How often should I get on the scale?

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  • starryphoenix
    starryphoenix Posts: 381 Member
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    It's a matter of personal preference. I weigh myself every day because if I do something wrong I can fix it the next day. Doing it every day tells me a lot about what I should and shouldn't do.
  • vannyn42
    vannyn42 Posts: 59 Member
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    Usually 2-3x a week so I don't get obsessed about it. But it's enough to keep me motivated or to get me back on track.

  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
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    It's a matter of personal preference. I've done once a week and found it worked for me. Then I got a scale that automatically synced with my Fitbit and MFP, so I started weighing daily. I personally prefer the daily weighing bc it gives me an overall picture of what's happening, plus it gives me a greater picture of when my cycle is coming.

    If I've been doing everything right, and the scale jumps a few pounds, I can check my calendar and that jump almost always coincides with my cycle.

    Plus, I can connect my Fitbit to something like trendweight.com and it can give me a clearer picture of the overall picture of my weight loss.

    However, if you are someone who gets discouraged or depressed by the scale, you might be better off taking measurements every 4-6 weeks.
  • KareninLux
    KareninLux Posts: 1,413 Member
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    I spent years in denial about how much I weighed. Now I face it every morning. Keeps me honest.
  • VisofSer
    VisofSer Posts: 130 Member
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    For accuracy weigh every day, take weekly averages, use trend weight to see trends over time.

    More importantly, weight in whatever fashion that you can adhere to best and gives you useful data. Usually no longer than once per week, but being consistent and staying on habit is more vital than being perfect.
  • Gturner81
    Gturner81 Posts: 22 Member
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    clang74 wrote: »
    Weighing often sounds great, but leads to discouragement. I tend to weigh after I've had a few awesome days of exercise. Probably about 1 or 2x a week, but no schedule. It'll keep you motivated!
    vannyn42 wrote: »
    Usually 2-3x a week so I don't get obsessed about it. But it's enough to keep me motivated or to get me back on track.


    I agree with you there, get on there just enough to see if you are on the right track.
  • Morglez
    Morglez Posts: 46 Member
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    There isn't a set rule on weighing in. Do whatever works best for you, as everyone is different. I personally just weight once a week, because I know that my weight goes up and down on a daily basis. I tend to get discouraged if I see a slight gain, so I wait till the week is over. However my mom (when she is trying to lose weight) steps on the scale daily. She says it motivates her more. Do what makes you happy in the long run!
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    edited March 2016
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    mburgess458 wrote: »
    I have seen this advice before and never understood it. Seems like it could make things even worse. If you haven't weighed yourself in 2 weeks and happen to weigh yourself on a heavy day when it looks like you haven't lost (or even like you have gained) wouldn't that freak you out much more since it's over a 2 week period? For example, you could see 175 lbs....then 170 lbs.... then 171 lbs. Oh no, you gained weight!!! Nope, you have lost 4 lbs in 4 weeks (175 to 171), you just had a low/light weigh-in in the middle.

    There are people in these groups who freak out and obsess over every change upward in spite of the fact that hundreds of posts over the years have told them that they shouldn't be freaking out over them. From a cognitive behavioral perspective, this can activate self-defeating scripts related to their weight: "I'm a failure! I'll never get this right! I might as well give up!" with the result that they give up on whatever progress they've made and return to self-soothing with food.

    If you don't see this kind of self-destructive thinking in these groups, you haven't been reading them for long. If you don't have any negative beliefs about your own ability to lose weight and keep it off, that's good. But it would put you I think in the minority in these groups. It's more than a numbers game.
    If you weighed daily you would have seen it bounce around with a generally decreasing trend.

    If you weigh more frequently at least you would have seen the low/light day weigh-ins. It's all preferences, but I'd prefer to see what is going on more frequently.

    And you'll see less bouncing around with the same generally decreasing trend if you weigh yourself every two weeks. If you doubt this and have your daily weight records for the past six months, try sampling the data every other week and see what the numbers look like.
  • RebeccaNaegle
    RebeccaNaegle Posts: 236 Member
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    I weigh everyday in the morning after I go pee, and I record it, and I also run a 7 day average to get a better feel for whats happening.
  • rnelson88
    rnelson88 Posts: 122 Member
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    Every Wednesday morning when you first wake up is the best time statistically. This information is based off weight loss studies I've reviewed over the past couple years. If you would like the detailed studies, I can get that information for you. Hope this helps!
  • faramelee
    faramelee Posts: 163 Member
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    Firstly you are doing great, well done! The weighing is totally up to you. As you can see from all of the previous posts there is no right or wrong way, it is down to your personal choice. I think you are right in looking at measurements and how your clothes are fitting you currently though as our body's do change shape whilst not actually losing weight, we can all get so hung up on that number on the scales without actually looking a how our body is changing physically. I like to weigh every day (first thing in the morning, before food and after using the toilet) as I find it keeps me accountable, although I do not get hung up on the figure - if it shows a little higher than normal, I just know to be more aware of my intake for the next couple of days.

    Good luck!
  • vintage_diamond
    vintage_diamond Posts: 6 Member
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    I weigh myself first thing in the morning every single morning, and write down my weight on a calendar that I have specifically for logging weight loss on. I think what works for everyone is very individual. For some they might get too obsessive weighing themselves everyday. I'm at the other end of that, where weighing myself keeps me motivated and keeps me accountable. If I don't weigh myself everyday I will start slacking. I'm a numbers person, so I also really enjoy looking back at my weight log and seeing how far I've come.
  • nichalsont
    nichalsont Posts: 421 Member
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    Used to weigh every day. Little fluctuations caused me stress which I used as an excuse to overeat. Now, once weekly on Saturday morning.
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
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    I weigh once a week, and if I've lost I'll weigh the next day too, trying to ride the hot streak. As soon as I hit a non-losing day, I'll wait another week. Great system! for me at least.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,922 Member
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    Weighing every day helps me not stress about normal fluctuations. That's how I learned I gain weight when I ovulate, in addition to premenstrually, which I already knew about. I log new lows into MFP and chart daily weighs into Excel.

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  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
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    I have learned that eating more than 2oz of popcorn at work will make me retain water, about 2-3lbs, for 3 days. Same with chicken alfredo when the wife makes it from scratch at home. The fluctuations after going into maintenance used to bug me super bad, but now they are just a minor annoyance and by weighing everyday I'm beginning to understand what is going on with my body. It also helps keep me accountable, some people seem to need that accountability others don't.
  • MissMonicaC4
    MissMonicaC4 Posts: 279 Member
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    Onesnap wrote: »
    Once per week in the morning. :)
    Same here!!
  • lml852014
    lml852014 Posts: 243 Member
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    Weighing everyday has kept me accountable and I see the daily fluctuations and to see even if I may go up on the scale a lb or two my overall trend is I am losing at the rate I should be :)
  • lml852014
    lml852014 Posts: 243 Member
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    I used to really freak out when I weighed and was up so now this is helping!

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