Actual loss per week & watching weight daily vs weekly

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donjtomasco
donjtomasco Posts: 789 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a daily graph from 2013 and 2015, and I weighed daily then and do now. When I subtracted the aberrational large amount of weight lost in the first week from my total weight lost to my end goal (which I hit both times), my actual weight lost per week was .92 pounds in 2013 and 1.23 pounds in 2015 lost per week.

I saw that in both years I had a particular weight amount that took 3 weeks to get through each time. However, in both those 3 week periods I had pretty big daily swings during those 3 weeks.

I am glad that I don't weigh in once a week. I looked at each 7 day period over each plan, and had I weighed just once a week, I can see where in some cases I would have been left wondering why I was just "GAINING" weight (over several weeks) instead of being able to see that I actually had some low weight days as I worked through those plateau periods. Knowing myself, I would have been SO SO SO bummed out, and could have possibly bailed on the plan, we all know what those weight days are like.....

I know some people say "Don't Weigh Daily", but I can see now how 'for me' it is important to see over time on my graph my progression, since in both years the trends were always slow but steady after that first week dump of water and junk weight. But weighing weekly would have looked terrible on any given day that would have been my selected daily weight day.

Also, I know how I am, and I would be apt to starve myself on that 6th day to try and game the scale for that eagerly awaited 7th day weigh in. God forbid we would have had an event to go to the night before, where I might have gotten less sleep and been off my game with my food, which I am prone to do, that OCD thing......

So for my 2016 plan, I am keeping in mind how 'for me' a pound a week is really realistic, it is just my metabolism, and what I lose for my age and lifestyle, no matter how much I work out.

Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I think how much people weigh themselves is a personal thing.

    I aim for 1/2lb a week but don't push it....so if I was on the scale everyday I would see nothing...which can be disheartening.

    I usually weigh once a week or once every 10 days...
  • jen_bush
    jen_bush Posts: 679 Member
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    I weigh in daily to be able to record a trend, but only pay attention to my loss every week - when I know it's not just fluctuation. :) I aim for 1lb a week, but I tend to lose quicker for some reason.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    I use happy scale and weigh daily, I like to see the fluctuations and see that I am trending down.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,945 Member
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    I agree with everything in the OP. I also weigh daily, for all the same reasons - plus then I don't forget to weigh on that one special day. That one day is meaningless in my opinion - I bounce around on a daily basis, but the trend is down.
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
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    +1 on daily weighing
  • KnitSewSpin
    KnitSewSpin Posts: 147 Member
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    I weigh daily too. When I don't I go into denial mode and usually end up gaining. It keeps me on track.
  • bkinsey1979
    bkinsey1979 Posts: 10 Member
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    I've lost (and regained) a LOT of weight as an adult, with most of that being on "weigh once a week" plans. I started weighing daily about 6 months ago and I feel so better mentally and am much more consistent with what I eat when I see the number every day. It also helps me with the reality that fluctuations are not the same thing as gains, and one day's number isn't the final number. I do only record once a week, though, usually on the same day unless weigh-in day is abnormally high or abnormally low, and then I check again the next day by which point the number has typically settled.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    I weigh daily and use trendweight.
  • ObsidianMist
    ObsidianMist Posts: 519 Member
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    yep 100%.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,973 Member
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    I agree. I weigh daily for the same reasons. I also have times where if I only weighed weekly it would look like I had gained especially now that I am down to the last 15 pounds and it isn't coming off as fast as it did when I had 60 pounds to lose. But I can see that my trend is going down and it helps me stay motivated. Plus I don't worry at all about weigh ins. It's like brushing my teeth. It is just something I do first thing in the morning. I have friends on here that I see comment every week about being nervous about the weigh in the next day. I had one friend who almost gave up because she gained 2 ounces one week instead of losing. I felt really bad for her. She is only trying to lose about 20 pounds and I believe it was probably water fluctuations, but she was really down about it.
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 789 Member
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    Last year I weighed every night before bed for the 12 weeks for fun to see how nightly weight correlated and fluctuated and to see over time how much weight on average I lost each night. The graph not surprisingly was similar except with larger swings.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    If I didn't weigh daily, the next best for me would be monthly. Weekly weigh-ins can be all over the place when you're already fairly lean and are female so hormones play a bigger role, which is where I am.

    With enough historical data and daily weigh ins, I can see I'm losing even when my current short-term trend is increasing. I can see that exact same pattern for the past X months and that the overall pattern now is lower than it was then.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    stealthq wrote: »
    If I didn't weigh daily, the next best for me would be monthly. Weekly weigh-ins can be all over the place when you're already fairly lean and are female so hormones play a bigger role, which is where I am.

    With enough historical data and daily weigh ins, I can see I'm losing even when my current short-term trend is increasing. I can see that exact same pattern for the past X months and that the overall pattern now is lower than it was then.

    Yup, if I didn't weigh daily, I'd weigh monthly, a week after my period started. Comparing this week to last week is inaccurate due to being in different parts of the menstrual cycle.

    Weighing daily has accustomed me to the normal fluctuations, and taught me that I gain at ovulation as well as when I'm premenstrual.
  • one1fast68
    one1fast68 Posts: 51 Member
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    I weigh twice a day but have only been recording my "true" losses. Starting this morning, I'm going to record each mornings weight so I can do exactly what you have done.
  • Nicole_kayy
    Nicole_kayy Posts: 88 Member
    edited November 2016
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    heatherheyns wrote: »
    I used to think weighing weekly was best for me, but now that I weight daily, I love it. I use a trend site to see what my trending weight is, but I like being able to see the fluctuations. I know now that if I eat certain foods high in sodium, I will show a gain of 2lbs the next day due to water retention. That is something I never knew weighing weekly. If I'm only set to lose a lb a week, then normal fluctuations can make it seem as if I've lose nothing over a week. Now, it isn't the same for everyone, but for me, weighing daily has given me a lot more information about how my body works that I didn't have before.

    Which trend site do you use? @heatherheyns
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    I like to weigh daily out of curiosity but I only check in/mark down my weight once a week. Otherwise my graph would feel too frustrating. I mean I already know I'm not going to go down until that week is up (and even then, just very subtly) so why bother tracking that? But that's because this is how I lose - slowly, and without, usually, very large spikes up or down so that I would need to take an average. My spikes are generally very small and week by week I go down so that's viewable in that way.

    Hope that made sense.

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