What is your personal attitude regarding bathroom scale weights?
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I have an old school scale with a big dial. I switched to this instead of the digital scale because I like to put a piece of tape on each mini-goal. When I hit the tape on three days I record the weight. I'm on "the last five pounds" and when I hit goal I will draw a "red line" on the scale (I do have a red line at obese) I just didn't like stressing about tenths of pounds. I weigh most days before coffee and every once in a while I'll test the scale by weighing, then picking up my ten pound weights and weighing again.
I just do better keeping things simple.2 -
How small of an increment does your scale weigh you in?
0.1 increments
Are you maintaining or attempting to change your weight? I would think a person that is maintaining would be slightly more relaxed with minor operational fluctuations.
Losing.
Do you step on more than once to verify a weight? If so, if it is the next increment higher or lower do you accept it as verified or does it have to be exact?
Only once per time.
If you weigh yourself the next day or scheduled check-in and it is one increment higher or lower than the previous day do you consider your weight unchanged or does it have to be exact?
I weigh daily and use a trending app (Happy Scale); I consider my weight 'changed' when I hold a whole number for longer than a few days.
Does your feelings change if it is the whole number that has changed? Is 165.2 and 165.4 the same but 165.0 and 164.8 seem different?
Sort of? My feels revolve around blocks of 5. So 169-165 feels generally the same. Usually I'm trying to get "into the next 'decade'" and then "under the middle bar." So 169 is "yahoo!" and then the next step is, "lets get to the bottom!" so 168-165 are about the same, but 164 is "yay, change!". And then it's about getting down to 159, because that's "A new milestone."
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mine only measures in 1lb! I weigh each morning after calibrating. I like to watch my fluctuations and know how to expect them and understand them. (example, I put on a few lbs 10 days before I'm due on!)0
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0.1 pound increments.How small of an increment does your scale weigh you in?
More or less maintaining, playing around with vanity weight of perhaps a few pounds. Honestly, I'm more interested in my body composition than my scale weight at this point. But everything written below was the same when I was actively losing weight as it is now.Are you maintaining or attempting to change your weight? I would think a person that is maintaining would be slightly more relaxed with minor operational fluctuations.
I step on it once every morning, at roughly the same time, under the same conditions (no clothes, after using the bathroom, before eating/drinking anything). My scale is wi-fi enabled and automatically uploads the reading to Trendweight.com, Garmin Connect, Apple Health, MFP and Happy Scale (iOS). I've used the same scale for over three years, in the same place (within millimeters) on the bathroom floor, so I accept that number as my scale weight at that given moment - with the understanding that if I were to step on a different scale at that exact same time, it would probably show a different weight.Do you step on more than once to verify a weight? If so, if it is the next increment higher or lower do you accept it as verified or does it have to be exact?
The reading is what it is - a snapshot of what I weigh at that exact moment. I know that it would have been different if I'd weighed an hour earlier, or if I'd weigh at some other time during the day under different conditions. I look at my weight trend reading (mostly on trendweight.com) for what it's doing over time. Our weight fluctuates constantly and there is no one number that is your "actual" weight.If you weigh yourself the next day or scheduled check-in and it is one increment higher or lower than the previous day do you consider your weight unchanged or does it have to be exact?
I've become so familiar with the daily fluctuations that I don't have 'feelings' about the scale number. I look at the trend to decide if there's something going on that requires action, not the daily fluctuations. Using your numbers above, a change (in either direction) between 165.4 and 164.8 wouldn't faze me in the least - I frequently see daily fluctuations larger than that. For example, my scale weights from the last 4 days (starting with this morning):Does your feelings change if it is the whole number that has changed? Is 165.2 and 165.4 the same but 165.0 and 164.8 seem different?
198.1
200.7
202.0
199.1.
I know exactly why the 2.9 pound spike happened on Saturday (big meal Friday night - lots of food, lots of sodium and carbs), and I knew it would dissipate within a day or two, so the scale reading was nothing more than amusement.
While I was actively losing weight, I trusted in the process (adhering to a calorie deficit, being consistent, having patience) and rode the fluctuations out, keeping an eye on the trend to make sure I was on the right track with my calorie intake. As has been said many times, it's not a linear process and the scale readings won't always trend downward from day to day - as shown in this graph from Trendweight while I was losing (scale weights are the gray line, trend weight is the red line):
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How small of an increment does your scale weigh you in?
