How often do you weigh yourself?

pensierobello
pensierobello Posts: 285 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've just started on this journey and I'm not sure how often I should weigh myself. Weekly seems excessive if I'm only going to lose 1.5 pounds, but then if I don't, will I lose track and be saddened if I check two weeks or a month later and I haven't lost? I don't want to become super-obsessive about it either.
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Replies

  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    I have a confession. I weigh myself way more than I should. At least every day, sometimes twice (ok, even three times) a day!

    I know it's wrong, but it feels so right! :blushing:
  • christallas
    christallas Posts: 1
    I weigh every morning. I have about 3kg to lose. I just wanna stay on track:smile:
  • Bagheera8181
    Bagheera8181 Posts: 2
    i weigh myself once a week, same day, same time, no matter how small the change is it makes me happy, and its often enough that if i gain or stay the same i can figure out why and fix it for next week
  • zandma
    zandma Posts: 6 Member
    Good idea
  • sparklefrogz
    sparklefrogz Posts: 281 Member
    I started out obese and did not even get a bathroom scale of my own until was just within my normal BMI range. I just went by quarterly progress pics and how my clothes fit, while I focused on changing my diet.

    After that, I have been weighing daily first thing in the morning and using a 10 day rolling average to track weight loss. Water retention (especially for women) can mask longer term trends in weight change with lots of random fluctuations both up and down.
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  • lovespirit1111
    lovespirit1111 Posts: 16
    I weigh every morning. It's important to me... to see the results of what I did the previous day.
  • karenfallen
    karenfallen Posts: 1
    Once a week same time xx
  • kikityme
    kikityme Posts: 472 Member
    Every one has their own opinion on this. You have to go with what makes you comfortable. I do it every morning, but I only record once a week.

    My reasoning is that actually SEEING how it can fluctuate makes me not risk breaking something valuable if I go to record it and I'm up that week despite what I've done all week.

    But others feel every day discourages them, that if it's up that day, they say screw it and binge. So, up to you.
  • agrafina
    agrafina Posts: 128 Member
    You have to go with what makes you comfortable.

    This. I weigh twice a day, once in the morning, since I like data, and once at night because I'm so fascinated at how weight changes from night to morning with just sleep. If you are comfortable with seeing your weight go up, and won't freak out, then weigh daily if you like. If you can't handle it, then don't. And I don't mean the sort of rational part of your brain that says I can handle it. I mean the lizard part of your brain that is going to freak out no matter how much you try and tell yourself it is water. If you can't strip meaning from the numbers, and view them as objective data points, don't weigh daily. It isn't in your mental health's best interest.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    Mostly daily but if I miss a day or three it's no big deal. I like to see the trends. I only record it here on MFP once a week - up, down or the same.
  • juliafromrf
    juliafromrf Posts: 106 Member
    Daily, and I don't think there's anything wrong with it. As long as you personally don't feel like you are obsessing over it and are aware that there will be fluctuations you can't always explain, weigh yourself as often as you want.
  • mncdk
    mncdk Posts: 30 Member
    I weigh every morning. It's important to me... to see the results of what I did the previous day.
    Sadly it doesn't really reflect what you did yesterday, it's more of an average of what you've done recently.
    If you ate 5000 kcal today, and only had 1000 kcal tomorrow, 2 days from now your weight would still go up...

    Edit: And I weigh daily. I have a spreadsheet that shows a moving average that I use to see how bad my fluctuations are. If the fluctuations doesn't really move my average too much, then I know I'm on track.
  • BunBun85
    BunBun85 Posts: 246 Member
    I weigh each day in the morning and put it into the Libra app to see my trend.
  • peonycarol
    peonycarol Posts: 12 Member
    I`m like agrafina, I weigh myself every morning and also at night just before hitting the sack. I find ithe fluctuations interesting. Sometimes I even weigh myself in the middle of the day or before and after a workout. I don`t freak out out if it`s up or down...I am in this for the long haul. I didn`t gain this weight overnight and I aint ganna lose it over night either! Do what is comfortable for you! Good luck!
  • kmorgan221
    kmorgan221 Posts: 206 Member
    Daily, but I only record weekly. I like seeing the fluctuations during the week, and I can usually tell if I'm on track to record a loss on my "recording" day or not. This lets me make adjustments as needed, or if there's room for an indulgence now and then.
  • LuckyOneD
    LuckyOneD Posts: 2
    I weigh myself once a week, on Sunday mornings, only because I don't want to feel like I'm obsessing about it by doing it every day. HOWEVER, having missed yesterday morning and weighing myself this morning and finding I'm UP 3 pounds (damn ice cream!!!), I think I'm going to start doing it every morning, just to get me back on track. And I kind of knew I would be up - just didn't think it was THREE pounds up!!! I have been needing some inspiration and that just might do the trick!! Smacking myself in the head right now!
  • LucasEVille
    LucasEVille Posts: 567 Member
    Ok, I jump on my wifi fat % recording fitbit Aria scales upto twice a day which is autmatically syncing to my TactioHealth app on my android, this is so I can see subtle differences in days depending on what nutrients and work out i've had etc. Every week on a thurday evening I go to a slimming class which is the weight I use on my MFP once a week to show my weight loss.

    I then plan out some specific days where I will eat more fibre than usual with scanbran, psyllium husks etc.

