To weigh or not to weigh

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2

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  • mebepiglet123
    mebepiglet123 Posts: 327 Member
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    I weigh every day, but since daily weight fluctuates all over the place, I have this equation to smooth out the variables to give me a steady curve (up, down or straight). This keeps me on track well, without me freaking out about daily changes.
    I also do this...sodium will pack on a kilo overnight.

  • dawnna76
    dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
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    I only do it once a month. weightloss for me is very slow so i wouldnt see any changes really doing it once a week or daily. but over the course of the month i lose a couple, and im good with that. Also my weight has always been higher than what I look like. right now i weigh 195 but dont look that heavy. i am solidly built and do weight lifting. its not like someone is going to go around picking ou up and saying "omg your so heavy!" its how the percieve you to look.
  • neuroticfish
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    I weigh every few days to ensure that what I am doing is working. That way if I need to adjust intake or exercise I can. However, that being said, I rarely weigh myself the week that Flo visits as she can make me fluctuate up to 6 lbs a day. Just remain positive and do whatever makes you most comfortable. :)
  • Tabbitha1968
    Tabbitha1968 Posts: 41 Member
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    I weigh everyday, I started doing this because I needed to get rid of my fear of the scale that kept me unconscious about my weight. I use it to keep me consciously aware of where I am, and keep me focused. It has helped me see that there are patterns to my weight loss that were impossible to see if I only weighed in once a week. (i.e. patterns of water retention released over a 10 day period) I've learned not to get emotional about the fluctuations, I can pinpoint what the issue is and move on. It still bums me when I've gone weeks within the same range, but at least I know i'm not gaining.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    edited December 2014
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    laurakayks wrote: »
    Do you weigh, and if so how often? I am trying to lose 50 pounds without weighing *regularly*, though I am planning to have a co-worker take my measurements as an alternate way to stay accountable,

    If the objective is weight loss, then why on earth would you deny yourself the opportunity to be given that information? Sheer craziness. I can see if you wnat to do it less frequently, but to try not to seems a very strange way of going about things.

    If you want different measurements, then just use that. Good luck.

    It really is just data.
  • Sylvarose
    Sylvarose Posts: 70 Member
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    I have a history of getting obsessive about the scales and that usually leads to sabotage so I only weigh in my Doctor's office (right now I'm on a every three month schedule) and my therapist's office (right now a weekly schedule). I'd like to get to a point where I do it on a bi-weekly schedule. I'm with some of the others though, I think using how your clothes fit can be a much more satisfying measure to judge how much weight you've lost.
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
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    I weigh daily. It keeps me in check. This works for me because I don't freak out when I'm up a pound or two, but if I'm consistently inching upward on the scale, I know I need to watch my calories closer for awhile. I'm in maintenance right now and have quit logging my food for now.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Everyone has to find the way that suits them, but it really is only data and its not the scales at issue, just how people interpret it. I find them informative, reassuring and motivational, but then I like data.
  • blktngldhrt
    blktngldhrt Posts: 1,053 Member
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    I weigh weekly. If go two weeks without any progress I tweak my routine.
  • thingal12
    thingal12 Posts: 302 Member
    edited December 2014
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    In the past, my most successful weight loss happened when I didn't weigh myself regularly. Somehow, internally, I did better food-wise and actually stuck with my "diet". When I did weigh myself, I found myself "falling off the wagon" a lot faster (within a month). I like how you are having your co-worker measure you, you can always go back to that if you cared to later on.
  • gobonas99
    gobonas99 Posts: 1,049 Member
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    I weigh daily. I like to be able to see how what I did, or what I ate the day before (or TOM!) effects my body (ie I'm up slightly 2 days after I lift, because my DOMS are worse that day and I'm retaining more water...I'm always down the day after a 3 hour bike ride).

    I don't worry about the actual number, as long as the overall trend is going down. I log my daily weigh-ins on trendweight.com, which automatically creates that trendline for you. It's great!

    I'd hate to go a week between weigh-ins, and then unknowingly be logging a "high" day, which could show no loss or even a gain, when in actuality, my weight HAS been going down, just that ONE day was abnormally high (ie the trifecta of day 2 DOMS, high sodium the day before and pre-TOM).

