How often do you check the weight scale??

Mahdi22
Mahdi22 Posts: 229 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone, im soon going to approach 2 weeks of eating healthy and exercising. But I'm scared of checking the scale and being disappointed with the results, should I just check when it has been 1 month? How often do y'all check??
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Replies

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    I check the weigh scales once day ... second thing in the morning.

    As above, weighing every day shows me my normal weight fluctuations. I understand why I go up and down.
  • cozytimes
    cozytimes Posts: 111 Member
    daily, as in every morning after using the bathroom
  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
    edited April 2017
    I do it every morning, too, and record it in an app so I can see the trend and not get thrown off by all the random fluctuations. (Also helps me figure out what things tend to cause those fluctuations.) I think that gives you a better idea of what's really going on than just weighing once a month or so. I'm now at maintenance and I plan to keep weighing in daily or at least 2-3x/wk to make sure I'm staying on track and the weight doesn't start creeping up again. I'll occasionally weigh in during the day/evening just out of curiosity to see how things change during the day.
  • lioness803
    lioness803 Posts: 325 Member
    Also a daily weigher, so I can see the normal fluctuations (esp. being female since hormonal cycles can affect weight so much) If you feel like that would make you obsessive or something, then don't, weighing weekly or monthly is fine.
  • goolhc
    goolhc Posts: 91 Member
    I try to do it ones a week, every friday
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    Weigh every day, but only record once a month
  • MalkinMagic71
    MalkinMagic71 Posts: 1,433 Member
    I always did once a week. Some people do daily. Some do monthly.. its all personal preference.
  • VanVanDiane
    VanVanDiane Posts: 1,402 Member
    Every day, first thing after bathroom. I only record it in mfp on Mondays though
  • junodog1
    junodog1 Posts: 4,792 Member
    I'm a weigh daily too.
  • surlydoc
    surlydoc Posts: 10 Member
    Just started weighing every morning (a few weeks ago) and logging in Happy Scale. Happy scale gives you your running average weight and average rate of weight loss, which is helpful. I used to weigh once a week, but because of normal weight fluctuations had no idea how much I weighed (or if I was losing/gaining). It drove me crazy and made me depressed seeing a 2 pound weight gain in a week (due to normal fluctuations). Now, seeing normal daily fluctuations helps me relax and understand that yes, overall, I am losing, but the type of food, exercise, hydration, bowel movements, hormonal fluctuations etc. can change the number. Seeing an overall trend put my mind at ease.
  • Mahdi22
    Mahdi22 Posts: 229 Member
    MalkinMagic71 wrote: »
    I always did once a week. Some people do daily. Some do monthly.. its all personal preference.

    I think I will do bi-weekly. So I'll weigh myself in 5 days, which will be my 2 week mark.

    I applaud everyone weighing themselves daily, I don't think I can do it. It will definitely disappoint me or keep me thinking about it all the time.

    Times like this, I'm happy I have a very old and broken scale that's hidden away and realistically I'm too lazy to find it and weigh myself haha
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    Once a week or every other week
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    edited April 2017
    Another every day weigher here. Using a trend app takes away some of the importance of the number, especially when you have enough data to show trends in the right direction.

    Eg... Last Thursday I was 65.2kg. This Thursday I was 67 kg. If I weighed on Thursdays only I probably would have cared about the number this week. Having weighed everyday though, I know that these numbers were extremes and most of the week I was 66.something,and the overall trend was decreasing...
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    Once every week or two.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,328 Member
    Mahdi22 wrote: »
    Hey everyone, im soon going to approach 2 weeks of eating healthy and exercising. But I'm scared of checking the scale and being disappointed with the results, should I just check when it has been 1 month? How often do y'all check??

    For me if I check the scale daily using a weight trend app it helps keep me in line food wise. When I start skipping days, I start skipping logging. That is me though. I know people who find it discouraging when natural weight variations happen, since weight loss is not linear. In that case less often would be good. I do warn against excessive expectations. It took a long time to put the fat on, the sooner you settle yourself on realizing that it will take a long time to take it off, the better. I find excessive expectations to be one of the common reasons for giving up. If you have a lot of fat to lose a pound or somewhat more a week is good progress. If you have 20 pounds or less to lose, half a pound a week is good progress.
  • Mward614
    Mward614 Posts: 30 Member
    I get on the scale every morning around the same time (i.e. before breakfast and after using the bathroom). It helps me understand fluctuations and helps keep me on track and focused on my goals.

