Thoughts on daily weigh in
Angie_au
Posts: 42 Member
Hi,
I have been struggling with understanding my weight fluctuations on the scale. I have been weighing myself weekly on a Sunday (before food and drink and after bowel movements). But Yesterday I weighed myself and I weighed 73.5 and today 73.1, so that’s 0.4kg lost in a day! But in total, I have only lost 0.5 kg from when I started a month ago (73.6kg). At my lowest I was 72.4kg, 2 weeks ago. I am disappointed with the result as I thought I was eating within my calorie limit. But at the same time the scale seems to fluctuate quite a lot with salt intake, menstrual cycle etc so I was thinking of weighing I daily to see how these affect my weight and then look at whether I’m losing weight over a period of time eg if the trend is going down. I’ve downloaded the happy scale app which calculates the moving average of my weight daily which seems to be more accurate. What are people’s thoughts of weighing in daily? Vs weekly or monthly?
I have been struggling with understanding my weight fluctuations on the scale. I have been weighing myself weekly on a Sunday (before food and drink and after bowel movements). But Yesterday I weighed myself and I weighed 73.5 and today 73.1, so that’s 0.4kg lost in a day! But in total, I have only lost 0.5 kg from when I started a month ago (73.6kg). At my lowest I was 72.4kg, 2 weeks ago. I am disappointed with the result as I thought I was eating within my calorie limit. But at the same time the scale seems to fluctuate quite a lot with salt intake, menstrual cycle etc so I was thinking of weighing I daily to see how these affect my weight and then look at whether I’m losing weight over a period of time eg if the trend is going down. I’ve downloaded the happy scale app which calculates the moving average of my weight daily which seems to be more accurate. What are people’s thoughts of weighing in daily? Vs weekly or monthly?
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Replies
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When I weigh daily, I stay in track. I think it is because I don’t stress when it fluctuates and I see my trends. When I weigh weekly, I fall off the wagon10
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Yea I think I’m the same! So I want to try daily weigh ins so I can see all the spikes and peaks and look at the overall smoothened trend1
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I like weighing daily, some don't. I think it all comes down to preference and what doesn't make you crazy. Though you say "I thought I was eating within my calorie limit", as long as you're weighing everything you eat you should have a clear idea of how much you're eating.1
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I weigh in daily but am used to the zig zag. I never expect weight loss to be linear. Keep sticking to your calorie/exercise goals and everything will fall in line.3
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Stick with Happy Scale. The more data you feed it the more accurate it can be. I used to be super against weighing myself daily because of the fluctuations- and still don’t like seeing a higher number than the day before - but now at least I know my rate of loss can still increase with those small fluctuations7
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Ok, yep am going to give happy scale a go. Excited to see how this goes!2
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I think as long as weighing daily doesn't make you feel bad or cause stress then why not.
I'd also recommend taking some measurements and checking those occasionally, as scale weight might not change much but inches might.2 -
The more semi valid and consistent with each other data points the more meaningful your trend. multiple data points in a day=useless. Same time/same conditions/multiple days + happy scale = figuring out what is happening over time.
As you correctly inferred hormonal cycle, exercise, food in system, sodium and a host of other issues obscure your long term weight change trend.
Apps such as Happy Scale (iphone) and Libra (android) and websites such as trendweight.com and weightgrapher.com help you see the bigger picture.
Are these apps always accurate? They actually CAN and DO lag a tiny bit; but they seem to be quite good at identifying our longer term weight trend and any inflection points, even if they do so with a very slight delay.
And they are MUCH MUCH better than any random scale weight. Including the once a week or once a month measurement variety, if you're striving for accuracy.
Emotional and mental well being, of course, trumps accuracy. Consequently, the more accurate options may not be available to all of us ;-)3 -
For years I would do this. I no longer own a scale and would weigh myself once a month using a friend's scale.
I have been more successful at losing and keeping weight off, but I don't think it has to do with weighing in daily.
I also go by how my clothes fit. Inches lost vs. Number on scale.
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I seem to "stress" less about daily weigh in's than weekly ones. I use the Libra app, and like the accountability of it.1
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I’ve started daily weighing using happy scale app. I can tell with clothes too. For me daily accountability means less stress compared with skipping a week or two weigh in... a week or two became 18 months of skipping & putting 21lb back on!4
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Its a personal preference, just no that if you weigh daily your weight will fluctuate a lot more. I was weekly when I first started, then when I got close and the lbs came off a little slower I didn't care anymore what the scale said and was more concerned with how I felt, looked, and how the clothes fit. Now that I have changed up my workouts for different goals I only weigh when I feel like it, could be 2 weeks, could be a month.1
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Just my two cents on stress of weigh ins... I actually used that stress to help keep me on track as I stressed so much that I didn't want to fail it kept me on the straight and narrow.1
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Weighing daily helps me stay focused and not freak out. I'm learning what to expect of my body during certain times of the month and also learning what foods might be causing some water retention. I thought daily weigh ins would make me obsessed but it's actually been very empowering!3
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I weight daily and log weekly.
I like seeing the oz go down and they keep me on track.
Some people hate it. My instructor told me to get rid of my scales but when I stopped using them, found myself losing motivation.
