Daily vs weekly scale watching

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nightangelstars
nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I read something in the 'Prevention Guide Weight Loss' magazine that I wanted to toss out there. I know this site and most people in it advocate weekly weigh-ins, but a blurb in the magazine says this:

'Weighing yourself on a daily basis can help you lose weight. TRUE. Researchers found that dieters who stepped on the scale every day lot an average of 12 pounds over 2 years (weekly scale watchers lost just 6) and were less likely to regain lost weight. Daily monitoring helps ID the behavioral slips that cause weight gain.'

Now, I don't have the specific of this study, and I would very much like to know if this was a true experiment (assigned conditions rather than correlated variables). So I can't really criticize it with the brief info given in the magazine. However, I would love to get some feedback on this and if anyone has run across studies that agree or contradict this, I would really love it if you could pass it on. I would ESPECIALLY love to see the original text of the study! Thanks everyone!

P.S. I've never bought this mini-mag before, I happened to catch this blurb while flipping through in the checkout line at Meijer and bought it just for this, just an FYI.

Replies

  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
    Options
    I read something in the 'Prevention Guide Weight Loss' magazine that I wanted to toss out there. I know this site and most people in it advocate weekly weigh-ins, but a blurb in the magazine says this:

    'Weighing yourself on a daily basis can help you lose weight. TRUE. Researchers found that dieters who stepped on the scale every day lot an average of 12 pounds over 2 years (weekly scale watchers lost just 6) and were less likely to regain lost weight. Daily monitoring helps ID the behavioral slips that cause weight gain.'

    Now, I don't have the specific of this study, and I would very much like to know if this was a true experiment (assigned conditions rather than correlated variables). So I can't really criticize it with the brief info given in the magazine. However, I would love to get some feedback on this and if anyone has run across studies that agree or contradict this, I would really love it if you could pass it on. I would ESPECIALLY love to see the original text of the study! Thanks everyone!

    P.S. I've never bought this mini-mag before, I happened to catch this blurb while flipping through in the checkout line at Meijer and bought it just for this, just an FYI.
  • Samanimal83
    Samanimal83 Posts: 28 Member
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    I'm a daily weigher. It keeps the goal in the front of my mind and I do better. I've found that when I don't weigh myself every day, I'm more likely to binge.
  • hmo4
    hmo4 Posts: 1,673 Member
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    The Researchers must be male cause I don't know about you guys, but with hormonal changes and water retention, I'd be miserable quite often and discouraged. My husband is a daily weigh guy and swears that it helps him. :huh:
  • jennlos
    jennlos Posts: 200
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    I am a daily weigher, I think that what they said has truth, I weigh myself everymorning as soon as I get up and if the scale reads a half pound or pound heavier I know that it was because of what I ate the day before. Except when its my week then forget it, too discouraging.
  • j_g4ever
    j_g4ever Posts: 1,925 Member
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    I have always weighed in once a week and I was talking to someone about her weight loss and she told me to start weighing everyday because that helps you stay on track and that is what her doctor told her to do and she has lost like over 60lbs. So I don't know. I think as soon as I get to my goal i would do the daily thing because I don't want to gain all this weight back.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
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    I am a daily guy but have come to accept the flucuations which can drive you crazy...sodium today....and tomorrow is gonna be a "high" day.....so if you can hang with teh fluctuations...I say why not...

    good luck'
    Dave:smile:
  • raincloud
    raincloud Posts: 405 Member
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    I believe this 100% and it makes me mad when people say "you should never weigh yourself everyday!" It's whatever works for you.

    Honestly, I am ok with the ups and downs everyday. But if I weighed myself once a week, that day would be built up so high that if I didn't lose, or it was a small loss I'd be so devastated.

    Plus, so many weekly weighers that I know are like "well, I weighed myself today so this pizza tonight will be ok, I have a week to not see my weight".... seems odd. You should eat well because it's healthy and you want to be at a better weight, not because you don't know what it is.

    Just my $.02
  • fiddlechic
    fiddlechic Posts: 196
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    I weigh myself daily but I had to learn not to freak out if I went up 3 pounds for no reason and I only write down my weekly weight bc thats where you see the true changes. If you are staying within your calories then that will show up each week, I agree that if I only weigh myself one a week then I tend to fall off track. If I binge and see it on the scale the next day it really helps keep me in check.
  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
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    I am weighing myself every morning, but I won't log my weight changes on here more than once per week. For me, my weight can flux 1-3 lbs depending on my hydration level, time of day and other factors. But if I see a difference of more than 2-3 lbs between two days and weighing at the same time, then I know something is amiss and I will pay closer attention to what I'm eating & drinking because of it.
  • joonieB
    joonieB Posts: 101
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    I am a woman and I weigh myself daily. I have always weighed in every day. Yes, water retention among other things related my hormones will cause some fluctuation. THAT IS THE REASON I WEIGH IN EVERY DAY. If I only weigh myself once a week, how will that tell me a more accurate number? What if I am retaining water on that one weigh in? I personally find great encouragement from watching the scale inch it's way downward. Lately (the past 4 days) I have hit a plateau, and knowing that I have given my days a little more "umph". But I have yet to have a day where I went up more than a 1/2 pound. That is because I am being very careful to follow the diet rules and do what I am supposed to. I would find it too easy to cheat here and there on Saturday and Sunday if I knew the day of reckoning wasn't until Friday. I have heard that the naturally "skinny" people who are watching their weight weigh themselves daily, and I believe it. Because until I hit a metabolism bump in the road last year, I used to be one!

    5 down, 15 to go!!!!
  • Wynnie
    Wynnie Posts: 225 Member
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    Well, I see I'm casting my vote with the majority here. Yes, every day and always ALWAYS at the same time and conditions (right after I get up - birthday suit). It's a real motivator! Some days I think for SURE I lost a pound and it went up one (or 2 - gasp), and sometimes I am dreading seeing bad news and get a nice surprise. But overall, it is nice to see, just little by little, that hard work, discipline, extra workout and so on, making a difference!
  • hmo4
    hmo4 Posts: 1,673 Member
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    K, gang-I'm gonna try it. I was always discouraged to do so, but I'll try it for the BLC duration.:wink:
  • harlequsngirl
    harlequsngirl Posts: 7
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    I weigh in most days at the gym but I record my weight every monday and take my measurements then as well. Even when the scale doesn't move much I still lose inches so I know I'm doing good.
  • samster85
    samster85 Posts: 51
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    I try to get on the scale daily. I do find that it helps keep me in check more so than just looking once a week.

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