When should I weigh myself for the most accurate weight?

acorneredbaby
acorneredbaby Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I understand that consistency is important but I also don't know much about what times the body is at its most normal state, before eating, after eating, all those little factors.

I consistently weigh myself when I wake up, before I eat or drink anything. That keeps my overall numbers consistent but I was wondering if there is a better time of the day that would make it more accurate or true to life?

Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I understand that consistency is important but I also don't know much about what times the body is at its most normal state, before eating, after eating, all those little factors.

    I consistently weigh myself when I wake up, before I eat or drink anything. That keeps my overall numbers consistent but I was wondering if there is a better time of the day that would make it more accurate or true to life?

    Your body isn't one weight, it is a range of weights. No single one of those values is your "correct" weight, they are all correct. All that matters is consistency. You can weigh yourself naked in the morning or you can weigh yourself in a parka in the evening...as long as you do so every time you can still establish whether or not you are losing weight over time.
  • Curos42
    Curos42 Posts: 1

    Your body isn't one weight, it is a range of weights. No single one of those values is your "correct" weight, they are all correct. All that matters is consistency. You can weigh yourself naked in the morning or you can weigh yourself in a parka in the evening...as long as you do so every time you can still establish whether or not you are losing weight over time.

    This is more or less true, but I have found more variance in my evening weight than in my morning weight, especially since I may have recently eaten or had something to drink at any given point before bed. I prefer to weigh myself right after waking up.
  • kmash32
    kmash32 Posts: 275 Member
    Personally I find my weight fluctuates to much throughout the day depending on what I ate or how much I drank so I weigh myself first thing in the morning before I get in the shower.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I understand that consistency is important but I also don't know much about what times the body is at its most normal state, before eating, after eating, all those little factors.

    I consistently weigh myself when I wake up, before I eat or drink anything. That keeps my overall numbers consistent but I was wondering if there is a better time of the day that would make it more accurate or true to life?

    What the others have said is correct, but your best bet to get a consistant base to compare from weigh in to weigh in is to do it in the AM before you eat/drink anything.

    During the day/evening can vary depending more on what you ate/drank that day.
  • cjwest312
    cjwest312 Posts: 9 Member
    For me - I) I try to weigh myself at the same time every day. This is when I get up, first thing in the morning and before I drink or eat anything.




    2) More important: I don't compare yesterday's number to today's. My weight fluctuates so much that the little changes can be frustrating. Instead I keep a spreadsheet where I record my weight. I compare last's week's average weight to this week's average weight. This helps me keep myself on track and allows me to not freak over changes in pounds that go wildly up or way down due to occasional dehydration. As long as my average is down from the previous week I know I'm headed in the right direction.
  • LessHeavyVeggie
    LessHeavyVeggie Posts: 208 Member
    I do it first thing in the morning, naked and after *ahem* going to the toilet.... (and before the shower so I'm not weighing all the water in my hair!)
    Like others have said what matters is that everything's the same every time. For me first thing in the morning is easiest as it has become part of my routine (although I don't do it every day necessarily, usually once a week to record it and maybe at a mid point to see how things are going)
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    AS long as you're consistent the details don't matter. What you weigh doesn't matter really even. If you're looking for weight loss as a mark of how you're doing, then you want to look for a change in weight. So that's why consistency is key.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member

    Your body isn't one weight, it is a range of weights. No single one of those values is your "correct" weight, they are all correct. All that matters is consistency. You can weigh yourself naked in the morning or you can weigh yourself in a parka in the evening...as long as you do so every time you can still establish whether or not you are losing weight over time.

    This is more or less true, but I have found more variance in my evening weight than in my morning weight, especially since I may have recently eaten or had something to drink at any given point before bed. I prefer to weigh myself right after waking up.

    True but the standard deviation plays no role in the average...if you are consistant in your weighing the trend will emerge and you can get an accurate read on your weight loss even if you intentionally choose the one time of day where your weight varies the most.

    It honestly does not matter...all that matters is that you do it the same way every time.

    Honestly I think why the answer for most people is "naked in the morning after using the toilet" is simply because that is when they are more likely to weigh the least and they like seeing small numbers.

    The straight up truth though is that it doesn't matter if you weigh naked in the morning or wearing combat boots and chain-armor in the evening as long as you do it the same everytime when you average your data and look at the trend the exact same weight loss over time number will be there.
  • _Resolve_
    _Resolve_ Posts: 735 Member
    Just pick a day and time and weigh in once a week.

    I weigh in Tuesday mornings at 5:00am, At 6:00am I will get a different number. Use it as a baseline once a week and forget about it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Just be consistent in the where and when and conditions under which you weigh and track the trend. Nobody weighs exactly XXX Lbs...body weight isn't static...you don't have a "true" weight...you have a weight range and deviation from that range either up or down over time as a trend is indicative of loss or gain.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    I recommend weighing yourself at the same time once every week. Vismal from this community (had outstanding weight loss results) weighs himself everyday then takes the average weight for the week.

    Do what works best for you, if you are comfortable with seeing your daily fluctuations in weight feel free to do it daily, if you are not then just do it weekly. Remember, weight moves around like nuts, but it's the long term results that you are looking for.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I recommend weighing yourself at the same time once every week. Vismal from this community (had outstanding weight loss results) weighs himself everyday then takes the average weight for the week.

    Do what works best for you, if you are comfortable with seeing your daily fluctuations in weight feel free to do it daily, if you are not then just do it weekly. Remember, weight moves around like nuts, but it's the long term results that you are looking for.

    That is what I do as well. Weigh myself the same time wearing the same thing every day and then calculate a moving average based on an interval of one week.
  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
    As far as time of day, it sounds like what you're doing is the right track. I would recommend taking a "dry weight" like they do in hospitals -- after you have used the restroom, but before you've eaten or had anything to drink. It's easiest to remain consistent and you're least likely to have numbers that are affected by water weight. If you take your shower in the morning, it's also convenient because you're getting undressed at that time anyway and can step on the scale for a quick check. I like weighing naked -- it's true that you could weigh yourself in a parka everyday and still see the trend, but it's rare that my clothes are the same from day to day and I don't want to be searching for my parka in order to step on the scale. :-) Plus, I'm hoping to be changing sizes soon!

    I totally sing the praises of weighing everyday and calculating a weekly average or a moving average as well. Even though that wasn't your question, I wanted to put in another vote for doing that. That way, you get a very clear trendline and don't have to stress about the fluctuations as much.
  • kthulhu69
    kthulhu69 Posts: 27 Member
    I weigh in first thing in the morning before I eat or drink anything, after using the restroom, naked. I can't think of a more consistent way to be "just me" on the scales.

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