What's with daily weigh-ins?
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I only log my food - that's all I do and am losing weight consistently. I think for me weighing myself everyday and weighing food everyday will just play with my mental well-being but we are all different.0
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Christine_72 wrote: »soufauxgirl wrote: »one phrase comes to mind after reading this thread....analysis paralysis.
I understand and appreciate all the reasons, but I just cant imagine dedicating so much time to graphs and fluctuations and syncs..but power to you all if that's what you need to stay on track.
So is weighing and logging every little thing one eats.
But I weigh myself daily which then syncs to Trendweight, and weigh and log all my food. The more data I can accumulate, the better Imo.
First thing that sprang to my mind too
"I have an app that I use to meticulously log everything I eat multiple times per day, but stepping on a scale once a day, now that's taking things too far!" 0 -
It takes a lot less time to weigh myself and log it into Fitbit than it does to weigh out my lunch.soufauxgirl wrote: »one phrase comes to mind after reading this thread....analysis paralysis.
I understand and appreciate all the reasons, but I just cant imagine dedicating so much time to graphs and fluctuations and syncs..but power to you all if that's what you need to stay on track.
As for the graph, I'll take a cursory glance two or three times a week when I'm on the toilet.
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When weighing daily becomes a crime you can take my scale from my cold dead feet. Since I'm still new at this 'care what you eat' business I weigh daily to satisfy my curiosity about not just my weight. I want to see if I understand how my body reacts to sodium. I want to see if I can learn how my body reacts to exercise. I want to keep tabs on my progress to a particular goal of April 23, which is now in doubt. This daily weighing even showed me that I can add morning pounds by putting half my daily 8 glasses of water after 6 pm. That could be something I care to know some day. Moreover, I don't let the scale frustrate me. If it measures a loss greater than my trend, I want to understand why. If it measures a gain greater than I expect, I want to understand why. If it measures no change, I want to understand why.0
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »When weighing daily becomes a crime you can take my scale from my cold dead feet. Since I'm still new at this 'care what you eat' business I weigh daily to satisfy my curiosity about not just my weight. I want to see if I understand how my body reacts to sodium. I want to see if I can learn how my body reacts to exercise. I want to keep tabs on my progress to a particular goal of April 23, which is now in doubt. This daily weighing even showed me that I can add morning pounds by putting half my daily 8 glasses of water after 6 pm. That could be something I care to know some day. Moreover, I don't let the scale frustrate me. If it measures a loss greater than my trend, I want to understand why. If it measures a gain greater than I expect, I want to understand why. If it measures no change, I want to understand why.
Yep, so true. And very interesting observation re: the water after 6pm, I would never have connected the two.
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maidengirl_ wrote: »Daily weigh ins just seem like overkill to me and not healthy at all.
Nonsense - which I hope you appreciate from the responses you've received.
One additional reason that was hinted at - but I don't think was stated explicitly - is that it takes away the power of the scale. When you weigh once a week or once a month, that day becomes important and people often start gearing their food consumption as the weigh-in nears toward making sure they show a loss/gain/maintenance on that all-important day. The farther between weigh-ins, the more significance an individual weigh in has. That is not a healthy relationship with either food or the scale. Someone I know ran into health insurance problems because they insisted on having their doctor's visit before the Christmas holidays in order to have an A1c that wasn't tainted by Christmas excess, but unfortunately it was too soon for insurance purposes. Even though I do weigh daily, I experience some of this effect because I had set a goal of losing 20 lbs by my 2 month follow-up following diabetes diagnosis. As the appointment approached, I started to think more about the weigh in & wonder if I was going to make it. I don't think I changed any eating habits - and my weight trend line didn't take a nose-dive. But I was much more aware of that 2-month weigh in than I am of stepping on the scales every day. I have deliberately not set a goal for my next visit (in a couple of weeks). Both are the same principle - take away the power of special days by making every day special (or routine).
When it is just something you do every day, you either freak out every day about what will show up on the scale the next day (in which case you need professional help) or it becomes a routine, healthy part of your life habits - like brushing your teeth. No pressure - since you will be weighing in again tomorrow, the next day, the next day, etc.
This is the best thing I've read for someone that would do once/month weigh ins! I first thought people were bananas for weighing themselves everyday. As I for one, have always had an unhealthy relationship with the scale. I asked a similar question yesterday on here http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10362574/how-often-should-i-be-weighing-myself-for-weight-loss/p1 so that's why I am chiming in and saying 'Thank YOU' for enlightening me! I am going to start this routine to take the power away from the scale 0 -
I love, love, LOVE Trendweight. If I saw too high of a fluctuation months ago I would have freaked out and immediately cut calories. Because of Trendweight, I know the exact times of the month to expect spikes and I can predict my weight after a high sodium day within 0.2 pounds. It's helped me really know the ins and outs of my body and I love the reading/seeing the data.
