Daily weigh ins?

polyglot1994
polyglot1994 Posts: 11 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hey guys,

How often do you weigh in? I got really discouraged this morning because I weigh every day, have been losing every day, and all of a sudden gained more than 2 pounds back today. I know I didn't gain it because I've been keeping up with calories and exercise, but it's still discouraging. How often do you weigh in so that you aren't discouraged by a sudden "weight gain"?

Replies

  • 13Strong
    13Strong Posts: 502 Member
    Body is made up of fat, muscle, bone, water, and miscellaneous. That's a lot of variables, plus the hormones, sodium, and other factors that can cause retention of weight (water, etc) from time to time. Also different times in the day you will weigh differently because of how your body fluctuates.

    I weigh myself weekly, but even then I discount a lot of gains and losses unless I see it in inches too. Try a measuring tape or use an ability measurement (run time, strength, how quickly you end up winded) to support your motivation. Those you have much more control over than all the factors that go into a scale.
  • polyglot1994
    polyglot1994 Posts: 11 Member
    That makes sense. I just REALLY need to learn to control my curiosity.
  • kdhamner
    kdhamner Posts: 309 Member
    I weigh everyday - multiple times a day - I don't get discouraged when the scale fluctuates. I only log my weight once a week on Wednesday mornings. I'm learning all kinds of things about my own body by doing this - for example: if I drink less fluids I will retain water and have a smaller loss or a small gain; if I have a bad eating day, the next day won't reflect it with my weight, but 2 days later it will; I almost always have a 2 lb weight loss from when I go to bed until I wake in the morning; etc.
  • houndbound
    houndbound Posts: 14 Member
    You're not alone! I get in the habit sometimes of weighing every morning too to try and check progress... more often than not it ends up being discouraging to check in that often, just gotta be happy if the big picture is changing for the better!
  • joshpass
    joshpass Posts: 82 Member
    weekly at maximum just so you can adjust your calorie intake if needed. But it can take the body weeks to adjust to things. And like 13strong said, there are a LOT of factors that go into weight on the scale. Quite frankly, I could care less what the weight on the scale says as long as my body composition is getting better. That can be harder to tell sometimes so measure yourself, see how you clothes fit, take pictures, etc.
  • nopotofgold
    nopotofgold Posts: 164 Member
    I do it once a week at most. Water can add 0-10pounds to your normal weight because of salt retention. You can't gain two or three pounds of true weight over night.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    Every 4-6 weeks. I'd have given up a long time ago if I were weighing myself every day.
  • Lelah77
    Lelah77 Posts: 177 Member
    My SIL and I have an ongoing debate about this. She weighs every day, I weigh once a week.

    I disagree with her weighing every day because she gets caught up in the fluctuations and will absolutely freak out. Because of this, she lives her life a slave to her weight and I think that is not how it is supposed to work.

    I weigh once a week because I can't stand to think about my weight until I have to. I am so bad I don't even weigh at the same time & day each week. Sometimes I go 10 days. But that's ok in my mind. Its how I stay sane in weight loss. Plus, I usually have a pleasant surprise when I step on the scale.

    Kdhamner has a great point about learning from your body by weighing several times a day, but you have to have a mentality that allows this to happen in an analytical learning way as opposed to a weight obsessed way.

    I know people who weigh 1/month, too. (They are closer to goal, though, and their weight loss pace is in much smaller chunks at this point. Their .3-.5 lbs/week shows as a lb or 2 monthly.)
  • lessbounce
    lessbounce Posts: 250 Member
    I weigh every day, I find it motivates me. And I pretty sure that I only stopped maintaining when life got so bad that I stopped. You have to find what is right for you. If it is too demoralising , then drop your scales at a friends house - or bin them and use scales at a store (just you can't weight in the nude then coz it upsets the security guard) .
  • TheSatinPumpkin
    TheSatinPumpkin Posts: 948 Member
    everyday in the AM right after i wake up and gone to the bathroom
  • DonM46
    DonM46 Posts: 771 Member
    I'm on maintenance (since November of 2011). I weight every day, take the average, & log that once a week.
  • chr1st1na6464
    chr1st1na6464 Posts: 30 Member
    I hardly ever weigh in! I want to focus on eating healthy food because it makes me feel good--and I'm trying to improve my life. I weigh myself about every two or three weeks...as long as I'm not eating too many calories...I always lose weight. Often it is a nice surprise and a significant number.

    On the other hand, if I was feeling like bingeing, I suppose I would weigh myself daily to remind myself that I am still fat.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    As long as you don't feel obsessive about it, I think weighing daily is fine. There's always going to be fluctuation. Once you realize that, it's not a big deal.

    A lot of people do weekly weigh-ins, but I feel like it'd be a lot more discouraging if you saw that 2-pound fluctuation and then had to wait a whole week to see it go down.

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