Your Scale and You

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IsMollyReallyHungry
IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Your Scale and You

Unlike other plans that recommend weighing in weekly or less often, we advise you to weigh yourself daily.

"Daily?" you ask. Yes! Studies show that people who weigh themselves daily are more successful at long-term weight loss than those who weigh themselves weekly. Experts speculate that frequent weigh-ins remind you of your goals and help keep you motivated. At the Duke Diet & Fitness Center (DFC), we feel that an essential part of this daily weighing strategy is tracking your weight on a graph. A graph helps you to see the big picture: Rather than focusing on one day's number, you're looking at trends over several days, weeks, or months. There's nothing more motivating than seeing that line move downward over time!

We also like graphs because they can help you to become accustomed to the fact that the number on the scale does fluctuate each day. The line won't always move downward, and that's okay. Weight normally varies from day to day, based on factors like how much water your body is retaining, among others. We find that seeing these normal fluctuations on a graph keeps our clients at the DFC from getting discouraged by them — they look past the little ups and downs and focus on the larger trends.

Another advantage to graphing with daily weigh-ins is that it helps you self-monitor more effectively. If you see your weight beginning to trend in the wrong direction, you can take steps to nip that trend in the bud.

Of course, weighing in daily isn't right for everyone. If you've ever had an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia or if you find it extremely upsetting to get on the scale, you should talk to your doctor or mental health–care provider. Otherwise, give it a try and see how it works for you!

If daily weighing is a good strategy for you, we encourage you to keep it up — even after you meet your weight goals. Research has shown that people who've lost weight and continue to weigh themselves regularly afterward are better able to keep the weight off. So plan to make your friendship with your scale a lifelong one. Doing so will greatly increase your chances of both short-term and lifelong success.

Based on the world-renowned Duke Diet & Fitness Center Residential Program in Durham, North Carolina, Duke Diet & Fitness Online applies the same proven approach to weight loss: diet, fitness, behavioral strategies, and medical expertise.

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Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,117 Member
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    That 's the first great reason I've seen for daily weigh ins. I usually hated to weigh daily because it feeds my obsessive compulsive nature.

    But a graph is a very good idea! Thanks for the post.:flowerforyou:




    ___________________
    must learn to type
  • RedneckWmn
    RedneckWmn Posts: 3,202 Member
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    Weighing daily usually helps me so I can monitor how certain things affect my body. If it moves in the wrong direction I generaly don't let it get to me. When I first started weighing daily it did. If you can tell yourself that you do fluxuate then it's not bad and it can be benefical. It does get me down from time to time though. Like today. Therea re definitely pros and cons!
  • orange_avocado
    orange_avocado Posts: 232
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    That's a very compelling reason to weigh in every day. I've always wondered if weighing in once a week is the best policy - as if for some reason it's not a "true" loss if we don't see it on Monday (what's so special about Monday??) And we've all had those weeks where overindulging or not drinking enough water the night before throws off your entire course for the week.

    I think I'm going to try this for December. Goodness knows I could use more motivation this month!
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    I really like the graph idea. Not to see how much weight I'm losing but to see how it fluctuates daily. I usually step on the scale on Saturdays because I'm only at 130 - like to get down to 120, 115 - and daily weigh-ins won't show me anything but the graph would be neat
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    Weighing daily might be good for some, but it's not for everyone. Even those who haven't ever had an eating disorder can become far too obsessed with the scale. If weighing daily affects your moods or you become too preoccupied with the daily fluctuations in weight, it's not for you.

    I weigh twice a week and that's often enough to track how my eating and exercise habits are affecting my body but it's infrequent enough that it doesn't track the daily fluctuations.
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
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    Weighing daily usually helps me so I can monitor how certain things affect my body. If it moves in the wrong direction I generaly don't let it get to me. When I first started weighing daily it did. If you can tell yourself that you do fluxuate then it's not bad and it can be benefical. It does get me down from time to time though. Like today. Therea re definitely pros and cons!

    This is natural, I am the same way but I do better when I weigh daily. The key is to use it as tool not an enemy. Others and the article stated that weighing daily is not for everyone. Each person has to weigh the pros and cons on this matter and decide what works best for them.
  • JakeNonne
    JakeNonne Posts: 74 Member
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    I weigh myself daily just to make sure I'm on track and keep me motivated. But I can spike 4 lbs easily over a day if I eat junk or high sodium food. But I'll lose that 4 lbs over two or three days. So I know what causes these spikes and I don't let it upset me.

    I "officially" weigh in once per week for MFP. The weigh-in is always the same day (Tuesday), right after I wake up and use the little boy's room. :blushing: That is how I get as accurate a read as possible.
  • WhitneyW78
    WhitneyW78 Posts: 186 Member
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    Thanks for this, Mollie... I found it interesting. I do get kind of let down when I see a gain (even if it is water), but if I can get past that, this would actually be really helpful.
  • triscuitsmom08
    triscuitsmom08 Posts: 47 Member
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    I find it easier and more rewarding to not have a scale in my house. If I do I become far too obsessed with numbers and it becomes a depressant for me. I ran myself into the ground dropped to 145 in high school when I started weighing myself daily, I dropped a lot of weight and stopped eating... completely and if I ate I threw up on purpose.

    So lets say...I'm perfectly happy with my scale at school lmao...its a doctors like scale (the electric kind) for our athletic team but those of us who workout there are allowed to use it.

    I'm content with once a week or less that way after two weeks (like this last week) I can go OMG I lost 7 lbs!! And jump for joy lol
  • EmpressB
    EmpressB Posts: 36 Member
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    Weighing daily definitely helps me. I can't fool myself that way and I stay on track. When I weigh daily I can see the fluctuations and know where I stand and if I seem to be the same, going down or increasing by more than 2/3 lbs. I expect the fluctuations so they don't worry me unless it is more than 3 lbs and stays that way for days. It keeps me motivated and accountable. I avoided weighing myself for years thinking I was blissfully unaware, when I was getting fatter and fatter but denying it because I didn't know the actual number to "prove it" so now I am doing the opposite and keeping myself daily aware of the number so I am always making better choices with it in mind.
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
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    Thanks for this, Mollie... I found it interesting. I do get kind of let down when I see a gain (even if it is water), but if I can get past that, this would actually be really helpful.

    Sunny really help me to get past the flucations. For years I was in denial and did not own a scale. When I was growing up we did not have a scale not that I would have been able to use it anyways. Then I went to apply for the weight loss surgery and the director of the program made me get a scale. I did not want to pay for it but he insisted I do whatever it took to pay for it and he insisted I started weighing everyday as soon as I get it.

    I did as instructed because I knew he was trying to help me and help me help myself. Doing that helped me lose 30 pounds before surgery. When I gained back 80 of the 300 pounds lost last year I had stopped weighing daily. It is much easier to catch a 3 pound gain than it is to catch a 10 pound gain.

    Now that I am going thru menapause the scale is doing crazy stuff!! Like yesterday I gained 4 to 5 pounds. I did not fret at all because I knew I had not eaten enough to gain that much weight. I knew the scale would come back down today or tomorrow and surely it did. I am back to previous weight and no gain. I tried to see what I had eaten with sodium in it and my sodium intake was high for the day. I found that whenever I eat any type of fast foods I gain salt weight! Even if I am within calories the sodium from resturants and fast foods causes gains the next day or two and go down if eating cleanly the next few days.

    So you just have to learn to trust the scale, it can be a very good friend......:-) If you can't take it then don't do it.
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
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    bump!

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