is this an app @synacious and does it predict what trend your weight should go?0 -
Yeah it does, but daily weighing is a waste of time imo. I weigh myself once a week and keep it to that. I don't want to, or need to, know how much my weight fluctuates from day to day - it serves no useful purpose to me. The only reason I can see for doing it is if your seriously training for a contest or athletic event. Besides its about healthy living as much as anything else so I don't see how knowing you gained a 1lb one day and lost it the next helps with that goal. However, if your not obsessing on the weight but just feel comfortable doing that then why not.0
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I love, love, LOVE Trendweight. If I saw too high of a fluctuation months ago I would have freaked out and immediately cut calories. Because of Trendweight, I know the exact times of the month to expect spikes and I can predict my weight after a high sodium day within 0.2 pounds. It's helped me really know the ins and outs of my body and I love the reading/seeing the data.
is this an app @synacious and does it predict what trend your weight should go?
It's a website and yes it does. I have a wireless scale (Fitbit Aria) and it sends the info to Trendweight for me. Trendweight takes that data and generates the graph you see to let me know how much I'm gaining or losing per week, how many calories more/less I need to eat to reach the rate I want, and how long it should take me to hit my desired weight goal. I know people who don't own a Fitbit Aria/Fitbit product, make free Fitbit accounts, and enter their weight daily to bypass the need for a wireless scale to use Trendweight. I know there are apps like Trendweight, I believe that two are called Libra and Happy Scale, but I cannot vouch for how useful they may or may not be.
As a sidenote, I realize now by looking at my post again that the graph I linked directly from Trendweight automatically updates itself on my past 4 weeks, hence my post being in February but the graph showing March through April. When I originally posted that graph in February, it showed a downward trend and I was losing weight since I was cutting. I'm on a bulk now, which is why it is now showing an upward trend and my prior post makes less sense. Oops! In the future I'll take screenshots of the graphs instead of linking directly from Trendweight's website.
Anyway, Trendweight has been useful for both aspects of fitness. When I started bulking I was eating 250 calories more than my assumed TDEE and still wasn't gaining. Trendweight helped me realize how much more I needed to eat to get there. I really like the data and facts it gives. I feel it's been an integral component in reaching my goals.0 -
Yeah it does, but daily weighing is a waste of time imo. I weigh myself once a week and keep it to that. I don't want to, or need to, know how much my weight fluctuates from day to day - it serves no useful purpose to me. The only reason I can see for doing it is if your seriously training for a contest or athletic event. Besides its about healthy living as much as anything else so I don't see how knowing you gained a 1lb one day and lost it the next helps with that goal. However, if your not obsessing on the weight but just feel comfortable doing that then why not.
For me it's more about not letting the weekly weigh-in confuse and scare me. One problem with weekly weigh-ins, and this has been stated repeatedly, is that weekly weigh-ins will only by coincidence be representative for your current "real" weight. You could be 2 pounds heavier or lighter the next day. No single day is more correct or important than another. Weighing daily makes me more aware that my effort today counts, so I will make an effort, but I can't undo all my effort in one day either. (A week of not caring could do a lot of damage.) Knowing all this, calms me. It takes much less time to just weigh myself than to fear that I have gained weight.0 -
I weigh myself daily and log it on my happy scale app. I like to go back and see the fluctuations and look at what I ate that day and see the differences and what not. I only track my actual weight on Mondays each week though. That's my "official" weigh-in day.0
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VintageFeline wrote: »I have weighed daily since I started, takes the power away from the scale for me. In the last month I've finally started tracking with Happy Scale because I'll be closing in on goal in a few months and the nuances will become more important to me.
I love happy scale! I use it along with my food diary here to see how I eat vs the changes in my weight. 0 -
I weigh daily for the metrics. I want to record as much data about my journey as possible.
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maidengirl_ wrote: »I have noticed a lot of people doing daily weigh-ins. Does your weight really fluctuate that much in a 24 hour period?
+/- 5 lbs in a single day.
But, I weigh daily for two reasons:
* To track caloric burn more accurately in GarminConnect.
* To better track trending in the HappyScale app.
I only pay attention to the "Average Weight" in Happy Scale, really.0 -
Daily weigh ins help keep me on track. If I knew I had a week til weigh in I fully believe I would eat more and rationalize that I could make it up later in the week. Also, if I see a higher number I think back to what did I eat yesterday and can understand how different things effect my body:)0
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Ive just started weighing daily from years of Monday only. Downloaded happy scale and unsynced my Aria from MFP.
Monday will still be the day that goes into MFP- but I want more data. I want more x=y in my life. LOL.
