To record, or not to record weight gain?

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explodingmango
explodingmango Posts: 171 Member
in Motivation and Support
So, I went through an extended binge cycle. As a result, I gained weight. I am, in fact, heavier now than I was at my "starting" weight according to this account.

I can't decide whether it would be better for me to record this and see the spike on my graph, or wait to resume recording until I get back down to where I was before the binge.

This is further complicated by the fact that I am trying to recover from an eating disorder (EDNOS/OSFED - specifically I'm driven to alternate between dangerously restricting and/or purging, and falling into depressed/discouraged binging). I don't know what's more discouraging and potentially relapse-inducing - the spike, or wondering how long it will be before I'm "allowed" to record positive progress again?

What are all your preferences?
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Replies

  • RedSierra
    RedSierra Posts: 253 Member
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    I'm in maintenance. My weight usually fluctuates 1-3 lbs from day to day. If it stays up then I record it. For me, weight creep starts to become a problem when I don't weigh, don't log, and don't record food.

    People are different, though. You could always try both options. Don't record it, but if you start to feel anxious then put it down.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Are you seeing medical professionals for treatment of your disorder?
    I log my weight daily to keep reality in sight. I don't know what's best for you because I've not had relapses due to a disorder. Perhaps discuss this with your treatment team?
  • explodingmango
    explodingmango Posts: 171 Member
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    I am seeing professionals, but...well, my clinic is extremely impacted and they can't see most of their patients as often as is really ideal. Unfortunately it's the only one in my general area that I can afford to go to. As a result, a lot of the time figuring out what works best for me is just a matter of talking to people and finding out what works best for the majority, and trying that first.

    It's not perfect, but it's worked better for me than doing nothing.
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,172 Member
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    Have you tried the phone app Happy Scale? I record my weight every day or two, and the graph it creates shows a gentle trend rather than a ton of spikes. Maybe that would take away some of the anxiety of seeing a gain. Go ahead and enter your current weight, it will be nice for you to see your progress starting from where you are now.
  • artbyrachelh
    artbyrachelh Posts: 338 Member
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    I had similar situation as you, where I started at one weight, took a long break, came back to it at higher weight. I did not change weight to the higher weight. Also, though, I only weight myself every two or three weeks because I become obsessed. I could never own a scale.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I log weight gains on my weekly MFP weigh in, and use Libra, a trending app to log ups and downs - I usually weigh myself every couple of days.
  • explodingmango
    explodingmango Posts: 171 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the support and advice - I went ahead and logged it for as of this morning; it is a little discouraging, but remembering that I was higher before offsets it a lot (I'm going to go back and add the measurements from the past few days too - I've lost a lot of "shock" weight already, so I might as well let that be visible to me). I'm definitely going to go download Happy Scale, too - that sounds like it could be a lifesaver (quite literally).

    I'd still love to hear more people's preferences! Both for my sake, and the sake of anyone else who's on the fence about whether or not to record setbacks for whatever reason.
  • JensJourney11
    JensJourney11 Posts: 90 Member
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    I log weight gains. I find it's the only way for it to really hit home with me so that I deal with the issue (not tracking, over-eating, laziness, whatever).
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    If/when I overeat I wait two days before recording it to let the water weight diminish. I also use Happy Scale for trends, but mostly use MFP. I like to see the historical spikes and how they resolved. But I hate to have my friends on my wall think I'm losing and losing when all I did was gain and lose the same pound.
  • artbyrachelh
    artbyrachelh Posts: 338 Member
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    @fiddletime So, will MFP not post a pound loss in the newsfeed if it's above your start weight? (Meaning, I gained, I logged the weight gain; then I lost it?) that lost pound won't post?
  • 4gig
    4gig Posts: 22 Member
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    When I took a break and came back with a weight gain I logged it for myself. When I'm actively restricting my calories I log my weight weekly on mfp and keep a daily log on my iPad. When I'm in a maintain mode I don't log small fluctuations one way or the other, since it could just be water retention or what not.
  • theowlbox
    theowlbox Posts: 912 Member
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    I think it can help to see the jagged line and focus on the trend. If you don't log it, you hold on to a perfectionism around that line. You "preserve the perfection" of a downward veering line that is based on only partial info. There is no need to keep the line sacred. It is a reflection of your actual experience. Desensitizing yourself to it, and to the fact that our lives are inherently messy, will likely help you to be easier on yourself which will help you to continue. There are many people who stop an effort to lose weight because they "ruined" the day or week or month somehow. They punish themselves for not achieving an unattainable goal. Don't punish yourself for the messiness of learning to do something better. You are doing a wonderful job and should be so proud of yourself. Truly.
  • Berkgal33
    Berkgal33 Posts: 71 Member
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    Went to the Dr with hip pain this week, weighed 7 pounds heavier, logged it. Proved to me although I was almost in maintenance, I still need to tighten up the tracking. I had gotten VERY sloppy and careless. Now I'm dealing with both left ischial and trochanteric hip bursitis I can't work out as hard, logging is crucial to get me back on track.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    My preference is to log my weight once a week no matter if it is up or down. It is data.
  • Lois_1989
    Lois_1989 Posts: 6,406 Member
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    I would log it. I hate logging gains, but when you look back you see the whole picture. Ups, downs, good and bad. It reminds you that you are human. You can also look back a see a correlation between what happened in your life and how it changed your weight. E.g. stress, holiday, when you found your groove at the gym and dropped a lot of weight, or when you started running and what happened. You don't know it at the time, but when you look back you get a bit of a light bulb moment where it all falls into place.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
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    I should log it, but sometimes I don't. I think if the gain continued for a two weeks, I'd record it then, but sometimes I have weekends like the one before last where I ate out a lot and had a lot of water retention which made the scale last week look like I had gained 3 lbs. But this week, after logging better, I had a 3 lb LOSS from 2 weeks before. I know I didn't lose 6 lbs in a week, so that means the gain from the week before was water weight and not a true gain - so gains like that I don't count. If, after being stricter on my calorie counting and consumption, a small gain had registered this week, I would have counted it then.

    But it really is individual. I weight almost every day, but I only record once a week, and I pick Thursdays for that because I tend to be at my lowest during the week on Saturdays and my highest on Mondays - those darn weekends lol

    I had lost 90 lbs back in 2012, but gained it all back in the last 5 years (thyroid cancer stinks!). When I started over in January, I recorded my then current weight and started all over. But if its going to trigger your anxiety or disorder, definitely do what will work best for you in the long run. The beauty of this is that its all very individualized, so we're all completely free to customize the process to what works best for us as individuals! Best of luck to you!
  • KayTeeOne
    KayTeeOne Posts: 123 Member
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    Record always
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    In my first year of MFP I logged daily and after hitting my goal weight I stopped logging my weight. Slowly my activity declined, I started eating more, logging less, and while I weighed myself I did not log it. After putting 30 lbs back on I realized that the accountability was a critical element for me and I logged my weight, reviewed my behavior and got back into the disciplined regimen that led me to success.

    Now my goal has shifted from weight loss and more towards muscle development and fat loss, so I started monitoring weight along with body fat % and body measurements.
  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
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    **I've never dealt with eating disorders so this is just my opinion on logging in general**
    It's all about the journey. To me, if you gain, but don't record it, you're going to look back at this incomplete picture. You'll look at a downward trend and wonder why it took so long to get to your goal weight. You'll forget the hardships of the up and down. If you log it and own it, it's there. You got past it. You moved on and now you're getting healthier. Otherwise what's the point? Put it there and every time you see that spike, remind yourself that that's not what you want to do anymore and see how far you've come. Best of luck

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