How often should you weigh yourself

Options
2

Replies

  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    Options
    Personally I've never understood the argument of "if you find yourself focusing too much on the scale when weighing daily, try weighing once a week". Weighing once a week, for me, would put MUCH more emphasis on it. Weighing daily just means it's a normal, routine, boring every day thing, like showering or brushing your teeth. Weighing once a week suddenly makes it an event that you look forward to or dread. Whenever I can't weigh every day, with each passing day I get more anxious as to what's changed, because it will be such a bigger change than it would be day to day. I took my scales with me on holiday because I knew that without them I'd spend the whole week dreading the day I got back and had to weigh, but with them there it was a constant reassurance. Even if I gain over the week, I'd rather a series of small disappointments than one huge disappointment at the end!

    And, of course, there's the argument of if you happen to weigh on the one day you're fluctuating, you won't know that you've actually lost weight and you'll beat yourself up for not losing that week. But with weighing every day you know EXACTLY what's going on. Weighing every day also means that you KNOW that if you fluctuate one day, it'll be gone within another couple of days, because it happens all the time. And if you log it you can get a nice, pretty graph to look at and feel good about yourself (obviously you can do that weighing every week, too... but you get results 7x faster weighing every day :P).

    Do whatever works for you, of course. Just adding another opinion in.
  • roblock81
    roblock81 Posts: 26 Member
    Options
    I agree 100% I made it a routine. My 1 rebuttal to the weekly weigh in. What if that happens to be the day your weight fluctuates up 3 lbs!! Checking daily you would know that it was just a day your body retained some water or something. But if it was the only number you have for the entire 7 days then you would just beat yourself up for gaining weight that week!
  • _MG_
    _MG_ Posts: 453 Member
    Options
    I weigh everyday but don't obsess over the numbers. I just see how it trends over time.

    The daily weighing is a good reminder to me to stay on top of my food and the amount I move.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
    Options
    never, i do not even own a scale.,
  • shelisa619
    shelisa619 Posts: 11 Member
    Options
    I only really just started to diet. But I'm trying to weigh myself once a week on a Friday. It's difficult because I get urges to weigh myself during the week. But well worth it when I weigh myself and see how much I've lost :D
  • captmiddy
    captmiddy Posts: 147 Member
    Options
    I weigh myself every day, flip out then move on :happy:. I just don't let it define my day. Like others have said, I am looking for a trend not a daily change. If I see a 3 or 4 day trend of being up a little I might do an extra 5k steps that day to give myself a kick. If I am trending down a little faster than expected I might have an extra snack that day.

    The important thing isn't to take what the scale tells you and think OH NO I have blown my plan, instead look at how you are doing over multiple weeks of measurement, if you are trending in the wrong direction over multiple weeks or stabilizing then maybe you need to make an adjustment.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    Options
    I weigh every day and use the site Trendweight.com to identify patterns over time. The smoothing techniques make daily variations meaningless.

    ^ I do the same (though I use a different site, The Hacker's Diet Online).

    For an explanation of how this is useful, read the chapters on "The Rubber Bag" and "Signal and Noise" in John Walker, The Hacker's Diet, available online at: http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    Options
    I weigh myself daily and my weight also goes up and down. It can go up as much as 3lb in a day and it can drop the same. sometimes it just holds the same value for a week or more. I think this is just the way bodies work. At the end of the day when we diet we burn fat but our bodies contain loads of other stuff as well which fluctuate as we live.
  • juiletflt
    juiletflt Posts: 159
    Options
    I like to weigh everyday and graph it to see trends. I don't get caught up in daily changes. I prefer this method over once a week because what if the day I happen to weigh on that week happens to be one of the day that is a spike?
  • shell13b
    shell13b Posts: 55 Member
    Options
    i weigh in every friday morning at the same time.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Options
    I weigh every day. When I lost my weight I weighed every day. Sometimes twice a day. I liked having "data" and for me it made it easier to see the scale go up, since I knew what patterns to look for. I knew the day after sushi the scale would go up 1LB (sodium), I knew it would go up after a night of drinking. I knew it would go up 2 when I ovulated and 3 the days before my period. And then I knew it would go down 4ish the day after my period ended. Patterns. Knowing them meant fewer freak outs.

    That said, you decide what works for you. Some folks can't handle weighing daily.
  • Ejourneys
    Ejourneys Posts: 1,603 Member
    Options
    The scale is a tool, and fluctuations happen.
    I weigh myself daily and also graph the trends. Back in 2001-2002 I took a weekly average, which shows a much smoother weight loss than either daily or weekly weights. Here's what I mean:

    8058380998_ed08a62411_b.jpg

    Your best tools are patience and perseverance. Also, body measurements will give you info that often the scale does not.
  • victoriaalice39
    victoriaalice39 Posts: 22
    Options
    The scale is a motivation killer! I recommend that you weight yourself the (same day and time...preferably the morning) no more than once a week! Instead, use your clothes and mirror as a guide. It is also important to know that it will take you around a month before you notice any changes...

    This. This is perfect.
  • scottkjar
    scottkjar Posts: 346 Member
    Options
    I am going to have to be the contrarian here.

    I weigh myself about 20x each day. By doing so, I understand the effect of a glass of water, a sandwich, a good bm, a brisk walk, etc. Because I weigh myself so many times, I don't freak out when I eat the right number of calories and my weight goes up. I watched it go up right after I ate that sandwich, and then I watched it come down again when I peed. I watched it go up at supper, and I watched it come down overnight.

    By weighing myself all the time, I avoid the anxiety that OP has, because I understand what caused the weight to fluctuate. If I weighed myself weekly I would have absolutely no idea what to make of a rise in the scale. If I were up 2 pounds, I would then be as anxious as OP because I would not understand why I did everything right but saw no results. But now, by seeing all of the fluctuations, I understand the source of the fluctuations,so I am not bothered if the scale is up or down by a few pounds each day. I understand that it is normal.

    I understand that for most people, weighing all the time would make you more anxious, and weighing weekly makes you less anxious. But that is the exact opposite for me. I understand data, deviations from the mean, and regression analysis, so having more data, rather than less data, is helpful for me.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Options
    I simply live on a scale that records my weight in real time 100 times per second.
  • spacelump
    spacelump Posts: 233 Member
    Options
    For me, weighing in is my reality check when I've been dishonest with myself in terms of food tracking and such. I find myself doing so about 3-4 times a week. More as a means to maintain, at the very least, before catching myself another 3 lbs in the hole by the end of a week. It's what works for me, maybe it's not for everyone. Most suggest once a week.
  • HappinessFreedomForever
    HappinessFreedomForever Posts: 62 Member
    Options
    What scale do you use? Analog vs. Digital?
  • F00LofaT00K
    F00LofaT00K Posts: 688 Member
    Options
    Most people seem to advocate weekly, but I weigh myself daily and record all losses 1+Lbs on MFP. I notice patterns and I like watching them. I don't feel upset if the scale goes up or doesn't go down because I understand my weight will fluctuate throughout the weeks/days.
  • amandakev88
    amandakev88 Posts: 328 Member
    Options
    Your weight will fluctuate all during the day. I doubt you gained 2lbs in 1 day. Try weighing yourself once a week.

    This..... My weight will go up or down as much as 5 lbs. over the course of the day...... pick a day and make that day your weigh in once a week first thing in the morning......... Best of Luck

    yup. buck naked first thing in the morning after you peed
  • lynleeg88
    lynleeg88 Posts: 104 Member
    Options
    I change it.

    This time, because I want my focus to be healthy, then weight loss, I am leaning towards once a month. I've been a slave to the scale before. Never again.

    Before, once a week.

Categories