Opinions on the scale....?

I recommend once a week, you don't want to get derailed going off track too far in a month. That said, maybe once you are in a good rhythm you can go to once a month.

Rock on for breaking the bad habit of weighing in daily!

I weighed in once a week through out my weight loss but since I went into maintenance 11 months ago I go more by the way I feel and the way my clothes fit.. I have been weighing in once month, the scale does not define me any longer.....

In the grand scheme of things, the scale does not matter. What does is how you feel about yourself and that should NOT be determined by a number on a scale. You are much more than that.

However, when trying to lose weight, weighing yourself weekly, biweekly, monthly, whatever, is a good idea because it keeps you on track and gives you an idea. However, remember that it is possible to lose fat and gain the pounds back in muscle (maybe not in a week or even a month, idk) so that could frustrate you on the scale when in reality, it is a win.

The point of my post is this: use the scale if you need it to keep yourself honest and accountable (once a week at the most) but don't use it as the be all end all, because it isn't. Take those measurements, take pictures, check yourself out in the mirror, write in a diary how you FEEL about yourself, whatever you need to do. But remember that you are awesome no matter what the scale says.

I go back and forth between hardly weighing myself at all, and weighing everyday. However! I have gotten to a point where I understand how my weight fluctuates... so seeing a ".2 or.4" lb gain does not phase me at all. Tracking my weight is more of a factual thing. I know that as long as I was being careful with my protein and water that I am fine and within a few days that number will go down.

Since they numbers seem to have such a great influence on you... then I would suggest you stay away from it. Use other methods to track your progress. If you allow yourself to get psyched out, it will continually add negativity to your weight loss and you will be more likely to give up then to stick with it. There are so many reasons that your weight will fluctuate and if you are following whichever program you chose to follow, chances are it isn't true fat gain. I got to a point where I just accepted that and kept going. But before that point I had to stay away from the scale. Now, when I weight myself every morning it is more out of curiosity then anything!

It depends on your goals, where you are in the process, how you're measuring progress and your ability to process data. If you have massive amounts of weight to lose, your scale is where you will see progress. A pound off a 200 lb body IS progress (assuming you're looking to lose), but won't be noticeable/measurable visually or measurement wise. So scales do matter if that's where you'll likely see the most progress. If you're closer to goal weight/size, measurements and body fat and so forth are more likely to be where you see the changes (when the scale may stay the same or go up). So I'd suggest measuring everything possible. Any progress is good progress.

As for how often? You need to know that all measurements (body measurements, scale weight, etc.) fluctuate. That means they go up and down around an actual "real" number. Weighing/measuring less often reduces your exposure to those fluctuations, but doesn't reduce the fluctuations. So if you choose to weigh once a week or once a month, and the once a week or once a month happens to be a day you fluctuated up, know that you may show a gain, even if you've done everything right. That would be highly demoralizing and demotivational to me, but may work better for you. I am not bothered by the ups and downs, it's a number. I look at the overall trends, and look at things that tend to cause fluctuations so I'm not freaked out that I "gained" 6 lbs overnight. But that's me. I'm a data person. But I'm also someone that needs to see some sort of progress to feel motivated to keep on keeping on. Try stuff, if it works, keep doing it. If not, try something else.

I used to weigh myself weekly and, like you, if ever the number wasn't where I wanted it to be, it'd ruin my whole day. I became obsessed with the numbers when I should have been obsessed with becoming healthy. It made me develop a borderline eating disorder where I quit exercising, hardly ate, and lost a lot of fat but at the expense of a lot of muscle.

Now, I've given up weighing myself at all and I'm training for a half marathon while strength training. I feel so much better and so much more sane. I'm actually capable of talking about things other than calorie content! Amazing

So I guess my answer is that you should only weigh yourself at whatever frequency makes you the most comfortable. If you find that you're becoming too controlled by it, just don't weigh yourself for a month or so and then try again.

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I weigh myself everyday honestly, but I try not to focus too much on it or get discouraged, I also measure myself once every two weeks, lose fat gain muscle...try that!

If I only weighed myself once a week, and the day I weighed the following week was after a bloat spike, I would be really disappointed. LIke awwwww, I waited a whole week for this and all I got was a lot of nothing!

I weigh everyday because I like to track the variance and reflect on whether I'm being affected by hormones or sodium etc.



That's my weight loss pattern for 1 month, 8 pounds. I'll have a better idea of my regular pattern after 90 days, but so far month 2 is doing the same thing as month 1.

I do my measurements for check in monthly after my TOM is over.

(edit to make the picture work)

I am with you on the once a month weigh in. I was upset this past Tuesday because my scale finally died. Well the batteries did anyways. I was so addicted to jumping on that scale throughout each day that I think its a blessing in disquise. I think that waiting to put the new batteries in it until the beginning of the new months comes then taking them out and giving them to my hubbie to hold hostage for me is my plan until the next month comes along. I would love to see the bigger losses when I do weigh and it can help break me of my addiction. Like you just a .2 or more gain can set me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. This is my lifestyle change that I am making. This time for good. I don't want to be a slave to scale for the rest of my life. I am so much more than a number. I just wish my ticker would reflect my losses but soon enough, they will.

I end up doing it everyday and if its the same weight for a few days I log it. You need to be able to see if you are doing something wrong especially if you are experimenting with calorie adjustments.

now my question to you guys is... how important do you think the scale is?

It is important in the beginning to make sure you are still losing. Later on it won't be. In 6 months I only lost 10 lbs but lost 4% body fat.

I weigh in every day, just to keep me from lapsing and to see if I am going wrong, if I don!t it does!t worry me.

so i've always been one of those people who's weighed myself every single day and literally OBSESSED over that number on that scale. if i was up even .2 or .4 lbs, it would ruin my whole day.

now my question to you guys is... how important do you think the scale is?

recently i've stopped weighing myself everyday and i've cut back to once a week. is it even necessary to weigh once a week? would once a month be better? i mean if you're putting your best foot forward every single day, and pushing yourself during every workout, what's the need to weigh so often, right?

I do once a month. I was like you even though I started out weighing 1x per week. If I had not lost as much as I felt I should have in that week, I would get really down. I would think, "whats the use"? I would have a hard time the entire next week. So I switched to 1x per month or longer. I have done much better. For me, it keeps me motivated. I think "ok I have a month, lets see how I do. It keeps me driven to really work on my permanent change in eating habits. At the end of the month, I try not to have a set amount I should have lost. Instead I look at the number and divide it by 4. Tell my self hey I lost an average of x# of pounds per week. ( when I reach my goal, I will probably start weighing 1x per week to keep myself in check.
I know I rambled, Just what works for me..
Good Luck :flowerforyou: