Why it can sometimes better to use an AVERAGE weight rather than just once per week

NasMax
NasMax Posts: 138 Member
edited July 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
I just want to pre-face this by first saying that this is not necessarily the OVERALL best way to do things, but rather from a purely mathmatical & accuracy point of view.

Some people have deep layered emotional issues in regards to using the scales & perhaps need to stay far away from them & find an alternative method for tracking progress

BUT... if you're already using the weighing scales & plan on doing so for the foreseeable future... using a weekly AVERAGE weight rather than weighing just once per week will yield much more accurate data.


So lets say you're taking your weight every friday morning... 3 consecutive weeks could look like this:

Starting weight: 172lbs

WK1: 170lbs

Brilliant, 2 lbs loss & no need to make changes to your activity or calorie intake

WK2 168

Amazing, another 2 lbs loss & no need to make any unnecessary changes yet

WK3 172

"DAAAMMMNN!!!"

"WTF happened.. I swear I've been on point, how can I have possibly not only gained weight, but eliminated 3 weeks work?

Right, so now I'll have to remove more food & up my activity"

The reality is that daily changes & fluctuations in water & glycogen weight has thrown off the appearance of your weekly weight & may now cause you to now make a bunch of un-needed changes to your plan which will change your whole trajectory...

Now just imagine if that weight was WRONG & you've now changed your whole plan & course of actions based on that one single incorrect weight?

Let's revisit those weigh ins, but this time we'll take 3 per week (Friday, Sat & Sunday for example) & use the average of the 3 weights

Starting weight: 172lbs

WK1: 170, 171 & 170lbs = an average of 170.33lbs

Brilliant, almost 2 lbs down!

WK2: 168, 167 & 169lbs = an average of 168lbs

Awsome, another 2lbs down!

WK3: 172, 167 & 165lbs = an average of 168lbs

NO CHANGE SINCE LAST WEEK:

But given that the 172 was massive jump & can be assumed to be nothing more that excess water weight, I could actually now ignore that weight and take a 4th weight the next day (Monday) & use that in place of the 172 weight which was simply a jump in water weight

= 167, 165 & 166lbs = = an average of 166lbs

So now I can see that I've actually LOST 2 lbs, where as if I had of just taken the single day weight of 172, it would have thrown everything off,

possibly changing the amount of activity/exercise I'm doing & changing the amount of calories I'm consuming (which could cause a slowdown in my metabolic rate earlier that it needs to be) and would have throw my whole trajectory off course for the entire remainder of my journey.

..and with my new perspective, I can see that my plan is going along perfectly & has made a MASSIVE difference to my mentality compared to when I thought I'd failed & got down on myself (The 172 day)

AGAIN, ...I'm not saying that weighing is for everyone (some people need to stay far away from the scales for emotional reasons) but if you are going to weigh yourself, taking an average is MUCH more accurate than taking a weekly weight

Not 'better' overall, but more 'acurate' from week to week

Hope this helps! :slight_smile:

Replies

  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    I used to do something nearly identical, but I would weigh myself every morning and keep averages per week.
    I say used to, because now that I'm in my current weight range and running keto, it's not uncommon for my scale reading to be the exact same (to the tenth) for a week or two straight. The keto part is only relevant in that I don't have to deal with glyco/water flux anywhere near as much.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    hehe
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    i agree this is a good approach

    take home message regardless of how often you weigh is never freak out over one weigh in, always look at the trends!
  • NasMax
    NasMax Posts: 138 Member
    4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »
    i agree this is a good approach

    take home message regardless of how often you weigh is never freak out over one weigh in, always look at the trends!

    Exactly :)
  • leslienicole318
    leslienicole318 Posts: 86 Member
    This is why I like to weigh every day at the exact same time. 9 am after I pee, before I eat, and I record everyday so I can see the fluctuations over the whole week
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    I let trendweight.com do it for me. :)
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    Gallowmere1984 wrote: »
    I used to do something nearly identical, but I would weigh myself every morning and keep averages per week.

    Same here. I would record my weight based on a 30 day average. I haven't started up my spreadsheet again but I will soon.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,164 Member
    That is exactly why I weigh daily.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I weigh daily and chart it in Excel. Because I have a menstrual cycle, I compare my weight to this time last month rather than last week. (Like many women, I gain weight when I ovulate and premenstrually.)
  • elkhunter7x6
    elkhunter7x6 Posts: 88 Member
    CoachJen71 wrote: »
    I let trendweight.com do it for me. :)
    ^^ this. I weigh every day and my scale automatically records my weight on trendweight.com.

  • queenofpuppies
    queenofpuppies Posts: 189 Member
    edited July 2016
    I weigh every morning and use the nifty MFP chart section to see the overall downward trajectory. I used to weigh in monthly and was really confused by the fluctuation. Turns out I can fluctuate by as much as 5lbs between days during my TOM. I feel like daily weighing actually helps me to worry about the number on the scale less because I know it can vary so widely.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    I also weight myself everyday at the same time after using the bathroom and record it on MFP and in Excel. The number can vary up and down from day to day but it's the trend that matters.
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    elkhunter7x6 wrote: »
    CoachJen71 wrote: »
    I let trendweight.com do it for me. :)
    ^^ this. I weigh every day and my scale automatically records my weight on trendweight.com.

    I don't have the Aria, so still entering mine here at MFP.
  • MissCaroline71
    MissCaroline71 Posts: 24 Member
    I use Libra just for this reason on my android phone.......

    It has seriously stopped my "F*&( its".
    I used to be "good" for a few days - then my weight would shoot up "out of nowhere!!", and I would be like "F*() it - Im gonna have this burger, this chocolate, this milkshake"

    Nowadays........ even if I put on a couple(few) pounds due to <insert one of 100 reasons - water retention, sodium, time of month, muscle repair>...... Libra shows the trend is still "down", and I dont sabotage myself as much.....

  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,374 Member
    I use Libra as well and just pay attention to the trend on the graph and don't freak out about the fluctuations.
  • fireytiger
    fireytiger Posts: 236 Member
    This is great advice, I try to do this occasionally. Unfortunately sometimes I have issues because i'll retain water weight for a couple days, it takes a while to flush it from my system, so I get discouraged if I see it not going down. But then it'll suddenly drop like 2lbs out of nowhere and that's when I know that the water weight finally left lol.
  • NasMax
    NasMax Posts: 138 Member
    edited July 2016
    fireytiger wrote: »
    This is great advice, I try to do this occasionally. Unfortunately sometimes I have issues because i'll retain water weight for a couple days, it takes a while to flush it from my system, so I get discouraged if I see it not going down. But then it'll suddenly drop like 2lbs out of nowhere and that's when I know that the water weight finally left lol.

    You could always compare the difference between averages every two weeks rather than each week (or each each month) as it gives a larger scope for real change to occur :)

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