weigh-in do's and don'ts

hroush
hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
edited September 28 in Chit-Chat
I thought I would provide some do's and don'ts for weigh-ins as this always seems to be a common topic. This itself has probably been done many times as well, but what's one more occurrence?

*note - This is mostly directed for new people to the program and especially those that are dependent on that little number. If you understand that it's only a number, there are better ways to measure success, etc, then this doesn't pertain to you, but feel free to add suggestions / feedback.

Best time to weigh-in:
- the commonly accepted weigh-in method on MFP is once a week, in the morning after waking up and using the restroom, but before showering and eating.
- Pick a day which will be the least affected by activities from the previous day or two. For example, I usually try to do it fridays as I used to work out mondays and wednesdays and generally got sucked into eating out on the weekend. Some people choose to do it monday in an attempt to deter overeating on the weekend, but it's all in what works for you.

You could have gained weight because of:
- water retention / increased sodium
- TOM
- eating more than usual in last day or two
- dehydration during previous weigh-in
- gaining muscle (please read this http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/234432-if-you-think-you-gained-muscle-read-this?)

You could have lost weight because:
- you actually burned fat (yay!)
- you burned muscle (it happens much more than people think)
- you are dehydrated
- you consumed more than normal in the last day or two
- you got a hair cut (I've weighed myself before and after and have lost 1 lb)

Things to remember:
- weight and weight loss fluctuate, period.
- weight loss takes time; you didn't gain it in a day, you won't lose it in a day.
- some people on here weigh everyday, but they have an "official" day that they keep track of once a week, again, it's all in what works for you.
- scales are not dead on accurate. For example, my wife has a digital scale that can change by 20 lbs just by stepping off and then back on again. I believe newer digital scales are better, but this is definitely a good test for precision.
- did you truly and accurately track everything you consumed? a bite or two of something one day won't matter, but "forgetting" to add the huge slice of birthday cake or the bag of oreos can affect you greatly.
-everybody is different, what works for other people may not work for you and vise versa.
- if once a week weigh-ins still causes you too much stress, try bi-monthly or once a month. Some people on here have gone 3+ months without weighing-in with success.

I'm sure I'm forgetting many things, but I'll leave that to the readers to decide and respond with. I'll try to watch the thread and add some in if I can.

Replies

  • deestowes
    deestowes Posts: 1
    I am a newcomer. This was very helpful. Thanks.
  • LaurieEReid
    LaurieEReid Posts: 273
    Good topic.
  • Shutterpillar
    Shutterpillar Posts: 208
    TOM means "time of the month". TOM is not an actual person named Tom. Took me forever to figure this out. :wink:
  • missvics
    missvics Posts: 112
    bump...coming back later
  • KBrenOH
    KBrenOH Posts: 704 Member
    Great topic and very nicely done!

    I myself don't reguarly weigh myself. Maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks if that.

    I had no idea though that you could burn muscle (unless that's what people mean by losing muscle due to starvation diets).

    thanks for posting this =)
  • jennywrens
    jennywrens Posts: 208
    TOM means "time of the month". TOM is not an actual person named Tom. Took me forever to figure this out. :wink:

    Poor old Tom gets a rough deal on here! He's blamed for everything!!!!
  • milanks
    milanks Posts: 122
    I weigh several times a week, sometimes every day, but I don't log a weight loss until I get that number several times in a row, then I tell myself it's "sticking" and I go ahead and log it so that I can work towards not going back above that number.
  • GLLove
    GLLove Posts: 77
    I was a weekly Friday morning weigher because I usually do better during the week when my schedule is more stable than on the weekends. My biggest problem with weekly weigh-ins is if I gain, I feel down (especially when I've had a consistently good week), and if I lose I feel like it's a get out of jail free card for the weekend. My digital scale stopped working a couple weeks ago, so I went a week or so without weighing in. I realized that maybe going month to month weigh in is the best for me because:

    1. It keeps me motivated. I want to see a big loss at the end of the month!
    2. TOM water gain is already over a week or two before weigh in
    3. I dont stress as much over one bad day; makes it easier for me to keep going
    4: I have almost 100 lbs left to lose, so right now I am getting better overall monthly numbers than I will when I get closer to my goal.
  • missvics
    missvics Posts: 112
    I admit I weight myself almost every day. I've dealt with my weight my entire life and the times I've done best have been when I keep a close eye on the scale. I also need to keep a close eye on my journal and work-out, but my daily weigh-in really helps motivate me to do so!!
    Recently my scale dies in a flood so I bought a new one a week later. I know scales vary, but it told me I had gained over 5 lbs...and really I probably had, or close to it because I really let myself slack that whole week. Without the motivation of checking myself I cheated a lot!!! I realize weighing every day is really not healthy for most people, but it seems to work for me.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    I admit I weight myself almost every day. I've dealt with my weight my entire life and the times I've done best have been when I keep a close eye on the scale. I also need to keep a close eye on my journal and work-out, but my daily weigh-in really helps motivate me to do so!!
    Recently my scale dies in a flood so I bought a new one a week later. I know scales vary, but it told me I had gained over 5 lbs...and really I probably had, or close to it because I really let myself slack that whole week. Without the motivation of checking myself I cheated a lot!!! I realize weighing every day is really not healthy for most people, but it seems to work for me.

    Thanks for the story and different point of view. Like I mentioned, different people need different things. If you require that constant reminder to keep on track, then by all means weigh every day.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    bump.
  • bcatgray
    bcatgray Posts: 41
    Thanks so much for this post. At one time I weighed myself daily. Then my scaled died and well, I had no way to weigh myself. Now I use the Wii to weigh myself and since it's such a hassle to get that thing out and calibrate it and listen to is huff and puff when I step on, I only weigh myself once a week on Sunday mornings after I've done my workout. I am pretty good on the weekends. Weekdays are my worst, believe it or not. So weighing in on Sunday sets the stage for what I need to do during the rest of the week.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    bump
  • ajl2
    ajl2 Posts: 40 Member
    I weigh myself every morning like clockwork. I know MFP says to do it only weekly, but I'm finding that daily is much better. It helps me to know if my eating choices were good the previous day. When I was weighing in on a weekly basis sometimes the scale would register a GAIN and then it was really difficult to figure out why I had gained and how to fix it.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    I weigh myself every morning like clockwork. I know MFP says to do it only weekly, but I'm finding that daily is much better. It helps me to know if my eating choices were good the previous day. When I was weighing in on a weekly basis sometimes the scale would register a GAIN and then it was really difficult to figure out why I had gained and how to fix it.

    If that's what works for you, by all means, go for it. Remember that the scale will only register how much you ate yesterday, not how good it was for you. A simple mental test, how would the scale register eating a pound of mixed veggies versus a twinkie? They are probably similar in calories, but you will weigh a pound more eating the veggies. The other way you could say this test is 1 lb of veggies versus 1 lb of twinkies? You would weigh the same, but the veggies would be much better for you.
  • Fochizzy
    Fochizzy Posts: 505 Member
    TOM means "time of the month". TOM is not an actual person named Tom. Took me forever to figure this out. :wink:

    Poor old Tom gets a rough deal on here! He's blamed for everything!!!!

    Very Nice!
  • ajl2
    ajl2 Posts: 40 Member
    I weigh myself every morning like clockwork. I know MFP says to do it only weekly, but I'm finding that daily is much better. It helps me to know if my eating choices were good the previous day. When I was weighing in on a weekly basis sometimes the scale would register a GAIN and then it was really difficult to figure out why I had gained and how to fix it.

    If that's what works for you, by all means, go for it. Remember that the scale will only register how much you ate yesterday, not how good it was for you. A simple mental test, how would the scale register eating a pound of mixed veggies versus a twinkie? They are probably similar in calories, but you will weigh a pound more eating the veggies. The other way you could say this test is 1 lb of veggies versus 1 lb of twinkies? You would weigh the same, but the veggies would be much better for you.

    So what you're saying is that all the stuff I ate just sat there....not being digested or broken down. Nutrients weren't absorbed by my body and I didn't poop out the waste? How long do you think it takes stuff to digest? A pound of veggies is not the same as a pound of twinkies.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    I weigh myself every morning like clockwork. I know MFP says to do it only weekly, but I'm finding that daily is much better. It helps me to know if my eating choices were good the previous day. When I was weighing in on a weekly basis sometimes the scale would register a GAIN and then it was really difficult to figure out why I had gained and how to fix it.

    If that's what works for you, by all means, go for it. Remember that the scale will only register how much you ate yesterday, not how good it was for you. A simple mental test, how would the scale register eating a pound of mixed veggies versus a twinkie? They are probably similar in calories, but you will weigh a pound more eating the veggies. The other way you could say this test is 1 lb of veggies versus 1 lb of twinkies? You would weigh the same, but the veggies would be much better for you.

    So what you're saying is that all the stuff I ate just sat there....not being digested or broken down. Nutrients weren't absorbed by my body and I didn't poop out the waste? How long do you think it takes stuff to digest? A pound of veggies is not the same as a pound of twinkies.

    What I'm saying is that even though everything is digested, until you excrete it, that pound of veggies is still in your body. There is a minute loss due to breathing, sweating, skin flaking, etc, but most of it will be in the bathroom. What I meant by a pound of veggies and pound of twinkies is that they weigh the same, but the nutritional value is completely different. If one person consumed 5 lbs of veggies a day and another consumed 5 lbs of twinkies a day for a month, holding everything else constant, the person consuming the veggies would weigh less in the long run because they are excreting more of their intake (fiber) whereas the twinkie consumer absorbs more of theirs (calories) and is unable to burn it off.
  • melindalamb
    melindalamb Posts: 80
    Thank you!
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    Thank you!

    you're welcome.
  • MiniMichelle
    MiniMichelle Posts: 801 Member
    bump
  • MrsRobertson1005
    MrsRobertson1005 Posts: 552 Member
    bump
  • sagisun1969
    sagisun1969 Posts: 46
    Speaking of Tom....carbs cause water retention. I've noticed when I reduce the carbs during my Tom, I don't have ANY weight gain. Before I started doing this, I used to gain 5-7 lbs during my Tom.
  • garrettnicole92
    garrettnicole92 Posts: 101
    Great post!
    I'm a once-a-week, Wednesday morning weigh in, but I have a bad habit of stepping on the scale every morning. I'm not really sure why, but it helps keep me motivated to work harder and be healthier when I see that the scale isn't moving.
  • karlz87
    karlz87 Posts: 37
    bump
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