0.1 increments
Are you maintaining or attempting to change your weight? I would think a person that is maintaining would be slightly more relaxed with minor operational fluctuations.
maintaining....oops....losing....maintaining...repeat
Do you step on more than once to verify a weight? If so, if it is the next increment higher or lower do you accept it as verified or does it have to be exact?
Only once per time. My scale is consistent.
If you weigh yourself the next day or scheduled check-in and it is one increment higher or lower than the previous day do you consider your weight unchanged or does it have to be exact?
My weight can flux several pounds from day to day. I don't consider it "changed" until there's a trend or a new high or low I haven't seen in a long time.
Does your feelings change if it is the whole number that has changed?
My feelings are more about "new" highs and lows (see above)...they really don't change unless I see something outside of what I expect, and I expect it to flux here and there.1 -
Pretty sure my scale only measures in 0.2lb increments. I'm currently attempting to cut down another ~5 lbs so I can start on a very lean bulk I'd be able to ride for a while. I weigh daily, first thing in the morning, nude and only weigh once. I'm played around with duplicates and have enough confidence in my scale and where I place it on tile everyday that variations are minimal. I record this weight in HappyScale and in my TDEE spreadsheet. Have been doing this for over a year and only missed maybe 5-6 days (had a trip for work for a day or two and visited family over Christmas). Weighing daily I don't take all that much stock in day-to-day changes, favoring the overall trend for analysis purposes. That said, it is always nice to see a new lower whole number but having weighed daily so consistently I know when to expect a temporary bump for high sodium/glycogen retention. If I'm referencing an "official" weight I tend to take the weekly average instead of a single data point.0
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This is not really about weight fluctuations but about scale operational fluctuations.
How small of an increment does your scale weigh you in?
Are you maintaining or attempting to change your weight? I would think a person that is maintaining would be slightly more relaxed with minor operational fluctuations.
Do you step on more than once to verify a weight? If so, if it is the next increment higher or lower do you accept it as verified or does it have to be exact?
If you weigh yourself the next day or scheduled check-in and it is one increment higher or lower than the previous day do you consider your weight unchanged or does it have to be exact?
Does your feelings change if it is the whole number that has changed? Is 165.2 and 165.4 the same but 165.0 and 164.8 seem different?
I am losing and have been for some time and I have a ways to go. I consider my weight both verified and unchanged until the scale has moved more than a single increment because I know it is not that precise.- My scale weighs to the 1/10th of a pound
- I am losing
- I weigh myself a couple of times a week, not daily
- I only verify my weight if is seems off (like losing 2 lb in a couple of days). I also weigh myself 2-3 times to give the scale a chance to calibrate after moving it from its normal spot
- I only record weights that are less than the previous one. I do not record gains. I monitor progress by how much time has elapsed since the previous loss.
- The whole number does make a difference, especially when changing "decades". 159 is so much better than 160.
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@RelCanonical I had a scale like that. Simpler to just step on it with one foot, let it give you a reading and then stand on it for real. Means you don't have have something heavy by the scaleRelCanonical wrote: »My scale has a tendency to "stick" at a weight. I think this was done to avoid fluctuations (it's a weight watchers scale), but it annoys me. I usually pick up something heavy and weigh myself to "reset" the scale and then weigh again to get a more accurate reading. I usually trust that reading.
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Tacklewasher wrote: »
@RelCanonical I had a scale like that. Simpler to just step on it with one foot, let it give you a reading and then stand on it for real. Means you don't have have something heavy by the scaleRelCanonical wrote: »My scale has a tendency to "stick" at a weight. I think this was done to avoid fluctuations (it's a weight watchers scale), but it annoys me. I usually pick up something heavy and weigh myself to "reset" the scale and then weigh again to get a more accurate reading. I usually trust that reading.
Well, the "something heavy" is usually my cat, but that's a good idea for when she's napping.2 -
RelCanonical wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »
@RelCanonical I had a scale like that. Simpler to just step on it with one foot, let it give you a reading and then stand on it for real. Means you don't have have something heavy by the scaleRelCanonical wrote: »My scale has a tendency to "stick" at a weight. I think this was done to avoid fluctuations (it's a weight watchers scale), but it annoys me. I usually pick up something heavy and weigh myself to "reset" the scale and then weigh again to get a more accurate reading. I usually trust that reading.
