Is it cheating when you don't record weight gains?

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  • kingscrown
    kingscrown Posts: 615 Member
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    When I lost most of my weight if I had a small gain that week I didn't record it if my weight went down the next. I'm a weekly weigher. BUT last fall my head went out of the game and for nearly 3 months I went up and up and up a little at a time until I too was 6 pounds up. I finally had my "come to Jesus" moment and record my correct weight. For me letting it go on that long wasn't helpful. Letting it go a week or two was fine.
  • Fasna
    Fasna Posts: 9
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    :(
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    I generally do not post my gains because if I did, I'd gain and lose 20lbs a month with my cycle alone. I didn't want to get "unearned" kudos from buddies on my list for losing weight I'd already lost.

    This isn't a game, so you can't really cheat... but if you've boosted 10lbs or more and stated there more than a month, I'd add it because it impacts you calorie needs.

    Me, I just log when I actually lose lower than my last recorded weight. The only times I post re-gains is after a long time... Like right now my ticker says 59. It used to say 66, but after my surgery in November, I gained back the 7 pounds and have been stuck for three months :(

    First of all congratulations on the 59lbs.:drinker:
    You make a good point about unearned Kudos; but sometimes it is justified because to get started and re-lose can be very very hard so every pat on the back is a blessing.
    Another good point you make is about re adjusting your calories. I never gave that a moments thought but it is a consideration.
    Thank you
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    What I try to do with this info is not log it to prevent what would be annoying (to myself and others) "whoohoo you lost what you gained, then gained, lost, gained/lost, gained/lost, gained/lost, 30lbs this month", but I try to keep it in mind for when I do hit a new low or = to last lowest weight, then I go back a few days and try to add it. This produces no MFP announcements that I gained and then lost the same weight, and I get to see my fluctuations more realistically.
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    You don't have to record anything if you don't want to do it. However, if your tracking isn't accurate then you will not have anyway of pinpointing problems. It will be harder and longer for you to figure out the reason your weight loss is stalling or increasing.

    You make a good point.

    Sadly I know exactly why my weight loss is increasing.
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    Everyone's definition of cheating is different.

    Does it feel like cheating to you?

    This. I am in maintenance and chose not to record the 3.5lbs loss I had two weeks ago from a stomach bug. It took me 2 weeks to put that back on, but I don't feel like that was loss or gain. That was being sick, which happens and stinks, but has nothing to do with my lifestyle change to get to my healthy weight.

    When I was losing, I logged the gains. That made it easy to see what things I was logging that affected my weight. (increased sodium and not walking.)

    Good point about being able to spot the correlation between gains and exercise & food.
  • Jeanne130LBS
    Jeanne130LBS Posts: 50 Member
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    Who would you be cheating??? I record gains and losses, but that is my choice. No one else in this world cares what I do.
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    I also weigh every day but I love a website I have found which picks up my weighings that I log at www.fitbit.com.

    It's called Trendweight www.trendweight.com and it does something in the background and shows your weight trend as well as your daily logs.

    I would say that if you have gains, trendweight would help you understand their impact on your weight trend over time. It has certainly helped me.

    You will need a free trendweight account and a free Fitbit account. Log ALL your weights into the Fitbit account daily or whenever, and trendweight will use the first one each day to work its magic. If you use a Withings or Fitbit Aria scale, trendweight will automatically import these but you can log your weights in Fitbit manually.

    Check my profile for a pic of my Trendweight page

    Hope this helps you as much as it helps me

    Thanks for this. I use the Libra app on my phone to log daily weight. the red line is the trend and i am watching it go up and up and up...
  • runner475
    runner475 Posts: 1,236 Member
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    I have been up once or twice since I started using MFP (in 2012) and I have logged every weight. The reason is MFP has Reports section. It gives you a graph of your weight last 30 days, 60 days and I think goes upto a year.

    It has helped me tremendously in analyzing of when I got rid of my weight or when I gained and great educators - those graphs. ...

    Hope this helps.
  • ndwildbill
    ndwildbill Posts: 74 Member
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    How can you cheat if you are making a life style change? As Yoda once said, "Do or do not. There is no try."
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    I generally do not post my gains because if I did, I'd gain and lose 20lbs a month with my cycle alone. I didn't want to get "unearned" kudos from buddies on my list for losing weight I'd already lost.

    This isn't a game, so you can't really cheat... but if you've boosted 10lbs or more and stated there more than a month, I'd add it because it impacts you calorie needs.

    Me, I just log when I actually lose lower than my last recorded weight. The only times I post re-gains is after a long time... Like right now my ticker says 59. It used to say 66, but after my surgery in November, I gained back the 7 pounds and have been stuck for three months :(

    This is basically me, too. I do use the Libra app and weigh myself and record it there daily but I only add to MFP if it's below my previously recorded minimum. The exception was after a surgery and due to bloating from the gas in my abdomen and severe swelling I was up 10 pounds. You bet your butt I wanted those pounds recorded so I could have my calorie goals adjusted lol.

    Congratulations - only 3lbs to go:drinker:

    I use Libra too. It was great (if unrealistic) watching the red trend line saying that I reach my goal in June, then April this year; horrifying when it then went to 2015, 2022 then gave up on me

    I dont mind being accurate in Libra because only I see it. Funny how I mind it on MFP.

    It does challenge me to make the trend line go down.
  • Booksandbeaches
    Booksandbeaches Posts: 1,791 Member
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    Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down or whether or not you write it down.
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    I weigh and record every day but it's pure psychology. Lots of people never weigh. So no, it's not cheating. If it works for you, that's all that matters.

    Thanks for that. So many people don't understand that a daily weigh-in does suit some people.
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    I fluctuate up and down so much that I'd have to record every single day. What's the point of that?

    I use my last lowest recorded weight (because it's usually not too far off from the 4 ounce gain or whatever it might say in the morning). If it's over 5 pounds and it sticks more than 3 days, I'll concede that it's a gain and record it. Otherwise, no. It usually goes back down and then some.

    Sensible
  • csontos
    csontos Posts: 76 Member
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    I weigh everyday, but I don't record until I have a new lowest. Because I am still in the beginning of my weight loss and I'm way overweight, I lose at least 0.2lbs about every other day so it's not like I go weeks without recording anything. The longest I have gone is 3 days. Once my weight loss begins to start stalling, I'll probably start recording gains and losses, but for now, this is working for me :)
  • kinmoratree
    kinmoratree Posts: 125 Member
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    You've already had a zillion replies, but let me add that I have stopped posting my gains, too. Sometimes it's Aunt Flo's fault. Sometimes it's that Jack that I enjoyed. Seems like my water weight can swing about three to five pounds in a day based on those two things alone.

    If I put on ten pounds, I'd add it, but until that happens, I'm sticking with just posting the losses.
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    But I have only one official weigh-in date which I use to see how the week went and compare weeks overall, and that's what I input here.

    This might be the better way for me to do it rather than jumping to record every time my weight is lower than the last recorded number.
  • starling01
    starling01 Posts: 81 Member
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    I weigh in daily and record every single fluctuation. When I'm discouraged, I can look back over the past year and see the long plateaus and the ups and downs and it really helps me. It's easy to forget that there were times along the way when I thought I would never get below X number, but I did. Recording all weight changes reminds me of that.
  • Breizier
    Breizier Posts: 221 Member
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    As so many others have said, in effect: cheat schmeat. You're doing this to lose weight, so the only "cheat" would be on you, right?

    So true.

    But on the other hand, not seeing the weight gains on my graph helps me ignore the months and it is months when I do fall off the wagon.

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