How often should I be weighing in?

Options
2

Replies

  • Veil5577
    Veil5577 Posts: 868 Member
    Options
    I weigh myself once a week, on Fridays. Weight can fluctuate too much to do it daily.
  • Barry2513
    Barry2513 Posts: 4
    Options
    Step on a scale once every 2-3 months . Use your clothes and how loose their getting as a guide for your progress.
  • jfauci
    jfauci Posts: 531 Member
    Options
    I'm also a daily weigher...but log weekly.
  • majigurl
    majigurl Posts: 660 Member
    Options
    Step on a scale once every 2-3 months . Use your clothes and how loose their getting as a guide for your progress.

    I wish I could get my weighing addiction under control.

    BUT YES YES YES!

    measurements way more important!
  • majigurl
    majigurl Posts: 660 Member
    Options
    I'm also a daily weigher...but log weekly.

    Yep.. I only log when I've lost a lbs or 2. Usually every week or so I log it.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Options
    Every day that I'm home. The more often I weigh, the more in-tune I get with my daily fluctuations, and the less emotional weight I put on the scale weight. It gets easier to correlate the minor ups and downs with things in my diet/exercise regimen that might cause them.

    Then that info gets fed into a spreadsheet that does basic analysis and trending, because I'm a tremendous nerd.

    This. Even if you were to weigh weekly or bi-weekly or monthly, what if a day or two before you had a high sodium meal or it's PMS time or you got a hard workout in? You're still going to see less of a loss than you expeced or possibly even a stall. My point is, weighing less often isn't necessarily the answer - coming to terms with why fluctuations happen is the answer.

    Also as someone else pointed out, find other ways to measure success - body measurements, progress pics, keep one pair of bigger pants and/or a shirt as you lose, etc. Many times the scale may not show progress but if you look back at what you looked like or what you wore, that can definitely show a change.

    I've been getting back on track the last few weeks after a major set back and although the scale hasn't show any real change yet, my clothes are already fitting better and my rings are loose again. Yay!
  • Parafly9
    Parafly9 Posts: 8
    Options
    I get on the scale about every day but I also understand that it goes up and down within a 3 - 4 pound range so I dont' stress about it. I have a Withings so I track it over time and see which way it's trending which is the priority.
  • gopgirl425
    gopgirl425 Posts: 140 Member
    Options
    do whatever works for you.

    I weigh daily and I write it down on my bathroom mirror with a dry erase marker.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    Options
    I recommend daily weigh-ins, with a huge caveat: you need to do some math to find the difference between your actual weight loss and the daily fluctuations, which are much larger.

    Your weight fluctuates depending on water, salt, and fiber intake, and other factors having nothing to do with calories. Using an exponentially smoothed moving average can help you filter out the noise and focus on the trend, as John Walker explains in "The Hacker's Diet" (http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/). The chapter on "The Rubber Bag" explains, briefly, the source of these fluctuations. The chapter on "Signal and Noise" explains how some simple math can filter them out. Walker explains how to do the math, but you can also set up a free account on his server to do it for you, or use a service like Beeminder or TrendWeight.com.

    If you're going to be all "OMG! I'm bloated!" if you see the number go up by 2 lbs. from one day to the next, then daily weigh-ins aren't for you. Personally, I'm not bothered, because it's the trend that matters. As long as most of my daily weights are below the trend, I know I'm making progress. Contrariwise, if most of my daily weights are above the trend, and there's not an obvious explanation (like recovering from a major cycling event), then I can be fairly certain that I am gaining weight. I plan to continue daily weigh-ins once I'm at maintenance (in a month or two), as an early warning system against regaining the weight.
  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
    Options
    I weigh daily to keep track of the fluctuations.
  • danielleharvey2009
    danielleharvey2009 Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    I weigh myself daily. I don't usually beat myself up too much over the numbers though, and it's a good gauge for me to see how my weight fluctuates. I tend to weigh myself the exact same time every day though right in the morning.
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
    Options
    You should weigh in everyday IF you meet ALL of the following conditions:
    1) In the morning
    2) Before breakfast
    3) After you have gone to the bathroom and had a full bowel movement

    If you have not met these conditions, you must wait until the next morning and weigh yourself, IF you meet both conditions above.
  • rachiealx
    rachiealx Posts: 36
    Options
    You'll find a pattern that works for you. I wouldn't recommend daily for anyone though, because then you can get obsessed.

    What works for me is weekly, first thing in the morning after a bathroom visit and wearing nothing but a smile. :smile:
  • Barry2513
    Barry2513 Posts: 4
    Options
    Scales are a mirage , the body can fluctuate up to 3-5 lbs( from things like water weight , bloating and other related stuff) overnight. As far as your weight addiction you mentioned, try to focus instead on tightening you core..You will definitely be rewarded for paying so much attention to that area.." GoodLuck"
  • kcpond
    kcpond Posts: 654 Member
    Options
    I weigh myself once a week, until I bought one of the Fitbit aria scales. But i think it is better to only measure once a week on the same day at the same time. It will give you less variation.
  • KJVPeach
    KJVPeach Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    I usually go down to the local pharmacy once a month and do my weigh in there. They have a really nice 'high tech' scale that gives me my weight, BMI, and body fat percentage. I do weigh occasionally on my home scale but never count that number as my official weigh in.
  • aarnwine2013
    aarnwine2013 Posts: 317 Member
    Options
    I usually weigh every few days. I was weighing everyday but I got to crazy about the numbers so I stopped. My focus has changed from losing fast to being fit and I'm measuring so much more now.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    Options
    My simple answer - as often as productive :)

    I do daily out of habit and curiousity, as I was curious about how my weight behaved. It helped me understand a lot about when the scale drops, and as a result have no fear of anything like plateaus or water weight rises, if I know my methods are good. Really has made me a lot more confident in my approach, but if you find your weighing frequency obsessive or destructive, that's the point to make it more infrequent in my opinion :)
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
    Options
    I weigh most days, but don't count a weight loss or gain until I get three readings at about the same weight (digital scale). My weight generally fluctuates two or three pounds throughout the day, but seems to be fairly consistent from day to day if I weigh first thing in the morning.
  • marimeg
    marimeg Posts: 19 Member
    Options
    Hi! I agree with whatever works for you. I have just started seriously walking down this road per doc's orders (It helps so much to have someone you have to be accountable to), and she said to weigh once a week. I have been watching my weight daily though! The morning weigh in is what I count, because I can watch my weight steadily rise 1-3 pounds through out the day.

    Interesting enough! I have napped mid-day and then weighed in and it went right back down to morning weight sooo... Just another reasons naps are lovely (hehe)!

    I can seriously see why people say 'don't get obsessed!' I think I'm closing in on obsession range.

Categories