Well, the "something heavy" is usually my cat, but that's a good idea for when she's napping.
Ooh, bonus - you get to track kitty's weight too!
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How small of an increment does your scale weigh you in? .02 Increments
Are you maintaining or attempting to change your weight? I would think a person that is maintaining would be slightly more relaxed with minor operational fluctuations. Maintaining at the moment. Just came off a deficit and am in the lower half of healthy BMI range. Want to bulk again but think recomp will be the activity of this next year.
Do you step on more than once to verify a weight? If so, if it is the next increment higher or lower do you accept it as verified or does it have to be exact? Nope. One and done.
If you weigh yourself the next day or scheduled check-in and it is one increment higher or lower than the previous day do you consider your weight unchanged or does it have to be exact? I record the weight daily in a trend app but consider it just a snapshot of that particular moment. I understand fluctuations and they don't phase me. I would only consider my weight as having change if it stayed consistently lower.
Does your feelings change if it is the whole number that has changed? Is 165.2 and 165.4 the same but 165.0 and 164.8 seem different? Well, when I'm losing, I do like seeing the whole number change. But know full well that I'll likely be over it again the next day for whatever reason.
I see the scale as a trending tool only. I gather a data point at the same time and under the same circumstances each day and watch what the trend does. Pictures and measurements are still my primary gauges as I am focused much more on composition.3 -
My scale measures in 0.1 increments, but I don't really pay attention to them...I round up or down. I only step on my scale once and take it for what it is. I'm currently trying to lose about 3 Lbs of my 10 Lb gain last winter, though I'm not trying particularly hard.1
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RelCanonical wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »
@RelCanonical I had a scale like that. Simpler to just step on it with one foot, let it give you a reading and then stand on it for real. Means you don't have have something heavy by the scaleRelCanonical wrote: »My scale has a tendency to "stick" at a weight. I think this was done to avoid fluctuations (it's a weight watchers scale), but it annoys me. I usually pick up something heavy and weigh myself to "reset" the scale and then weigh again to get a more accurate reading. I usually trust that reading.
Well, the "something heavy" is usually my cat, but that's a good idea for when she's napping.
Ooh, bonus - you get to track kitty's weight too!
Haha, that's actually why I do it! My kitty is on a diet too. She has to lose almost half her bodyweight - from 11 pounds to 6 pounds. She's been doing well considering she only gets 1/2 cup of dry food each day.3 -
Measures to .1 and logs each time via WiFi. I get on it when I get up daily at 4:30 AM. More data points the better but newer step back on later in the day. On good days it drops, okay days stays the same and goes up on bad days. I don't obsess on it, it's just data points and the graph over time is more telling than the snapshot of one day.0
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RelCanonical wrote: »Well, the "something heavy" is usually my cat, but that's a good idea for when she's napping.Ooh, bonus - you get to track kitty's weight too!RelCanonical wrote: »Haha, that's actually why I do it! My kitty is on a diet too. She has to lose almost half her bodyweight - from 11 pounds to 6 pounds. She's been doing well considering she only gets 1/2 cup of dry food each day.
I've considered doing that with my girl. She needs to lose some too, unless her dad was a maine coon!
My scale displays to .1 but the app will transmit to .0001. It's one of those fancy ones that does all the biometrics (however accurate they are). I also weigh at the gym on a "doctor's" scale which doesn't really have a decimal. And at my WW meeting.
I'm losing, down 80 lbs so far!!
I weigh pretty much daily, but only record on my WW day. I use the other days to monitor how I'm doing and if I need to change anything. I step on the scale at least twice - another one to take two readings that match.
When I get discouraged, I go back to looking at my trendline. If I look at it in detail, it shows the up and down. When I look at it over all time, it's a nice steady down.0 -
* Digital scale, weights in even tenths (0.2 pounds granularity).
