STAY OFF THE SCALE!!!!

beccafertig
beccafertig Posts: 61 Member
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
During an active weight loss project, only weigh yourself once a month! I think this is some of the best advice I've ever been given. I started my weight loss journey SERIOUSLY about 2 weeks ago. I've dabbled here and there, but never really dug in and got real about it. I think one of the biggest points of discouragement was the unrealistic expectation that after a week of "sort-of" doing better, I expected the scale to show a 5 pound loss. How ridiculous! This time around, things are different. I'm exercising daily, recording my calories, and just plain feeling better! It's inevitable - consume less calories, make sure the calories I do consume are giving me the biggest bang for my buck, and work out. The weight will go! We can do it!!!!

Replies

  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
    If it works for you, cool.

    But people who weigh daily have shown to lose more weight. Just sayin'.

    I'm not saying record daily. Once a week is good. But if you weigh daily you can keep better tabs on the outcomes of your habits.
  • julielasley
    julielasley Posts: 6
    I honestly think that weighing in in at least once weekly is a great idea. Knowing that what you are doing is working should be great encouragement. If you are following a good, healthy eatng habit and working out you should not gain weight. Granted, we all know that during certain times of the month a woman's weight can fluctuate up to 5-10 lbs, but this is mostly water retention. I weigh in every morning when I wake up. Granted I don't have a s much to lose, but it is even harder when I only have 7-10 lbs left. I am happy when I stay the same for a few days straight. If you only weigh in once a month and you gain 5 lbs, then you aren't doing something right, so I recommend weighing in just once a week to make sure you are losing and you don't need to tweak something along the way. Good luck to you!
  • mjf0461
    mjf0461 Posts: 470 Member
    I agree, if that's what works best for you then I suggest that's what you need to stick with. I happened to be one that weighs every morning. I want to know daily what's going on with my system. If I weigh and I've gained I can go back to that day and look at my food diary and exercise and see what exactly went on that I might be able to adjust so that it doesn't happen again. I can't go a week and definelty not a month not weighing, I get so frustrated I'd jump off the wagon to good health...lol....
    Definetly a to each their own type of situation...Good luck and keep moving down...
  • zandotious
    zandotious Posts: 2
    I weight myself Wednesday and Saturday mornings. My biggest mistake was weighing myself everyday..that half pound gain would just kill my Mojo.
  • beccafertig
    beccafertig Posts: 61 Member
    I believe I'll switch over to weekly weigh ins once i have a month or two under my belt. I will, however, be checking my other measurements once a week (arms, legs, waste, bust, etc). It has been years since i was into a regular pattern of exercising and eating right, and the nutritionist I consulted with suggested weighing once a month in the beginning. This is to simply avoid the discouragement of potential gains in the beginning as muscle is building. She encouraged me to do weekly body measurements instead, and pay closer attention to how my body is feeling. I've got 140-150 pounds to lose.
  • gaterbear
    gaterbear Posts: 68
    I am sure this varies with each individual and their psychic make-up regarding weight, but I could never go an entire month without checking the scale. I weight daily, but only consider my Sunday morning as the "official" weight for the week. Also, due to wide variances on the scale numbers, I only count my scale as official when I get the same weight 3 times in a row. That tends to keep me (and my scale) honest. Maybe it is just a mind game, but isn't a lot of our weight issue in that category? Good luck to everyone regardless of how they approach the weighing in process.
  • strandedeyes
    strandedeyes Posts: 392 Member
    I weigh myself daily and welcome the discouragement as that drives me forward and reminds me what I did wrong and how I need to improve. I only officially weigh in once a week with my trainer as I use one scale for the official numbers to lessen the change of any discrepancies.

    This is definitely a personal choice and whatever works for you, works for you and is awesome! Measurements work just as well and should be looked at too when feeling completely discouraged, but the way I look at it is that I have to be discouraged in order to enjoy the outcomes and goals that I meet. Sometimes a little discouragement can be good, but again that is for me. Good luck with your journey and goals.
  • LarryPGH
    LarryPGH Posts: 349 Member
    When I was up around BMI 34, and trying to lose 2-3 lbs per week, I liked weighing myself every day. Remember -- 2-3 per week means that you're generally gonna see 1/2 pound a day (or better yet, after a couple of days of nothing, you see a jump of 2 pounds!). So, for me, when I was looking to lose that much, it was pretty motivational to see losses every day or every couple of days. (By the same token, when I would "cheat", and see it move up a little, I'd be motivated to think, "Hey! I climbed that hill already! I don't want to have to climb it again -- time to kick it back into high gear!")

    Now that I'm trying for 1 or 1.5 lbs/week, it makes less sense to weigh every day (after all, that's 0.2 lbs or less each day, and that's the limit of the precision of my digital scale -- so there's no way it's even able to see such a small loss!). (I still do, though, 'cause I'm a real numbers geek... :blushing: )

    So, do what works for you -- if seeing numbers will motivate you, whether they move up or down, measure your little heart out! If seeing some weight gain will knock you off the rails, then only weigh every 2 or 4 weeks!
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
    Solid advice from Larry - and others. :)
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
    my scale and i have an intimate relationship it sees me naked the most
This discussion has been closed.

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