Do you weigh yourself too often?

micayla75 · October 2016

One of the problems I have when I start focusing on changing my lifestyle, including my eating and exercising habits, is that I begin to get a tad bit obsessive. This is not my normal personality as I am firmly in the type B camp and rarely waiver into anything that resembles obsessive behavior.

As a result of the increased focus on my habits and my desire to lose weight (and of course look better as well), I weigh myself at least once a day and sometimes more. It wouldn't be an issue if I took the number with a grain of salt, but I don't. I let the number affect my mood.

Any tips on curbing this obsessive scale watching?

AwesomeSquirrel · October 2016

I only weigh myself once a week, and I have an analogue scale so I can't obsess over grams. It's all about the long term downward trend

fr33sia12 · October 2016

I stopped weighing myself so often when I realised I hadn't lost pounds but I had lost inches. So I would measure yourself, or try on an item of clothing you want to fit into, and go by that too. I only weigh myself once a fortnight now. I recently needed to buy new clothes for a new job and was surprised that I'd lost another dress size (and ecstatic)

sijomial · October 2016

IMHO it's not the daily weighing that is the problem - it's letting the number affect your mood.

It's just data that needs to be understood and then put in perspective.
Part of the problem is thinking weight loss rather than fat loss, short term large fluctuations aren't due to fat changes.

Philtex · October 2016

I weigh multiple times per day as well, but I have been doing it long enough to know that any given reading doesn't mean much. The number doesn't matter - only the trend.

mysteps2beauty · October 2016

I personally get on the scale at least 2x a day. I keep a log with a.m. and p.m data, everyday. I like to see the trends and also how what I eat might impact my weight. Last night before I eating, I weighed myself and there was a 4lb difference between then and this morning. Have no clue why, but it's interesting. So frankly, if you are gonna be doing this behavior, log it and compare it to your foods, the time of the month, your emotions for that day. Make the obsession work for you.....and I'm not an "A" personality, just like to make sense of behavior patterns....

siraphine · October 2016

No such thing as weighing too often. What makes constantly watching the scale a bad thing is how you handle the information it gives you. If you accept that weight will go up and down constantly, and understand that unless you are overeating, an increase in weight does not mean you gained fat, it can be very beneficial. Weight fluctuates a LOT -- especially for women. I weigh daily because of that. By weighing daily, I can see the trends in my weight gain and loss and understand why it happens. If I weighed once a week, what happens if I happen to weigh on a day I'm having a heavy fluctuation? I might think what I'm doing isn't working and make changes I didn't need to make.

micayla75 · October 2016

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the support. I love that there are so many different ways that people manage their routines. It is so helpful to see the various options to try when something isn't working.

I like this idea of making the obsession work for me. I'm going to try this. :-)

mysteps2beauty wrote: »

I personally get on the scale at least 2x a day. I keep a log with a.m. and p.m data, everyday. I like to see the trends and also how what I eat might impact my weight. Last night before I eating, I weighed myself and there was a 4lb difference between then and this morning. Have no clue why, but it's interesting. So frankly, if you are gonna be doing this behavior, log it and compare it to your foods, the time of the month, your emotions for that day. Make the obsession work for you.....and I'm not an "A" personality, just like to make sense of behavior patterns....

Naija82 · October 2016

I'm type A through and through, lol. I used to be quite obsessive about weighing myself but now the number on the scale doesn't matter as much if there is no reduction in inches or I don't look slimmer. I weigh myself once a week

EternalSnow627_ · October 2016

I weigh everyday in the morning and sometimes 2 times aday

Lounmoun · October 2016

I weigh myself every Sunday morning. I don't weigh at other times. For me it is enough information and is part of my Sunday morning routine.
I think you have to think about what place the number on the scale has for you. How does it reflect your overall goals? How does thevfrequency of weighing help you? If it makes you feel anxious or unhappy then I'd say pull back and weigh less often. It isn't the only way to mark progress.

I'm losing weight to be healthier not be an absolute number. I have an ideal weight in mind but it is not the most important thing about losing weight to me. If I weigh myself every day am I healthier than if I do it once a week- or never? Am I healthier at 6AM but less healthy at 8PM if the number on the scale goes up slightly? No. My body fluctuates weights naturally day to day, hour to hour. It takes time to make significant changes good or bad. If my focus is on sticking closely to my calorie goal I really will move in the right direction over time.

dustedwithsugar · October 2016

I was weighting myself everyday and was letting scale affect my mood. My day could be ruined by small fluctuation. So I asked my boyfriend to hide the scale and don't tell me where it is under any circumstances. He takes it out on Sunday mornings, we take our measurements and it's done for a week. Good side of it is that I'm more strict with my diet during the week because I really want to see the progress. I can see steady losses instead of daily fluctuations. Bad thing is that sometimes I really want to check on my progress during the week and I can't - I don't know where the scale is!

ASAPStocky · October 2016

I try to limit to weigh in wednesday....with the occasional peek if I had a really good weekend

micayla75 · October 2016

Another good idea is having my husband hide the scale. Thanks!