    Some people get discouraged by minor fluctuations and don't like this method, I suggest trying both and deciding which way works best for you- everyday or only once a (week/2 weeks )

    Another means of measuring you may consider is body measurements, I take body measurements once a month.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited April 2017
    Mahdi22 wrote: »
    Hey everyone, im soon going to approach 2 weeks of eating healthy and exercising. But I'm scared of checking the scale and being disappointed with the results, should I just check when it has been 1 month? How often do y'all check??

    I do it weekly. I don't need to see the fluctuations because I know they happen and don't care. I might even take a break for a week or two, especially if something unusual is happening like right now I am on a 5 day course of prednisone which can cause water retention or when I was on my colonoscopy prep.

    ETA: I did wait a month when I first started.
  • Mahdi22
    Mahdi22 Posts: 229 Member
    Wow...I didn't realize how many people check their weight every single day. I don't think I can do it, I understand that there will be some fluctuations and all that science stuff happening but I would still get discouraged lol.

    Everyone's different I guess. I'm sticking with bi weekly.
  • Glasscandle
    Glasscandle Posts: 134 Member
    Another daily weigher here! I am a scientist and always appreciate current data input. As long as you focus on the trend and not the number, you will be good. I would go nuts if I had been doing well on the single weekly weigh in captured an errant 3 lb jump (which happens sometimes). I couldn't wait another week, not knowing what is going on!
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    edited April 2017
    Mahdi22 wrote: »
    Wow...I didn't realize how many people check their weight every single day. I don't think I can do it, I understand that there will be some fluctuations and all that science stuff happening but I would still get discouraged lol.

    Everyone's different I guess. I'm sticking with bi weekly.

    You do what works best for you. In my opinion, the only potential problem with weighing only once every 2 weeks is this (at least at first): If you weigh yourself now and then again in 2 weeks and see that the number has not changed, that can be discouraging. You will think you did not lose any weight.

    But what if you ate a sodium-heavy meal the day before your official "weigh in"? What if hormones are making you retain water that particular day? It would be possible that you DID in fact lose weight, but your timing of stepping on the scale is making it appear as though you did not. That's why a lot of us weigh every day...to understand the overall trend a little better and to NOT fret about every ounce. I know that seems backwards, but obsessive weighing CAN help you become LESS obsessive about your weight.

    This is just a generalization, though. I can definitely see how daily weighing is not right for everyone and can be harmful.
  • JetJaguar
    JetJaguar Posts: 801 Member
    I'm another daily weigher. I weigh myself every morning and enter the data into an Excel spreadsheet. In the spreadsheet a have a graph with a 7-day moving average trendline, and it's this trendline that I pay attention to. 7 days is enough to smooth out daily fluctuations. I only enter my weight on MFP about once a week, though.
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    Weighing every day has taught me a lot about normal weight fluctuations. I have a maitainence range of about 5 pounds, and it is interesting for me to see how my diet, exercise, and hormonal schedule influences that number. If you understand that your weight is not going to be one number, but a range, weighing every day may be beneficial. Log and chart the weight each day and as long as you see a general downward trend, you're doing well. Just don't obsess every time you are up a pound or two, as normal fluctuations account for that.

    ^^ This. I used to only weigh once a week. Weighing first thing in the morning after using the bathroom and before I put clothes on gives the best insight into daily fluctuations with weight. It used to drive me batty that I would keep up a deficit and gain weight from day to day, until I started noticing the trends and tracking them. Now I don't sweat the up-ticks as much as I used to. It's helped my perspective on this whole ordeal much more than the last time I embarked on this journey.

    But definitely not for everyone. Do whatever offers you the most peace of mind.
  • sarahbetherck
    sarahbetherck Posts: 270 Member
    I used to weigh daily but I was getting way obsessive about it. Now I don't even keep a scale at home and I weigh once a month on the same scale at the gym.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
    edited April 2017
    Once every two weeks OR if I notice my clothes are fitting a little snugger then normal.
  • smileyrylee2016
    smileyrylee2016 Posts: 1 Member
    I weigh in once a week first thing in the morning at my kids MMA gym on Sundays. I don't need to weigh in everyday and watch the fluctuations and find it more positive to just do it once a week. Remember even if the scale doesn't move down but you've been working hard you may just have trimmed inches off :) I recommend either taking before pics or measuring yourself to see the actual change
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    I weigh myself most days, but not always every day. I can see in the mirror when I'm bloated, numbers going up a little doesn't bother me too much.
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