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I weigh several times a week but only record it once a week. I have so many fluctuations, I view it as confirming the accuracy of my weekly number (though I log it regardless). However, I sometimes hear people comment that daily weigh-ins keep them on track or allow them to make adjustments and I've seen that practiced as "I'm up .2 lb today so I'm reducing my calories today to make up for it", and that makes no sense to me. Fluctuations are just that- not necessarily body fat- and trying to adjust for them seems pointless. Now if I were consistently high for a couple of weeks, then I would want to make an adjustment.0
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For me it's more about not letting the weekly weigh-in confuse and scare me. One problem with weekly weigh-ins, and this has been stated repeatedly, is that weekly weigh-ins will only by coincidence be representative for your current "real" weight. You could be 2 pounds heavier or lighter the next day. No single day is more correct or important than another. Weighing daily makes me more aware that my effort today counts, so I will make an effort, but I can't undo all my effort in one day either. (A week of not caring could do a lot of damage.) Knowing all this, calms me. It takes much less time to just weigh myself than to fear that I have gained weight. [/quote]
I'm with you. Weighing weekly gave way too much importance to that number and I'd let it affect the next 7 days. "Yay, I lost a pound, I'm going to eat" or "Rats, I gained a pound, I'm going to eat" Weighing daily lets me put the numbers into perspective and stay focused one day at a time.
It's a personal choice. Daily isn't right for everyone, weekly isn't wrong for everyone. Daily might stop working for me and I'll change.0 -
I weigh myself daily (or sometimes every other day) and log it on my computer (not MFP). I used to write it in a notebook, but now I keep my journal on my computer and that's something I log. Takes seconds -- not really sure why anyone would think it takes a bunch of time. Also, I don't think the number is significant -- the point is to desensitize myself to it (which I have, it's like brushing my teeth and I know it can't be a real difference from the day before) so I don't start going a long time without weighing, like I have in the past (which is trouble).
Weighly weekly is fine, but I'm more likely to be bothered by fluctuations if I only have weekly numbers, and -- more significant -- while in maintenance I'm more likely to forget or blow it off if only doing it weekly.
Really, there's only something obsessive about weighing daily if you make it so. I'd say that thinking it would have some big mental drawback is more likely to be indicative of putting too much significance in the number.0 -
Yep, I weigh daily and use TrendWeight. I skip some days, though, and other times I'll even weigh more than once per day. Once, I was 9 lbs. different in 3-4 hours.0
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perkymommy wrote: »I weigh myself daily and log it on my happy scale app. I like to go back and see the fluctuations and look at what I ate that day and see the differences and what not. I only track my actual weight on Mondays each week though. That's my "official" weigh-in day.
Side note here for Android users: Happy Scale is only available for IOS, but Libra is a free app that does similar weight-trending things, and is available for Android. (There are others, too.)
We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum thread . . . .0 -
perkymommy wrote: »I weigh myself daily and log it on my happy scale app. I like to go back and see the fluctuations and look at what I ate that day and see the differences and what not. I only track my actual weight on Mondays each week though. That's my "official" weigh-in day.
Side note here for Android users: Happy Scale is only available for IOS, but Libra is a free app that does similar weight-trending things, and is available for Android. (There are others, too.)
We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum thread . . . .
I have Libra on my phone and Trendweight on my pc. Trendweight is so much easier to read and much more comprehensive. Libra is just a red and and blue line across my screen with a red dot here and there.0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »perkymommy wrote: »I weigh myself daily and log it on my happy scale app. I like to go back and see the fluctuations and look at what I ate that day and see the differences and what not. I only track my actual weight on Mondays each week though. That's my "official" weigh-in day.
Side note here for Android users: Happy Scale is only available for IOS, but Libra is a free app that does similar weight-trending things, and is available for Android. (There are others, too.)
We now return you to your regularly scheduled forum thread . . . .
I have Libra on my phone and Trendweight on my pc. Trendweight is so much easier to read and much more comprehensive. Libra is just a red and and blue line across my screen with a red dot here and there.
Heh.
Perhaps it works better for daily weigh/log folks like me, since my graph looks materially different. The detail screens behind the graph have a lot of good info about effective calorie deficit, for example, and I understand enough about the underlying statistics to get some good out of varying the settings to answer questions for myself. Trendweight (I believe) requires you to have a Fitbit account (though not necessarily a Fitbit, as I understand it), or a compatible scale.
Different options will work better for different people - so I think it's useful that you've said why you prefer Trendweight, even though my preference is different.0 -
I weigh several times a week but only record it once a week. I have so many fluctuations, I view it as confirming the accuracy of my weekly number (though I log it regardless). However, I sometimes hear people comment that daily weigh-ins keep them on track or allow them to make adjustments and I've seen that practiced as "I'm up .2 lb today so I'm reducing my calories today to make up for it", and that makes no sense to me. Fluctuations are just that- not necessarily body fat- and trying to adjust for them seems pointless. Now if I were consistently high for a couple of weeks, then I would want to make an adjustment.
No, that doesn't make sense - it shows a total lack of understanding of what water weight is, and those who can't stop that practice, even after being educated about water weight fluctuations... shouldn't weigh every day. I don't change my eating until I see a consistent trend (but I need daily weighings to see that trend).0
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