AnvilHead · October 2016

You may want to look into using a trend analysis app such as Trendweight (web), Happy Scale (iOS) or Libra (Android). Looking at the trend rather than daily weights is reassuring and a good way to make sure you're on the right track because your weight is in a constant state of flux and daily weigh-ins by themselves don't tell the true story. It's not uncommon to fluctuate up to 2-3 pounds from day to day, for several different reasons. Watching the overall trend smooths out the "noise" from those daily readings and shows you what's really going on with your weight.

micayla75 · October 2016

Thanks, I didn't know about those apps. I will check then out!

MarkaStone · October 2016

Trendweight is great and has saved my sanity when I became obsessive about it all. Looking at that graph sliding downwards is great especially when you weigh yourself and have put on a bit of weight. It brings it all into perspective

Eleniala · October 2016

I weigh myself every morning at the same time (after using the bathroom and before eating or drinking anything). But I ONLY record my weight on MFP if it has gone down from my previous recorded weight. If it's up by a bit due to normal fluctuations I do not record it. Sometimes it will take a few days or even a week to reach a new "lowest weight", so my report will show that my weight remained the same for a week before dropping again. By not recording every small weight spike I do not become discouraged or obsessive.

ardysedwardsmcgrath · October 2016

i try to weigh myself on thurs ams with no cloths on haven't ate or drank anything.. & monthly i try to meausure myself.. sometimes if ive had alot of extra excerise&haven't ate the nite b4ill weigh next am just so see how ive done.. ya seems like that scale plays tricks on us. Ive also herd of using the BMI too.. like when dr says ur ... i was last time a 39 i wood like to get under that somehow i think anything over 30 is consider obsese

good luck Micayla75!

micayla75 · October 2016

It really is fascinating to see all of the different methods for keeping track. I am so glad I asked this question as it has helped me feel so much better.

kgirlhart · October 2016

I weigh daily and log it on Libra so I can see the trend. I don't think that daily weighing is obsessive. It helps me to not worry about the normal fluctuations when I see them every day.

Mirelle242 · October 2016

I do weight watchers so I weigh myself every Saturday only when I attend the meetings. It allows me to be more accountable during the week. Especially Thursday and Friday when life gets hard and temptations get stronger

603PIPER · October 2016

I personally like weighing myself daily, even if I see the fluctuations with water weight etc. Weighing every day helps remind me to stay on track as well!

Mumu190672 · October 2016

I weigh myself everyday and even several times a day sometimes but I track only the morning weight.
I know it is a bit obsessive but I don't mind and it doesn't affect my mood.
I do it out of curiosity. I just want the information
I don't think there is anything wrong becoming a bit obsessive with anything as long as your goal is to understand the subject better.
The more data you have the better you understand what's happen.
You can see that if have too much sodium, carbs or at certain times of the month for women you retain water.
It just happen. Nothing to be emotional about.
Just look at the trend over a reasonable period of time.

SCoil123 · October 2016

I weigh daily and use trend weight to track the progress

janekana · October 2016

I don't have a scale and I need to go somewhere else (long story) to weigh myself. It's quite accessible because it's near, but I always forget to stop by to weigh myself. In the end, I weigh myself weekly/bi-weekly.

It's good for me because I don't get discouraged by daily fluctuations. Plus, putting the scale off for a long time means seeing bigger numbers drop rather than just 0.1 lbs daily, really raises my motivation when I see it drop!

alyssa0061 · October 2016

I will weigh myself and track it every single day for months and months. Then I'll go a few weeks hardly weighing at all. I stop myself when I start to feel too obsessive. But the longer I do this the more it's become a habit, just something I do every day, like brushing my teeth. Get up, use restroom, get on scale, brush teeth, continue with morning routine, repeat the next day

zilkah · October 2016

I personally refuse to own a scale because of this reason. I weigh myself every few weeks at my gym on their scale. I get discouraged by fluctuations and know a scale would be detrimental for me emotionally.

85Cardinals · October 2016

I probably do weigh myself too often, yes. Sometimes twice a day. But it's a fairly harmless vice in the larger scheme of things. At least I care!

Rocknut53 · October 2016

I weigh every morning and then sometimes after a particularly grueling hike just to see how much I sweat out before I re-hydrate. It's just numbers and yes, I am somewhat obsessive, but this obsessiveness has resulted in weighing less than I have for over 30 years. I'll keep weighing because it makes me happy to see that number. I also know that I will have to stay on top of things so I don't go backwards in my journey. That's a path I never want to go down again.

WifiresGettingFit · October 2016

I weigh myself every morning, not always at the same time (a girl's gotta sleep in when she can haha) but otherwise it's under the same conditions. Fluctuations don't bother me though they used to until I started looking at the number as a data point and nothing else. I plug it in on my Excel spreadsheet and the number is then used to give me a weekly average and then later on a monthly average. My averages for the last two weeks show that I maintained my weight but if I just looked at my official weigh day (Saturday) I would be under the impression that I weigh 1.5 pounds more than I did at the start of the month. Data is awesome! In case anyone hasn't said it yet: you are more than a number on the scale!

Do you weigh yourself too often?

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