Weighing In Daily?

simplysara9
simplysara9 Posts: 521
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
Is there any benefit to weighing yourself daily or would I just be driving myself crazy with the constant fluctuation?

If you weigh in daily - why?
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Replies

  • zoeslater
    zoeslater Posts: 1
    i wouldnt advise weighing yourself every day you will drive yourself crazy, once a week woud be my advise i weigh myself at the same time of day every week to give me more accurate results. hope this helps
  • SoUnaware
    SoUnaware Posts: 85 Member
    I weigh daily! My body is constantly fluctuating, and that is WHY I weigh. If I only weighed on Mondays, some Mondays I might be bloated, so I might record no loss for the week, when in reality, I weighed two pounds less the day before. But I know my body. For example, I had a cheat day yesterday. So I expected to have gained a pound or two by this morning. It didn't bother me at all. Everybody is different though. Do whatever works for you!
  • onlyJoanna
    onlyJoanna Posts: 20
    When I was at home and had access to scales I would weigh myself in the morning and evening, and then maybe on the wiifit if I was on there as well.

    I find it good to see how much my weight fluctuates during the day. But I wouldn't record my weight on here daily because I don't think it's helpful, and it's subject to change.
  • leslielove
    leslielove Posts: 251 Member
    i pop on and record it every morning because it really, really makes me think about what i'm eating, especially because i get terrible munchies at night. i plan out my food for the day every day and once that's been eaten i'm done. add that with the daily weigh-ins and i've basically stopped eating at night.

    as long as over time, the number trends down, i don't mind fluctuations. i'm looking at the change at the end of a week/month as the big picture, not the fact that i may have gained .4 pounds one day because i didn't poo enough the night before, or had more sodium than i'm used to. it all averages out.
  • jb83
    jb83 Posts: 38
    I used to weigh weekly, but then had a few weeks with no change. So then I started to weigh (and record) daily. I perfer the daily weigh now! Knowing that weight fluctuates, I get less frustrated when I have a gain.... and more excited with a loss. When I look at the progress graph, I see the up-down-up jig saw of my weight, and I know it's normal... as long as that jig saw line is for the most part creeping down, I could care less if I weight 0.4 lbs from the day before.
  • HisBeloved65
    HisBeloved65 Posts: 186
    I hear ya. I was so pumped. Only weighed in on Sunday morning the past 2 weeks but last week I weighed again on Wednesday last week and that put me at 7 lbs lost. I weighed this morning and I am up 2 lbs. I don't know how to stay motivated with the fluctuation.
  • dustyhockeymom
    dustyhockeymom Posts: 537 Member
    I hear ya. I was so pumped. Only weighed in on Sunday morning the past 2 weeks but last week I weighed again on Wednesday last week and that put me at 7 lbs lost. I weighed this morning and I am up 2 lbs. I don't know how to stay motivated with the fluctuation.

    Overtime you learn the normal patterns of your body fluctuations and it isn't as discouraging. I weigh in daily, not expecting a loss everyday and often expecting an increase because I know I tend to lose and then gain 3/4 of that back and then lose it again plus a little more. That is my normal patterns so when I see the increase, I expect it and it isn't as frustrating.
  • tryinghard2012
    tryinghard2012 Posts: 419 Member
    Sounds to obsessive. Sorry if I offended anyone but tracking weight everyday is tedious. Once a week for me and it's been pretty consistent thus far...
  • olyrose
    olyrose Posts: 569 Member
    I weigh every morning and usually every evening, but only record once a week.

    Because weight fluctuates so much, it's really valuable to me to see the fluctuations, and it also helps keep me accountable from day to day.

    Like last week, I weighed 216 on Tuesday morning, went to the gym that night and stayed at my calorie goal. The next morning, I weighed 217.6. I knew there was no way I gained 1.6 pounds overnight, so I knew it must be water retention or something like that.

    But if that was my only day that I weighed in that week, I would have thought I didn't lose any weight from the previous week and would have been discouraged, and likely would have given up.

    Seeing the weight fluctuations from day to day let me know I'm on the right track.
  • mvln
    mvln Posts: 96 Member
    I weigh and measure myself once a month. It helps me get over the frustration of the weight fluctuations. It keeps me motivated because I see more dramatic results. Of couse, I try my best to stick to my nutrition and exercise targets throughout the month. It works for me.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    It really depends on what works for you. For me, weighing everyday is a good reminder to stick with it. But some can't handle the daily fluctuations. If you're one of those people discouraged by those daily fluctuations, then I would suggest not weighing everyday. For me, it works. Some weigh every week. Some weigh once a month. There's no right or wrong, only what works best for YOU.

    But when you do weigh, make sure it's the same time, same place...preferably first thing in the morning, after going to the bathroom, and fully naked.
  • a_stronger_steph
    a_stronger_steph Posts: 434 Member
    Sounds to obsessive. Sorry if I offended anyone but tracking weight everyday is tedious. Once a week for me and it's been pretty consistent thus far...

    And tracking calories every day isn't?? :laugh:

    Anyways, to the OP, I too weigh daily. I think it depends on whether you are prone to freaking out or not. I'm not really - so it doesn't bother me when I see fluctuations. I weigh every morning (wearing no clothes, but if you do wear clothes, make sure they're the same ones each time) and record the weight in a spreadsheet. Then I take the average of that day + the previous four days' measurements: if that number, the moving average, is going down, then I am on the right track!

    Many people will say weigh only once a week because of your body's natural fluctuations, but like a previous poster mentioned, what if you weigh in on the days that you're just naturally a little heavier for a few weeks in a row, giving the impression that you weren't losing at all?? More data is always better!

    That said, I think it's a valid point that if you will get utterly terrified if you see a pound more on the scale one day from the previous day, then maybe weighing daily isn't for you. Just a matter of personality I think! :)
  • Daily, because it helps me understand how meals and certain foods affect my body.
  • krb731
    krb731 Posts: 76 Member
    No way! Since I've started working out (Feb 2011) I've weighed myself twice. I'm an obsessive person so I can't get into that habit. I don't even own a scale. My next weigh in will be in July. I guess it is up to the individual. Good luck to everyone no matter how you do it.
  • Jain
    Jain Posts: 861 Member
    I weigh & log everday, first thing in the morning. I find if I only do it weekly I lose control over my eating. I do see fluctations, especially round TOM, but as long as the overall trend is downwards I'm happy
  • amyllu
    amyllu Posts: 432 Member
    I weigh every morning too and get quite cross if I happen to forget.

    I also notice that if I have a day where I have eaten rather a lot more than I should, it will not show the next day but the day after.
  • jazgal
    jazgal Posts: 122
    I weigh myself every morning .. helps me figure out how food effects me .. once I hit a plateau .. I change it up ... food and exercises.. more important .. also really alerts me as to what foods to stay away from .. we all have different bodies and they react different to foods and exercises ...
  • katznkt
    katznkt Posts: 320 Member
    I weigh daily because it makes me think about what I eat. I also get to know when my body is higher. That way I know if my weight is higher because of my period, or because I worked out and am gaining muscle.

    I record when I feel like it on here, but I really only pay attention to the weight I take once a week. As long as it looks like my weight is trending down I am happy.
  • I would not personally recommend weighing yourself daily. That can become a very obsessive behavior, and can put an unhealthy spin on what you are doing. Having battled anorexia since I was a young teen, I know all about the importance of numbers. The first thing you need to ask yourself is what is your motive for losing weight. Statistics show that most people who lose a lot of weight put it back on and then some. If you are doing this only for the sake of looking better, statistics are not on your side. While I realize this is almost always a factor, and that is not a bad thing, hopefully you are also motivated to have a healthier lifestyle. If this is the case, you have to put numbers into perspective. If you are doing any kind of exercise to build muscle, so weeks you may not lose any weight because what you are losing in fat, you are gaining in muscle. Your weight will fluctuate depending on what you ate the day before or how much water you have had. Concentrating on numbers can be so disappointing. I would recommend weighing in once a week, and paying more attention to things like how your clothes are fitting. Are they getting looser? Concentrate on your exercise routine getting easier or your endurance getting better. Those are the things that measure a lifestyle change. Those things will give you a better shot at having permanent results. The numbers will come, but if you put all the concentration on them, they can actually get in the way of what you are doing. Hope this helps at least a little, and good luck with your journey towards a better you.
  • tryinghard2012
    tryinghard2012 Posts: 419 Member
    Sounds to obsessive. Sorry if I offended anyone but tracking weight everyday is tedious. Once a week for me and it's been pretty consistent thus far...

    And tracking calories every day isn't?? :laugh:

    No because it's serving a purpose (health). Weighing everyday, in my humble opinion, serves no purpose but feeding into the obsessive behavior.
  • julsofdenial
    julsofdenial Posts: 225 Member
    I weigh daily because it is right next to the shower in the AM and seeing fluctuations don't bother me. In fact, it's good for me to know that it happens so much because if I weighed once a week and I was up then waiting a week to see if any progress was made would be hard.
    I only log the actual weight here once MAYBE twice a week if it is consistant loss. Like this week on my normal log-in date I was only down 0.2 pounds from the last week. Kind of a bummer. BUT literally 3 days later I am down over 2 pounds... so exciting! So it took those extra few days for the weight to drop off. If I didn't weigh in every day I wouldn't have seen that happen and for ME it makes the week harder to think I am not losing.
    Not all weeks are like that of course... and like I said, I can handle the ups and downs because I feel like I am really doing the right thing, and after 7 weeks here now, I know it is going to even out because I can't NOT lose weight eating this way :)
    I can see that weighing every day could not be for everyone though.. but I personally love it seeing the daily changes, even if I am up some.
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
    I weigh daily! My body is constantly fluctuating, and that is WHY I weigh. If I only weighed on Mondays, some Mondays I might be bloated, so I might record no loss for the week, when in reality, I weighed two pounds less the day before.
    That is exactly why I record my weight daily. I enter the values for weight, fat % etc. into a spreadsheet, and it's only a click to produce a graph.