I use if for accountability.4 -
Daily is really the only way. While losing, weighing once a week gives you a really fuzzy view of what's going on.1
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Daily - if I see a weightgain I am more careful the next day...1
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I weigh myself daily but only log my weights once a week, sometimes twice. I used to weigh myself at the gym at night after a workout, but I think I'm going to start doing it in the mornings before I leave for work.3
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i do beginning of week and end of week flux affects me too much to do daily..although if my coworker sells me or aria scale i might go back to daily lol1
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I think you have a great plan, OP. The problem with weekly weigh-ins is that the same fluctuations that can skew your day-to-day numbers can hit you on your weigh-in day and then, instead of seeing it self-correct in a day or two, you basically are sitting 2 weeks without an accurate view of your progress, and it can be discouraging. The only problem with daily weigh-ins is when people are obsessive or uneducated about how the body works and think a .5 lb gain on the scale overnight means they have done something wrong and need to slash calories.5
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I weigh weekly on Wednesday morning at my gym at work. I can’t own a scale. I am clothed with no shoes or heavy clothes and I don’t drink or eat before I weigh. Weighing makes me extremely unhappy and stressed even when I lose weight.
When I’ve lost weight in the past I would weigh every morning. I would be so anxious to weigh that I would toss and turn an hour or more before it was time to get up just to see if I lost weight. Then when I started gaining again I would stop weighing completely to stop the anxiety. Then there would be a 50 lb weight gain and time to start losing again.
Once a week works for me. It’s one day of anxiety instead of every day. If I feel heavy that day from water weight I will weigh the next morning to make sure and it’s typically lower.3 -
Its a personal thing, I weigh daily even at maintenance - I like having stats/data to compare and it helps me understand my fluctuations so they feel perfectly normal/expected. Knowledge is power is my mantra1
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I weigh daily because I'm a data geek and like to see how I retain water after working out and/or what my diet does to the scale. It is remarkably consistent if I'm eating clean. With the holidays the numbers got a little wonky because of the change in diet, but either way I think if you're able to consume the data and not get discouraged, it can be interesting and informative. That said, it isn't for everyone.
For me, I don't respond to the fluctuation unless I see a trend month-over that's headed in the wrong direction. I haven't seen one yet... I'm also pretty good about logging, so unless I was a total slug that consumed an extra 7,000 calories, I know it's water weight and not actual weight when I look at day to day variances. I'm sure I could tease out the impact of my cycle as well, but I haven't been that interested... it's mostly noise.
Eventually, if you're watching your diet and you're exercising, the scale will take care of itself. In the interim, if it's a motivator - use it. If not, don't!1 -
In weight loss mode, I weighed 1x a week. In maintainance, I weigh every day and keep my numbers in Libra (weight trending app). I have 3 months of daily weigh ins to go off of. So, when I see the little line go up - I start tightening up. Little adjustments are MUCH easier than bigger ones.
I've reached "goal" about 3 times since 2011. Each of those times I stopped weighing, I'd go a week, then 2 then a month, then never. And each time the weight found me. So, my reality is I have to do it every day. Daily reminders are key for my success.6 -
I get too nervous/obsessive so for me, daily weigh-ins would cause big problems. Ideally, I would like to weigh in around once a month- at the beginning, to see where I'm at and where I need to go. However, I can't resist weighing and measuring my waistline randomly- especially when I "feel skinny". So far, so good, Yeah, once in awhile I do see an up-tick so I make sure I'm tracking all of my calories and eating better, but like I said, if I did it on the daily, I would probably stop eating totally!1
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It really depends on you. I don’t think there’s a right/wrong. If a slight increase will cause you to be over restrictive or put you in an unhealthy relationship with food, don’t do it. But if the daily weigh in serves as the ritual to remind you to be mindful of your food and exercise, go for it. Your weight is only one data point in your measure of health.2
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Started weighing daily back in July and have found more success doing so in tandem with my TDEE spreadsheet than with other methods. Getting used to the daily fluctuations and seeing some of the big sodium spikes has been an educational and enjoyable experience. Went out of town for the holidays and felt a little lost without having a scale, tbh. I'm also a data geek and enjoy the daily/weekly data reduction updating my sheets.4
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I weigh myself, naked and unafraid, every morning right after i visit the bathroom.3
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Calliope610 wrote: »I weigh myself, naked and unafraid, every morning right after i visit the bathroom.
The unafraid piece is something I feel gets overlooked when discussing daily weighing. Whenever someone posts about having anxiety and/or frustration over their weekly or monthly weigh-ins one of the first comments is almost invariably to weigh less frequently to hypothetically show more difference between each measurement and thus make it more encouraging experience. However, I think this continues to foster the event-based attitude towards hopping on the scale; if weight is recorded daily this action becomes habit/routine, the noisy nature of the data is more apparent and the subsequent anxiety of weighing should subside in days or weeks instead of months of infrequent scale use.8 -
Depends on how it affects your motivation etc. If you get on the scale and see a number you don't want to see (lets say +2 lbs) and that discourages you and causes you harm (mentally) then I would say no. If it doesn't cause you any stress or harm from seeing a bad number then sure do it.
Daily fluctuations of weight are varied due to a lot of things so it shouldn't get you off course. Looking at the longer trend over a longer period of time is more significant.
Even then if you re-comp your body you could weigh the same but look better. Its a complicated question to ask really if you get down to it. But do what works best for you!1
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