How often to weigh in???

JenJBS
JenJBS Posts: 83
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

How often would you suggest weighing in? I'm pretty sure once a day is too often, or no? I've heard once a week, but is that really good advice?

Thanks!

Replies

  • kiroshino
    kiroshino Posts: 11 Member
    Depends on what you're using the measurement for. I weigh myself daily as a force of habit, but I do recognize that daily is too often. Our weights fluctuate way too much throughout the day and even on a given week to be a good indicator of anything that wouldn't be better explained by your food diary. What I do is have someone I check in with, once a week, same time every week, to get a better idea of my progress. Whether or not this is the best practice, I don't know, but it works for me.
  • Unknown
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  • Guamybear
    Guamybear Posts: 1,061 Member
    I do daily.. every morning when I wake up... i tend to gain when I don't do it daily.
  • carrieous
    carrieous Posts: 1,024 Member
    supposed to do it once a week but ive been doing it every day to keep myself in line. if the scale budges up at all, I am more serious about staying under calorie.
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    I do every am. Makes me not over eat....
  • Kabijots
    Kabijots Posts: 218 Member
    1) Weighing daily allows you to get to know you body and the fluctuations it naturally goes through (can be 5lbs up or down on any given day) due to hormones, TOM, sodium, heat etc. I think the list is endless. Weigh at the same time every day in the same conditions. The cons are that some people get disheartened when they see the scale go up and assume its because they ate a bad meal (almost never the case).

    I think it takes 3,500 calories to put on a lb so it is unlikely that you have done that in one meal - more likely to be water retention or any of the above reasons.

    2) You can weigh weekly to try and smooth out some of those ups and downs. As long as you are generally on a downward trend you are on track.

    3) Weigh monthly (my personal preferred option) so you don't get obsessed by the number on the scale. Again, it should smooth out the fluctuations and give you a truer reading overall. I find it easier to lose weight when I am concentrating on the process (of eating well and upping my activity) rather than getting stressed by what the scale is saying which can then affect my mood for the rest of the day.

    Also measure yourself with a tape. Chest, waist, hips, thigh and neck. Sometimes the scale does not move but you are still losing inches. Just as important, if not more so!
  • JenJBS
    JenJBS Posts: 83
    Thanks for all the input and advice. I really appreciate it! Especially about making sure to weigh at the same time every day.

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