Is it a bad idea to weigh yourself everyday

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Replies

  • chopper_pilot
    chopper_pilot Posts: 191 Member
    yes.

    When you first start out, I recommend weighing yourself ONLY every Monday (or whatever day you pick) first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything and after you use the bathroom - for 3 months.

    This will show you several things.

    It will teach you that your body will naturally go up and down in weight depending on different times during your monthly cycle. Doing this for 3 months teaches you how much is natural and healthy weight gain around that time (and whether you can expect it before, during or after) and you wont be shocked every time you get on the scale and see that gain. Cause it isnt a gain and it will go away within a week.

    you can jut be like - okay that number is way bigger, but I know why it is there and it doesnt mean I actually put on weight. whew.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    My guess is that for you it would be a bad idea. I say that because just from the question alone I can tell that you do not understand naturally occurring daily weight fluctuations that have absolutely nothing to do with fat. Don't worry, that's pretty normal...but it's something you should do some research on.

    People can get rather scale obsessed and it's not healthy...they end up weighing themselves multiple times per day without understanding that they just ate 1 Lb of food...so duh...you're going to weigh 1 Lb more roughly.

    Once you start to wrap your brain around all of this and start to understand that you never weigh exactly XXX Lbs then daily weighing or weighing multiple times per week can be beneficial in trend analysis...but until then, it'll just drive you crazy.

    It is important to learn about this stuff though...because when you get to maintenance it won't be a static weight. You won't weigh exactly XXX Lbs...you will have a weight range and staying within that range means you're maintaining. Example...I fluctuate from about 179 - 184 Lbs...but my overall average for the past 7 months or so is about 182...so that's what I consider to be my true weight...but I don't freak out when I wake up one morning and I'm 184 or dip into the upper 170s...there's a lot that goes into those numbers, the least of which is fat.
  • bumblebreezy91
    bumblebreezy91 Posts: 520 Member
    It's not "bad" in a general sense. The usual advice is to weigh in once per week at a set time, preferably in the morning after visiting the toilet and before eating/drinking, to account for daily fluctuations that a lot of people would think of as fat gain. I weigh myself every other day on average, but sometimes a few days in a row I'll hop in the scale and sometimes I don't step on the scale for a few days at all. I can get very lenient with my calorie intake if I have an entire week to make up for one bad day (which turns into two, three, four, and then I say I'll try again next week), so when I started weighing in more often, it gave me accountability. So weighing in more than once per week isn't "bad" for my case.

    Don't get too emotional over a scale that isn't moving like you anticipate. I can get a little emotionally attached to the number on the scale, so I try to take a step back and think what could be causing it--TOM, higher sodium from the previous few days, not enough water, new exercise routine, etc, all account for minor fluctuations, so if I tell myself I didn't actually gain fat, it's just bloat/dehydration/etc, I'm not so worried. I can see differences in my body and I know I'm losing inches (I don't measure myself at all--I took measurements in the beginning and decided I would wait until I got to my goal weight before taking measurements again).

    So play around with it to see what works best for you. Weigh yourself for three days in a row, then stay off the scale for three days, weigh in once or twice, then try going a week, and then try every other day. I used to be so anxious over how often to weigh myself, so now I just weigh in when I feel like it as long as it's twice per week.
  • LosingItForGood13
    LosingItForGood13 Posts: 182 Member
    Weight goes up and down by few pounds When I first started on here was weighing self everyday then it changed to every week now I weigh myself once or twice a month I use my clothes to gauge where I am at or trying to get to
  • kwantlen2051
    kwantlen2051 Posts: 455 Member
    Since I started in September, I've been weighing myself daily just to keep myself on track. But once I get to my goal, I might just check once a week or so.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Is it a bad idea to weigh everyday?

    No, it is not a bad idea at all. Many successful folks weight themselves every day. Many other don't.

    Find a schedule that works for you...
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
    Don't do it! It can make an impact on your mood for the day. Weekly if you have to. I never weigh myself. I go by my clothes. I know what makes me feel good and what is realistic to maintain. I don't like exercising that much to do anymore then I am now.

    It is a size 10 for me, LOVE my body.
  • red_road
    red_road Posts: 761 Member
    Do what works for you. Your weight fluctuates everyday. I weigh weekly.
  • momofGD
    momofGD Posts: 110 Member
    I weight everyday. You need to take it lightly. For instance I am up 7lbs in two days but I have stuck to my calorie limits and exercised a lot. It has to be water weight. I get a little down but I know it is not the real number. With some water chugging it will be back to normal in a day or two.
  • Gingerspice45
    Gingerspice45 Posts: 137 Member
    I weigh myself everyday to have a sense for the trend of my weight loss or gain. I am starting to measure my waist weekly. When I get closer to my goal I plan on only weighing myself weekly.
  • caminoslo
    caminoslo Posts: 239 Member
    I do it everyday it drives my parents crazy cause I use there scale. You just have to promise yourself your not goign to get emotional about it.
  • ImpishVanity
    ImpishVanity Posts: 224 Member
    I like to weigh myself daily, but it's for accountability. I sometimes cheat on my diet and if the next day I see that my weight is up (I weigh myself first thing in the morning) then I use that as motivation not to eat crap I know I shouldn't be having anyway and will start the day motivated to eat healthy foods all day. And if I cheated a little and the number still goes down, I cut myself slack for having cheated because honestly, it's ok to eat chocolate or something every once in a while in moderation and the scale reminds me of that. If the weight is the same as the day before, it reinforces that I'm on the right track so I keep on truckin. I also measure my waist size though, and sometimes other areas of my body, but my waist is my big thing (I'm military and need to reduce my waist size to pass my PT test so... yeah. )