    Then on a running day I will put fine scottish oats in my protein shake to build up some complex carb in with my burn.


    So yes I'm pretty anal with micromanaging every day lol
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Way more often than I should, plus only recording the latest low. No science to this, simply motivation based
  • PinkyPan1
    PinkyPan1 Posts: 3,018 Member
    I weigh myself every Friday morning at the same time. I do not like weighing myself daily due to the fluctuations...it was driving me mad. I have been consistent with my weight loss and look forward to Friday mornings and seeing the results of my hard work. It makes for a great weekend and pushes me to be consistent the next week too.
  • leodru
    leodru Posts: 321 Member
    I weigh every day but only track it once a week - that way the fluctuations aren't all over the place. I do write my dailies on a calendar but record in MFP once a week (always at the same time wearing the same thing).
  • johnthomasmoore
    johnthomasmoore Posts: 59 Member
    I weigh every day. Morning routine is pee, strip, step on scale, put pajamas back on, start coffee, take blood pressure, drink coffee. I track it all. For daily weighing it's important to look at the trend not individual data points. You can compute moving averages in Excel or another spreadsheet program. Trenweight.com will do it for you. I use the Aria scale which syncs over wifi. I have MFB and FitBit set up to sync. I have put together a nice system pulling my fitness data together using MFP, FitBit, Google Spreadsheets, Microsoft Health Vault. Check out my blog for details: http://johntmoore.blogspot.com/

    Weight loss is not linear. Looking at the trends gives me a much better sense of what's happening both short term and long term. I track diet, activity, blood pressure, sleep. Sleep and sodium seem to have significant effects on my blood pressure. Sleep, activity and caloric intake all have effects on my weight. Sodium intake has short term weight effect. I like seeing the interactions and variations.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    I weigh every day. Morning routine is pee, strip, step on scale, put pajamas back on, start coffee, take blood pressure, drink coffee. I track it all. For daily weighing it's important to look at the trend not individual data points. You can compute moving averages in Excel or another spreadsheet program. Trenweight.com will do it for you. I use the Aria scale which syncs over wifi. I have MFB and FitBit set up to sync. I have put together a nice system pulling my fitness data together using MFP, FitBit, Google Spreadsheets, Microsoft Health Vault. Check out my blog for details: http://johntmoore.blogspot.com/

    Weight loss is not linear. Looking at the trends gives me a much better sense of what's happening both short term and long term. I track diet, activity, blood pressure, sleep. Sleep and sodium seem to have significant effects on my blood pressure. Sleep, activity and caloric intake all have effects on my weight. Sodium intake has short term weight effect. I like seeing the interactions and variations.

    That's it

    I'm going back to weighing once every six months
  • tremroy1
    tremroy1 Posts: 90 Member
    Every day but track once a week. I need to now from one day to the next what is happening.
  • No_excuses_nikki
    No_excuses_nikki Posts: 16 Member
    The scale only measures pounds loss, not fat loss/ muscle gained. So i recommend you to take body measurements, progress pictures and go from there. maybe jump on the scale once a month.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I weigh myself once a week, on Sunday mornings, only because I don't want to feel like I'm obsessing about it by doing it every day. HOWEVER, having missed yesterday morning and weighing myself this morning and finding I'm UP 3 pounds (damn ice cream!!!), I think I'm going to start doing it every morning, just to get me back on track. And I kind of knew I would be up - just didn't think it was THREE pounds up!!! I have been needing some inspiration and that just might do the trick!! Smacking myself in the head right now!

    Weight fluctuates every day, so just know that you'll see a lot of ups and downs. I was up over a pound today from yesterday, but that's because I'm hitting TOM this week.

    OP, I weigh every day to see the trend, but only record it on MFP once a week.
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    I weigh each day in the morning and put it into the Libra app to see my trend.

    I just downloaded this to track my daily fluctuations. Thanks!
  • pita7317
    pita7317 Posts: 1,437 Member
    I weigh in every 2-3 weeks. I like to "feel" like I have lost more than a pound before I get on the scale.
    I also track my calorie deficit during that time so I can compare what I should have lost to what I actually do.
    And usually I lose more than I thought I would. Which is a double bonus.
  • Ashwee87
    Ashwee87 Posts: 695 Member
    Almost daily. But I, like others, like the data and keep track of it to see what effects my weight and such. As long as I lose something every week, the daily fluctuations don't bother me.

    Now you had asked me this last year and I would have said something different. But I am in a different mindset this time. If you stress and freak out over it, then weighing even weekly may not be for you. If you have to, pick a day, say the 5th and weigh yourself the 5th of every month. Throw away the scale if you have to and visit a gym to take your monthly weight if that is what it takes. Just realize that your body can still have some great changes with the scale not moving at all.
  • MonaLisaLianne
    MonaLisaLianne Posts: 398 Member
    I weigh every morning (or almost every morning). I see the numbers go up 1-3 lbs. sometimes, but I never log that. I only log the next loss. That downward line is what motivates me, so I don't want (or need) to document the upward fluctuations. Sometimes there will be a bigger loss than I expected. I LOG IT. Yes, it might only be from dehydration or going to bed without dinner once in a while - but having that benchmark to move down past is great incentive for me to keep working this.

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