Weighing myself

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fionaface
fionaface Posts: 42 Member
in Motivation and Support
I wanted to get feedback on weighing myself. I have heard from people in the past (and I tend to agree with them) that you can be obsessed with weight and become easily disillusioned by weighing yourself multiple times a day or even just once a day. I certainly don't want to get so frustrated with lack of results with weight loss that I quit even trying.

My point is...what do you all think about weighing just once a week and then not allowing yourself to get on the scale at all the rest of the week? Is that a good idea? Have you done something similar? Has something completely different worked for you? I appreciate any and all ideas.

Replies

  • IvyLuci
    IvyLuci Posts: 117 Member
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    I all depends on you.

    First of all, do not focus too much on the number on the scale. Yes, it is important that the weight starts to come down, but a number on the scale should not be your only measure of progress.

    Some people weigh themselves every day and record all the fluctuations. Others weigh once a week or once a month. Weight can vary a couple of lbs in a day, so if that is going to bother you, set a day and only weigh on that day, in roughly the same conditions every time (so, in the morning, before breakfast, with minimum clothes etc.)
  • Hamez_UK
    Hamez_UK Posts: 36 Member
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    I do exactly that. Weigh in first thing on a Monday then put the scales in a cupboard (out of sight out of mind) until next Monday. I'd get fed up with fluctuating weight if I did it every day and probably get bored.

    Doing it on a Monday helps me to behave more at the weekend too because I know if I go nuts, my weight will be more.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    Like IvyLuci said, it depends on you. I weigh daily, for the reasons that John Walker outlines in his free online book The Hacker's Diet (see the chapters on "The Rubber Bag" and "Signal and Noise"). I find it's helpful to see how much my weight fluctuates from morning to morning, and to track the trend (with a site like TrendWeight.com).

    I also weigh before and after a long bike ride (25 miles and up) to ensure that I was drinking enough water during the ride.

    Other people might be obsessed by the number on the scale, or they might get upset every time the number is higher than the previous day. In that case, daily weigh-ins might not be a good idea.
  • MelanieRBrace
    MelanieRBrace Posts: 245 Member
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    Everyone is different. I weigh myself daily in the morning. This helps keep me accountable.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    err whatever suits you. I enjoy weighing daily or more because it gives me feedback of where I am, notwithstanding you need to understand fluctuations hence you chart fr the trend.

    Am I obsessed? not at all I use it as a motivational tool and as fun, mainly because im making it go on the right direction.

    Freedom to weigh removes the apprehension of not knowing and wondering.

    I have noticed recently I use it as a motivational tool whereby it encourages me focus my exercise and chase the next pound down.

    I fully respect the people who wnat to weight fortnightly , monthly etc.

    It should be noted there are also other performance montiors, including tape measure and performance in the gym plis just looking in the mirror.
  • malavika413
    malavika413 Posts: 474 Member
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    I don't have a scale at college, so I only can weigh myself when I go home (every 5-6 weeks). Ideally I'd weigh every week, but I don't have the money for a scale and my friends would probably assume I had an eating disorder if they saw me use it.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
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    I weigh once every 2 - 3 months. I judge more by how my clothes are fitting because if I weigh more than that I start freaking out a bit. It's not necessarily right for everyone but for me, weighing once every quarter helps me to see genuine progress made since I record what I weighed the last time. I know weight can fluctuate from day to day, and sometimes for us ladies it's a decent amount but my clothes fitting and how I feel tell me how much progress I am making. I have IBS so bloating also plays a big, big role in this for me. Further because I have IBS, when I have minimal flare ups I know I'm taking care of myself and making progress because I used to have flare ups all the time due to what I was eating and how I was treating myself (and of course, if I'm really stressed I can have a flare up but if I've been eating properly the flare ups are not quite as bad)
  • CinthyN
    CinthyN Posts: 64 Member
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    Once a week. In the morning. After emptying bowels. Naked.
  • OrangeBabelfish
    OrangeBabelfish Posts: 67 Member
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    I weigh myself daily. Multiple times a day even, I like to see what fluctuations are there, and to keep me accountable.

    For me, if I have had an off day and I see the scales go up, it's added motivation to be extra good the next day.

    I weigh daily and track it in a spreadsheet, but I only record on MFP once a week so that it counts out for the fluctuations, TOTM, etc. I find it interesting to see what activity does - how much a big dinner puts on the scale. I don't drink during exercise, so again it's interesting to see how much water you lose even from a 30min run.

    Each to their own. There's no right or wrong answer, basically it's whatever works for you. I personally couldn't not weigh myself for a whole week.
  • Wondertje
    Wondertje Posts: 63 Member
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    Personally, I think anything more than once a day is a sign of a mindset that's striking dangerously close to obsessed/dangerous.

    I weigh myself once a day, before breakfast after morning toilet visit, naked. I don't plan on doing this forever, but for the first two months I want to get a good graph chart of how my monthy cycle is affecting my weight and other similar things. After this I might go down to once a week, or stick with once a day because as someone who enjoys statistics I know that a good amount of measuring points is important to see certain trends. Risk of only weighing yourself once a week is that you might weigh on the "wrong day". For example, eating a pizza isn't going to make you fat, if you however do it the evening before you weigh yourself, it will still "be in the system" so to say, and can add a substantial amount of weight the next morning. I weigh once a day also to reduce the "I need to be healthy today because it's my 'weigh-day' tomorrow" - kind of thinking, that I believe is stressful and unhealthy for any individual.
  • AgnesXNitt
    AgnesXNitt Posts: 15
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    I weigh myself on a Monday morning, first thing, straight out of bed. It really helps keep me on track, and I usually do most of my walking on a Saturday and a gym session on a Sunday afternoon, so it focusses my efforts for the coming week.
    Any more than that and I think it would be too much - the fluctuations of daily ups and downs would get me down, so a weekly weigh in keeps me accountable to myself and is a reasonable check to keep up. Plus, in the UK press in the last few months, there have been several articles about how weight loss and maintainence is sustained better by people who weigh in once a week - I felt slightly proud I was ahead of the drive on the that one :)
  • granturismo
    granturismo Posts: 232 Member
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    bwogilvie wrote: »
    Like IvyLuci said, it depends on you. I weigh daily, for the reasons that John Walker outlines ... and to track the trend (with a site like TrendWeight.com).....

    This works for me too. I weigh 4 days per week, before breakfast - and use the Libra app - it averages weight loss over a 7 day period as the default. For me, it means that I dont get too disillusioned when I gain weight over 24 or 48 hours, as long as my weekly trend is negative.

    I never weigh on Sun or Mon because I know from weighing on these days that my weight loss over Mon - Sat is greater than my weight gain from Sat to Sun when I tend to have less routine and my eating habits are not the best.
  • thinnymint
    thinnymint Posts: 4 Member
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    I weigh myself every morning, but document my weight only on Sundays.

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