    So really if you think it will motivate you or reenforce you to weigh in daily, go for it. If you're going to feel worse if it goes up, as sometimes it will, then do it weekly.
  • momofGD
    momofGD Posts: 110 Member
    If I were asked how often one should weigh themselves...I would recommend no more than once a week. I would also explain the reason of weight fluctuation and how discouraging it can be.

    However...here is reality for me...

    I weigh every day and yes I have seen those fluctuations and I have felt the discouragement. I have also experienced those highs...those moments of elation as each pound has disappeared and not returned.

    What it has taught me is perseverance...to keep working...but most of all patience.

    I ignored all those pounds for so long...I didn't pay attention as 1lb turned in to 2lbs...those 10lbs turning into 20, 30 40...100lbs.

    5 1/2 months ago...I decided to not ignore them anymore...to bid them farewell as they left...each and every one of them.

    I have also learned so much about my body...how I lose weight...how I gain...how water affects me...how the choices that I make in food plays a roll.

    Some of those pounds have fought hard to stay with me...they had no desire to go anywhere...I learned that I am stronger than the pound...that I can win the battle against a pound that just wants to hold on.

    As of this morning...I am 2lbs away from seeing the one hundreds again...the first time in so many years that I can even remember. I will be there every morning to encourage those two pounds along the way. These 2lbs are significant to me...I don't want to miss their departure because I didn't weigh...I want to say good-bye to those pounds...say good-bye to the 200 hundreds.

    Weighing every day works for me...would I recommend it to others...no...not really. However when I got pass the obsession of seeing the number go down daily and started using it as a tool to know my body and how it works...I have experienced greater success.

    We like to call our weight loss a journey instead of a diet...part of that journey has to be...learning what works for you as an individual...because in the end...we take that journey on our own.

    Annie you will get to your goal weight and stay there. That little "story" is from someone who is changing their thinking and their life not just yo-yoing.
  • FrnkLft
    FrnkLft Posts: 1,821 Member
    It's a bad idea IF you get emotionally attached to the number on the scale. If you accept the fact that the number on the scale will fluctuate daily and use that number as data to track the overall trend, then no it's not a bad idea.

    I weigh in every morning, track it in excel. Like today I'm up 2 lbs from yesterday, it doesn't upset me, I know it's water weight because of my sodium intake. My overall tracking is still moving in the right direction.

    Brilliant answer. In fact, I weight myself every morning and log the lowest value for a given week as my current weight. The thing is, your weight will sometimes be artificially high... but there's no way for it to be artificially low provided you're not fasting.

    This approach doesn't suit everyone though, so be careful to include your own psychology into the way you plan your tracking and routines. No shame in your game, just do what helps you keep a healthy head and reach your goals safely.
  • skinnybythanksgiving
    skinnybythanksgiving Posts: 159 Member
    I weigh every day. I'm a binge eater (or was) and weighing each day reminds me what I'm doing and keeps me accountable to myself. I can't stand to watch the scale go up every day when I'm overeating, it's very effective.
  • HannahInHawaii
    HannahInHawaii Posts: 173 Member
    Daily! I can't help it..:laugh:
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
    Hi everyone i'm a newbie and i'm wondering do you weigh yourself's everyday or once a week..

    Is it a bad idea to weigh everyday? will the scales keep going up and down if i do?..

    Everyone is different but for me it works well. It lets me know what I've done rightly or wrongly the day before.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    It's a bad idea IF you get emotionally attached to the number on the scale. If you accept the fact that the number on the scale will fluctuate daily and use that number as data to track the overall trend, then no it's not a bad idea.

    This.

    Yup. Another vote for this.

    I see people on the forums a lot who are freaked out because they weigh 4-5 times a day or every day at different times, or even at the same time, and see different numbers. You can't let that stuff get to you. It doesn't mean you gained 8 lb over the course of a day because you ate two large meals and wore a heavy sweater ;-)

    I weigh daily, before eating or drinking anything and after I wake and use the restroom. It's almost always a downward trend or stays the same...unless I've gone crazy with sodium, and then it's up 1-2 lb. I am used to that. I log a loss when I've sustained it over 3 days.