* Maintaining with desire to drop down a bit, not working very hard at the dropping part. I'm the same amount of relaxed about my daily weight as I was while losing: Very relaxed. It's just data, not a self-worth measurement. (I'd observe, based on reading others' posts here, that quite a few people are not more relaxed in maintenance, and some are distinctly less relaxed. I think that anxious people are anxious, and unemotional people are unemotional. I'm unemotional.)
* I ususally repeat until I get the same weight and (inaccurate
) BF% twice.
* I don't think we even have a single "true weight" so that "do you think you've lost/gained when 1 increment lower/higher" concept doesn't compute in my conceptual universe. I think we have a current weight range, and a long-term weight trend. I use Libra for the trend, and recently switched the smoothing/forecast days to 30/60 because think that will better support my goals and strategies.) I'm mainly concerned with the trend; the daily weight is just input data. I can usually anticipate when it'll be up or down. (I've logged my AM weight daily for probably a decade, even when I wasn't trying to lose weight, because I like data.)
* I'm not especially sensitive to whole numbers. I'm more interested if I cross the lightweight/openweight threshold for one of my athletic activities, but I tend to have an idea whether it's part of a trend (of concern) or a fluctuation (no concern).
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* I don't think we even have a single "true weight" so that "do you think you've lost/gained when 1 increment lower/higher" concept doesn't compute in my conceptual universe.
I agree. What I have found interesting about my own tracking is that my weights are seemingly consistent. I can be on 1 of 5 main tracks and if I am not hovering I will continue to lose on that track until I gain or lose water weight which will put me on one of the other tracks. The track I am on right now, for instance, is a low track from eating slightly less carbs recently. I don't usually stay on this track for long. My highest track to my lowest track is a little over 5lbs.0 -
My scale weighs in .1lb Increments.
I step on the scale once. If the number is way out of whack, I’ll go again.
I don’t really have feelings about the number. It’s a number. It’s influenced by a million things-many of which are out of my control.
My weight fluctuates quite a bit (8 lb swings aren’t uncommon). Based on my eating patterns, I have a day where my weight tends to be the lowest of the week (also the most stable) so I consider that my “weight”. Sort of.
Mostly, I say I weigh about 160. That encompasses weights from 154-168 but I generally will settle (on my lowest/most stable day) around 160. As I lose, I’ll settle a little lower (but still within a wide range).
I don’t worry so much about day to day numbers. I watch overall trends to make sure they are going the direction I want (which is either losing or maintaining).
So I guess I don’t have a particular increment that says “this counts”. I don’t really look at each day that much.0 -
My scales weighs in 0.1lb increments
I only get on it once unless there's a large swing (3+lb either way)
I weigh daily so just accept it for what it is, a data point0 -
Doh! I forgot to weigh myself before eating breakfast this morning!
I suppose the good news is that I must not be all that obsessed with my weight. The bad news is that I have to decide whether to weigh myself, my coffee, and my yogurt for today; or to just use the average of yesterday's and tomorrow's waking, post-pee, pre-breakfast weight readings in my weight-loss records?
I've been thinking about this, too. I have five, no, six, er, six-and-a-half different weights:* I don't think we even have a single "true weight" so that "do you think you've lost/gained when 1 increment lower/higher" concept doesn't compute in my conceptual universe. I think we have a current weight range, and a long-term weight trend.
291.2 lbs = what the scale said this morning (in today's case, yesterday morning - see above).
293.3 = my 10-day moving average.
293.5 = my 10-day moving average as of last Sunday - this is what I enter in my weekly weight loss chart.
293 = when I can round down to a whole number, it goes in my "Milestones & Rewards" chart (8 more lbs 'til BMI = 42 and I treat myself to new towels!).
295 = my weight on MFP (forgot to update yesterday with my new Sunday 10-day moving average)
313 = my "doc weight" - what I weighed the last time I was at the doctor's office (in August - I need to make another appointment soon).
299 = "adjusted doc weight" = current 10-day moving average + 6 lbs. I've compared several of my home scale weights to "doc weights," and the doctor's scale is almost always 6 lbs heavier (due to clothing, food eaten, anxiety, who knows? I like to keep this in mind so I don't cry or swoon when I see the reading on the doctor's scale.)
(...oh, and, there's also the ridiculous allegation appearing on my Driver's License: "250 pounds.")
So, you ask, how much do I weigh?
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