Should I weigh myself everyday?

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Replies

  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    If you're going to weigh yourself everyday, I'd suggest doing so only if you're going to track every day and then use the data to look at trends.

    The pro is that you have more data points than if you weigh yourself once per month, for example. If that one weigh-in is off for whatever reason (e.g. a heavy meal the night before) then you might not get the best idea of what your average weight is.

    The con is that if you're going to focus on a single day's data point and not look at it in context, you'll drive yourself crazy.

    EDIT: to answer your question. I do weigh myself everyday, and then record it on a spreadsheet. I also track and pay attention to other metrics, like body measurements.

    I do this, too, along with recording my calories, but I'm a numbers geek, too. The average over time has provided my true TDEE, so switching to maintenance was a piece of cake. (Or, more accurately, a few pieces of chocolate. :wink: ) You really have to trust the process, though, and accept that weight lose isn't linear and your weight is going to fluctuate, sometimes a lot, from day to day for many different reasons.
  • ImaWaterBender
    ImaWaterBender Posts: 516 Member
    I went to the gym and burned 750 calories yesterday and did not go over my calorie limit for the day and when I weighed myself this morning I was 2 pounds heavier than yesterday. This is so discouraging. Should I continue to weigh myself everyday or maybe once a week? What do you guys do?

    I have learned through trial and error that weighing every day (or even several times a day) is not for me. It's too discouraging. I try to keep it at once a week.

    I used to put myself through SO much crap. I would not weigh in with wet hair (I have a LOT of hair), nor clothes, I wanted to pee and poo beforehand and do it before eating. During TOM, I would make sure I was not carrying the weight of a tampon.

    Yes. We are talking disordered thinking here.

    I finally realized that I was getting nuts about the scale (which would fluctuate depending upon where I placed it and how I stood). I think that measurements are better, as long as you don't skew the measurements by holding the breath or sucking in. It's not the NUMBER that matters, it's the downward trend over time.

    Hang in there!
  • mgleason01
    mgleason01 Posts: 78 Member
    I would say weigh everyday in the beginning just to get a sense of how your weight fluctuates based on various factors - maybe two weeks. This way, you won't freak out if the scale says you gained 2 lbs. After you start to see the pattern, I would say weigh once a week (if you have a specific goal in mind). Also, definitely monitor inches lost as it's just as important as weight loss. Everyone thinks I lost more weight than I have because I've lost a good amount of inches.
  • SephiraRose
    SephiraRose Posts: 766 Member
    It's definitely a personal preference. I weigh daily but record once a week.
  • FTF2014
    FTF2014 Posts: 257 Member
    If the scale drives you nuts , then stay away from it. Iam one of those that my mind goes crazy when my weight goes up after intense workout but then I remember that your body might retain up to 3ibs of water day after an intense workout.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I weigh myself every day for the data point and don't care on a day to day basis if it goes up or if it goes down. Usually takes months to see any clear trend in the data but I like my data so I do weigh every day.

    I'd say if you can weigh yourself every day and just look it as data and don't be discouraged by what you see then do it. If you find that anytime the number goes up you are heartbroken and find it difficult to stick with your diet or exercise then I'd say weigh yourself maybe once every two weeks or not at all (use a tape measurer instead).
  • Mav3rick54
    Mav3rick54 Posts: 180 Member
    i also weigh every day and it doesn't even phase me when the scale goes up.

    i'm looking to see trend over weeks/months

    ^^ this is what I do
  • mzbek24
    mzbek24 Posts: 436 Member
    I know it can be tempting to look and hope theres a change from the day before, but if it discourages you to see fluctuations in water and food weight (because I believe thats all that changes in one day), then I would not check daily. It's not accurate to say that thats going to be a permanent change in your weight, up or down.

    Seeing it the same or more than the day before may make you feel bad about yourself that day, and unnecessarily, but I think weekly progress checking is alright, it can help keep you motivated.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I posted this before in a similar thread but thought it might encourage you so thought I'd repost (sorry for spam)

    weight.png


    That is my weight loss about 3 years ago when I put myself on a diet and exercise routine. If you look at it in its entirety then my weight loss seems linear and predictable. Here is the thing though, it did not feel like that at all while I was doing it. Why? Well because if you try to look at that data on the scale of months you'd notice month to month there was zero obvious change. Check February to March for example, or March to April, or any two consecutive months...if you look at just that and that alone it would look like it was fluctuating up and down but going no where.

    It takes a lot of data and a lot of time to see the trend establish itself. If you don't weigh you will never see the trend but if you do weigh yet fret about a change in weight on the time scale of days, weeks or sometimes even a month that doesn't really help you in your goal either. Stick with it and see if a trend emerges after several months and if not then you can perhaps readdress your plan.

    Cheers
  • Shelley6591
    Shelley6591 Posts: 156 Member
    I personally do but I count the first one in the morning before I eat. I need to be accountable and weighing myself daily works for me, I don't freak out though I use the info and look for trends so I can fix it.
  • allisonjforsyth
    allisonjforsyth Posts: 105 Member
    This is obviously a very personal preference by the varied responses, so I can only give you my 2 cents take on it. I weigh myself everyday, and this is going to sound kind of crazy, but I actually have two scales and I weigh myself on both of them every morning. I had one of the scales for a long time and it would fluctuate every day with either a slight 'loss' or a slight 'gain'. But I just recorded the weight and went with it. If it went up one morning, it would usually be back down again by the next morning. So I tried not to let it freak me out too much.

    But then I figured out that I wanted a scale that did body fat and body water percentage tracking as well, so I went out and bought a weight watchers brand scale that has those additional functions. Well, that scale stays pretty steady and is not susceptible to the easy fluctuations of the other scale. I have found that scale to often stay a steady weight for approximately five to six days before it drops.

    I've been doing this weigh in daily thing for 16 months now, and I find that knowing I will have to weigh in the next morning helps keep me accountable to the calorie count for each day. I tried an experiment of only weighing in the beginning, middle and end of one month, and it happened to be the lowest amount I had lost in a month out of all the months. For me personally I think the freedom from not weighing just caused me to feel too much freedom with overeating more than I typically would have. Also, seeing the scale number drop helps me stay motivated and lets me know that what I am doing is working. I don't like to waste time with that, so I like to keep good tabs on that by weighing in daily.

    In the end, it's trial and error until you figure out what works best for you. Good luck!!

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