    I plan to weigh daily for life. Even years down the road if I stop logging my food, and reach a sustained "goal weight". My current supervisor is an average weight woman in her 50s who has weighed every day for decades as a means of keeping herself in check. If she's up more than 1-3 lb she will cut back her intake slightly. I think that's an awesome plan, personally.

    I did not weigh myself at home for almost 20 years - never even owned a scale until I joined MFP last March. I was weighed once every 2 years at the doctor and that's it. It came as a big surprise to me sometimes that I'd lost 15 lb or gained FIFTY POUNDS.

    JMHO
  • belinda401
    belinda401 Posts: 1 Member
    I seldom weigh because personally it derails me. I get very disheartened when the number doesnt move and I have worked so hard. I go by inches and mostly how my clothes feel. If I am getting in to jeans that I haven't been able to get into before then I am doing something right :)
  • mlauraa
    mlauraa Posts: 166 Member
    I think once a week or once every two weeks is fine, i myself feel like weighing in helped me a lot keeping track and if i saw the scale go up, i would put in more work at the gym.

    i threw away my scale last summer and gained almost 20 pounds and i think its because i didn't have that weekly reminder(scale weigh in) that help me get on track..

    some people are anti-scale but i personally feel like it helped me out a lot.

    hope this helped :flowerforyou:
  • Kenazwa
    Kenazwa Posts: 278 Member
    Personal preference. I can't decide for myself. I tucked my scales almost out of reach plus out of sight a couple of months ago because the numbers were making me crazy. I decided my clothes would tell me everything I needed to know. My pregnant daughter recently got them down to check herself, so I checked myself, and HOLEY MOLEY! I don't think I would have gained that much if I had been monitoring myself. My clothes don't seem to fit much differently, so they obviously did NOT tell me what I needed to know.

    On the other hand, I used to weigh once per month, doing my best to have a good, clean, on-target month, and when the number was the same or higher, it was devastating. Once a week, like once a day, gives me numbers that bounce up and down. I think I'm going to try weighing myself every day or every few days, whatever seems right, and write the numbers on my calendar to see if they're trending up or down. Plus logging and exercising, trying to do the weight-loss plan right.
  • jon40084
    jon40084 Posts: 175 Member
    I like to weigh everyday, as long as you don't beat yourself up and get too upset if you haven't gone down / up then I can't see the harm.

    Clearly we just have to do what suits us best.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,026 Member
    Bad idea if the person doing it lives and dies by the results. Since weight fluctuates daily, readings from day to day could differ as much as 3-5lbs.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ddixon503
    ddixon503 Posts: 119 Member
    It's a bad idea IF you get emotionally attached to the number on the scale. If you accept the fact that the number on the scale will fluctuate daily and use that number as data to track the overall trend, then no it's not a bad idea.

    I weigh in every morning, track it in excel. Like today I'm up 2 lbs from yesterday, it doesn't upset me, I know it's water weight because of my sodium intake. My overall tracking is still moving in the right direction.

    This. If you hung up on daily numbers, don't do it. Long term progress and the finish line are more important IMO.
  • ladylexie17
    ladylexie17 Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks Lives2travel! Love your perspective.
    "Number is lower = Motivation to lose more
    Number is up = Pissed off and motivated to lose more "
  • jennifer_255
    jennifer_255 Posts: 86 Member
    I weigh every day. I'm a binge eater (or was) and weighing each day reminds me what I'm doing and keeps me accountable to myself. I can't stand to watch the scale go up every day when I'm overeating, it's very effective.

    i am exactly likee this and i also know what foods my body likes to hold onto i weigh about 3 times a day if not more obsessed is the word
  • MizzTweezy
    MizzTweezy Posts: 250 Member
    I notice when I don't I lose myself, If I keep up with it, I find motivation... Do what you think is healthy for you. I know when things go up and why, but it keeps me on track.. I personally need it, I tried different, and it did not work for me. This is a key in my success personally. We all have our keys!
  • dandelyon
    dandelyon Posts: 620 Member
    I weigh myself daily. I find the fluctuations interesting. If I stay the same weight for a few days, that's when I make it official (whether it's good or bad).
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
    I believe it's BAD, the scale plays tricks on you because of water retention. Weekly weigh-in's are a little more stable, BUT I would also measure your waist, hips, etc. to actually see the fat burning away.

    Feel free to friend me if you need more help, have a great day!
  • momof3boys090808
    momof3boys090808 Posts: 69 Member
    Depends on the person really. I started out weighing everyday and it help me stay focused on the whole eating right foods that whole day bc I knew next morning I wanted to see a chamge even if it was .1...and honestly the moment everyone said to not do it everyday I didn't and a year later I am back where I started. I didn't stay focused on the goal. So now I am again weighing every morning just to keep focus and determined. This is my year to lose the weight again and keep it off, good luck to you :)

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