!
  • pixie_mills
    pixie_mills Posts: 103 Member
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    I have just in this past week put the scales away. I saw that number too much as THE number and was basing all my progress on it. For me, this was just getting plain unhealthy, so I am now focusing more on Non-Scale Victories to help.
  • meredithkrueger
    meredithkrueger Posts: 38
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    Weighing in caused me more stress because I work out hard and was disappointed when the scale did not reflect that. I have been in a plateau for about 3 months and have tried so many things to get out of it. Being frustrated with the scale, I went back to body measurements. The changes have been very drastic in reduction of inches, even though the weight hasn't moved. I can now see that something is working and it keeps my motivation. So, my suggestion is to use the scale AND body measurements to judge the progress.
  • jetlag
    jetlag Posts: 800 Member
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    I can't really respond with what you want I'm afraid as I weigh everyday, but I have a question, for you and for anyone else that weighs every month/week. Before I start I want to say I'm not trying to convince you to weigh every day by any means - do whatever works for you - I just want to know how you deal with this situation.

    So we know that we can fluctuate by lbs from day to day. You could gain 3-4lbs overnight, then find it all gone again the next day. So if you only weigh once a month, how do you know that the one day you weigh isn't one of those days, and start getting discouraged over not losing for nothing? Looking at my own weigh-ins, for example, last Sunday I weighed 131.6. The Sunday a month ago I weighed 132. If I weighed once a month I would have been upset that I'd only lost 0.4lbs for the month, and wouldn't have known that I'd got down to 128.6 just a few days before the second weigh-in. I also wouldn't have known that the day before and day after I weighed in I was 130.4. I just can't understand how having less data will make it more accurate, because you won't know these things.

    Again, I'm not trying to say you shouldn't weigh once a month if you think it'll help you. I just know that I would get far, far more discouraged about thinking I hadn't lost anything in a month than thinking I'd suddenly gained 5lbs in one day, because I KNOW I'm not going to gain 5lbs of fat overnight. Just wondering what your (and anyone else's) thoughts are on this.

    This 100%

    I have quit in the past specifically because I weighed in weekly and saw gains on weigh in days. I figured what's the point of all the hard work this week just to gain?

    Once I started weighing daily, I learned how my body works and that those ups and downs are normal (frustrating, sure, but normal). It's also taught me that salty foods and alcohol make me retain water (the culprit in big overnight gains).

    Knowledge is power in this game.

    Quick edit: get body fat scales. They're not massively accurate, but if the trend is downwards, that's what matters. It's better information than weight alone.
  • evdenapoli
    evdenapoli Posts: 164 Member
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    I can't really respond with what you want I'm afraid as I weigh everyday, but I have a question, for you and for anyone else that weighs every month/week. Before I start I want to say I'm not trying to convince you to weigh every day by any means - do whatever works for you - I just want to know how you deal with this situation.

    So we know that we can fluctuate by lbs from day to day. You could gain 3-4lbs overnight, then find it all gone again the next day. So if you only weigh once a month, how do you know that the one day you weigh isn't one of those days, and start getting discouraged over not losing for nothing? Looking at my own weigh-ins, for example, last Sunday I weighed 131.6. The Sunday a month ago I weighed 132. If I weighed once a month I would have been upset that I'd only lost 0.4lbs for the month, and wouldn't have known that I'd got down to 128.6 just a few days before the second weigh-in. I also wouldn't have known that the day before and day after I weighed in I was 130.4. I just can't understand how having less data will make it more accurate, because you won't know these things.

    Again, I'm not trying to say you shouldn't weigh once a month if you think it'll help you. I just know that I would get far, far more discouraged about thinking I hadn't lost anything in a month than thinking I'd suddenly gained 5lbs in one day, because I KNOW I'm not going to gain 5lbs of fat overnight. Just wondering what your (and anyone else's) thoughts are on this.




    This! I used to do the month weigh in and I was usually disappointed.
    Now I weigh daily ( early morning before I eat and after
    The pees and poops) and I have been having the best results!
    Also, I find it a great motivator! Seeing the nbrs in the morning
    Motivates me to stay on track ????
  • FixIngMe13
    FixIngMe13 Posts: 405 Member
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    Well....

    I used to weigh myself daily. I know my body better than anyone, and I knew the moment I stepped on the scale from the night before eating I was going to either gain or lose. I was then getting obsessed with it. Seriously...obsessed and would binge eat if it wasn't the number I wanted. I had to stop that behavior, so I put the scale away (actually miles away) so I wouldn't stress out over it anymore. I haven't weighed myself for 2 months. I HAVE taken measurements however, and that is how I've been judging my success or failure.

    I will be weighing in September 1st...then putting the scale back where it belongs...miles away so I don't stress out over it again. For me personally, I can't weigh myself daily.... it put too much stress on me and I'd binge eat and sabatoge my efforts. If you prefer that, by all means do it... but I do recommend taking measurements every month... that really is the best way to tell where your success is. :):) I wish you the very best of luck on your journey. :flowerforyou:

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