    It's become especially important for me to log my daily weigh-ins as I get closer to my goal weight. My weigh-ins are ALL over the place (up, down, up, down, up, down), but having that trendline shows me that I'm still going down overall, even if I can't readily see that in the individual daily numbers.
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
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    I lost 100lbs I only weighed myself one or two times a month. I have been in Maintenance for 8 months and been weighing once a month with no issues. I still track daily. Good Luck on your journey.
  • Kenda2427
    Kenda2427 Posts: 1,592 Member
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    I weigh and log daily but Thursdays are my official weigh in days. This way I can see the week over week trend as well as the daily fluctuations which help keep me accountable.
  • emmacken
    emmacken Posts: 161 Member
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    I've been weighing in first thing in the morning for the last four months. I like this consistency and it has been interesting to see how my body has loses weight. I've learned that consuming meals high in sodium mean that my weight appears to stay the same for a few days. I've also learned that my hormones and stress levels seem to affect my weight loss. It also feels rewarding to now have the data to use the report function this site offers. I'm a pretty visual person and it feels great to see the graph of my weight going down.
  • 47to27
    47to27 Posts: 28 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I weigh daily, too, first thing in the morning. I'm objective about it, though, since I do realize that multiple things can cause a fluctuance. As far as logging it on here, I'm still a newbie, not quite 2 weeks, so I'm thinking I'll try to log the "check in" weight once weekly... at least that's what I'm figuring I'll do.
  • sagy1cor
    sagy1cor Posts: 11 Member
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    Hi!
    I weigh daily. If I don't weigh, I don't feel accountable to myself, and more eating while ignoring the consequences is not what I need right now. When I first started weighing, I only did it weekly, and if I didn't see a loss, I would get really upset, and I would fall off my eating plan for a week (or two).
    So for me, weighing daily has made me more understanding of the natural fluctuations of my weight, and this has made me happier overall. Your results may vary, so do what works for you. :)
    Jess

    I agree with you! Although I do get frustrated with the fluctuations that I am starting to see. Last week I lost 6 lbs and this week I gained 3 of those lbs back, without doing anything different. Its hard to know if you are eating too much or too little without weighing yourself daily and experimenting with your calorie intake.
  • karenlwashburn
    karenlwashburn Posts: 123 Member
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    I haven't weighed myself in a long time because I know how much I weight per dress size. Once I'm in a size 6 I'm around 120 -ish. I'm in a size 8 now so I'm in between sizes. I find its mentally better not to have a number as the pant size is enough pressure for me frankly when I'm pudgy. I decided last week I'm going to hit a thrift store once I hit a size 6 comfortably to make 100% sure I'm at 120. I started out a size 10-12.
  • SethosTBG
    SethosTBG Posts: 16 Member
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    General rule about weighing in. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning after a bowel movement, naked, before you ingest anything. That will be your baseline. Every week for the first month at the same time, same day, same conditions weigh yourself again. After a month cut the weighing down to 2x a month. Biggest to indicators are How does your clothes fit and how do you feel, the numbers on the scale may not reflect it because if you incorporate resistance training, HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training), you will gain muscle which weighs more than fat.
  • kcd1961
    kcd1961 Posts: 126 Member
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    I have weighed daily in the past, which helped me understand the range of weight fluctuations, day to day. It is also worth, at least once, weighing several times a day (say hourly) to learn what that looks like. Having done that, I just weigh weekly now, although if I get a particularly bad number, I might weigh again the next day to compare (and usually I find the bad number was just noise).

    Having said that, part of this journey is facing the truth about yourself - until you do that, it's hard (not impossible) to succeed. I daresay all of us here at some stage have had a bit of a crisis of personal honesty.

    But how you face the truth - be it daily, weekly, the mirror, clothes, measurements, doesn't really matter, as long as we do it, and adjust our program according to the results. And that "motivation" factor is critical. Some people are motivated by frequent feedback (and are better able to tolerate the random noise involved) - whereas for others, the random noise is harder to discount and can set you up for failure - hence longer period measurements are less likely to give you bad news, but when they do, it's a long wait for better news.

    Do what works for you. But be honest.