    Seeing the daily fluctuations helps me realise that one weight on one day is nothing to be stressed over, it's the overall trend that is important.

    Some people would obsess over each individual weight if they weighed themselves every day, instead of seeing the big picture, and for those people weighing in daily can be counter productive.

    The bottom line is that different things work for different people. :smile:
  • AllyS7
    AllyS7 Posts: 480 Member
    I like numbers, charts, graphs and data. (Science nerd) I weight myself everyday and record it just to see the relationship between different exercises, food, micronutrients and water intake everyday. I measure every two weeks or so and that's what I go by to measure my 'success'. I also go by what I see in the mirror!
  • javarushed
    javarushed Posts: 218 Member
    I like to weigh myself every morning and put it on a graph. The way the weight fluctuates is crazy, but it is slowly and steadily going down in the long run. When my weight is higher the next day(s) I just remind myself this always happens and I have the chart to prove it. That helps me from not going crazy :D
  • pixietoes
    pixietoes Posts: 1,591 Member
    It's all in what works for you. If you weigh daily and are discouraged by any failure to lose or even showing a temporary gain, then perhaps weighing weekly or even monthly is a better choice for you. If it drives you crazy to wonder where you're at and you have a hard time being faithful to your diet plan without knowing your progress, then you might benefit from weighing daily.

    I weigh daily, if I like the result I don't want to do anything to mess it up. If I don't like the result, it makes me want to double down and work harder. Your mileage may vary. :)
  • trishlambert
    trishlambert Posts: 213 Member
    I hear ya. I was so pumped. Only weighed in on Sunday morning the past 2 weeks but last week I weighed again on Wednesday last week and that put me at 7 lbs lost. I weighed this morning and I am up 2 lbs. I don't know how to stay motivated with the fluctuation.

    Overtime you learn the normal patterns of your body fluctuations and it isn't as discouraging. I weigh in daily, not expecting a loss everyday and often expecting an increase because I know I tend to lose and then gain 3/4 of that back and then lose it again plus a little more. That is my normal patterns so when I see the increase, I expect it and it isn't as frustrating.

    Reading this is perfectly timed! Had an increase in spite of more exercise than usual (no, not enough to create more weight in lean muscle mass), and was sure there'd be at least a little drop. Nope...up a couple pounds instead. Reading your post has greatly calmed me down.

    On another note and to other posters, lighten up! To each his/her own. If weighing daily is tedious to you, then don't do it, but why be so judgemental about others' preferences for a daily weigh-in? There's wonder in diversity--thank heavens we don't all think the same way!
  • a_stronger_steph
    a_stronger_steph Posts: 434 Member
    Sounds to obsessive. Sorry if I offended anyone but tracking weight everyday is tedious. Once a week for me and it's been pretty consistent thus far...

    And tracking calories every day isn't?? :laugh:

    No because it's serving a purpose (health). Weighing everyday, in my humble opinion, serves no purpose but feeding into the obsessive behavior.

    Haha, wow. Your "humble" opinion is telling me I'm obsessive, eh? Goodness, I'd love to hear some of your not-so-humble opinions!

    Weighing every day serves a purpose for me: it keeps me on track. Also, it gives me more data points to help me better understand my body (hey, health, wassup!). I like knowing why my body has its ups and downs. For example, I am better able to understand how things like my period or a high sodium day affect my water retention. I gain knowledge and my body becomes less of a black-box.

    Furthermore, some studies have shown that daily weighing can be effective in helping people lose weight and keep it off (see, for example, http://medicineworld.org/cancer/lead/11-2005/daily-weighing-helps-people-lose-weight-prevents-weight-gain.html)

    So... while I'm very very glad you've found what works for you, I'm also very very glad I've found what works for me! And it's not obsessive, thanks very much! :wink:
  • registers
    registers Posts: 782 Member
    The only reason for waying yourself daily, Is weighing your self 5 days in a row. To get the "average" of all the numbers, to get a more accurate representation of your actual weight.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
    I weigh and record daily. I like numbers. Makes a nice little graph. Like a stock portfolio. I don't even care about the scale weight anymore, really. Now that I'm semi-maintaining, I like to keep it within a range of numbers. The little fluctuations, in conjunction with my current goal of body fat % reduction, lets me know I'm not losing a significant amount of muscle and that it should be fat being lost.
  • dedmon
    dedmon Posts: 19
    I weigh myself daily. One of the main reasons I got in the shape I'm in was due to the fact of NOT keeping track of my weight. Making a lifestyle habit of weighing in daily is far easier than reminding myself to weigh in once or twice a week, and helps to maintain my motivation.

    The fluctuation of weight is a bummer at times, like just a few days ago I increased 5lbs in weight out of no where, then dropped back down to what I was prior. But, taking measurements keeps discouragement in check.

    I personally don't think it's a bad idea to weigh in daily provided that you do this with realistic expectations. But if you're weighing in daily hoping to see steady weight loss, then it's time to reevaluate and define realistic expectations.
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