Considering putting the scale away and weighing in on a monthly or bi-weekly basis. Thoughts?
SteroidalLolita
Posts: 122 Member
Like a good portion of the people that frequent MFP I tend to weigh every day and disappoint myself, even though I know it's water retention. Especially on days (more like weeks) like this one where I've reached that lovely monthly hormone shift.
My question is: Does anyone else weigh in bi-weekly or monthly?
My question is: Does anyone else weigh in bi-weekly or monthly?
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Replies
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I weigh monthly. I have enough data from previous weigh-ins to know that I'm being accurate with my food intake and exercise calories, so I just trust the process and treat the weigh-ins as a guide rather than a result. It does really help me to not see those fluctuations. For some reason, as long as I've lost something, even if it's only 2 pounds in a month where I should have lost 4, I'm happy.7
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My daily weigh-ins and using that data to track my trends on Libra is one of the tools that I use as part of my weight management plan. I've stopped weighing daily in the past and I've promptly regained. So for me it wouldn't be a good idea, but you can always just give it a try for a month or two and see how it works out for you.5
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The scale stresses me out. I think I get too obsessed with the number and then I make bad decisions because I feel like I’ve failed if I’m not consistently going down. I’m using the “clothes fitting” measurement system 🤣5
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RelCanonical wrote: »I weigh monthly. I have enough data from previous weigh-ins to know that I'm being accurate with my food intake and exercise calories, so I just trust the process and treat the weigh-ins as a guide rather than a result. It does really help me to not see those fluctuations. For some reason, as long as I've lost something, even if it's only 2 pounds in a month where I should have lost 4, I'm happy.
I never used to weigh myself so religiously, I think I just get more neurotic as I get older.
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My daily weigh-ins and using that data to track my trends on Libra is one of the tools that I use as part of my weight management plan. I've stopped weighing daily in the past and I've promptly regained. So for me it wouldn't be a good idea, but you can always just give it a try for a month or two and see how it works out for you.
I've been using Happy Scale but I don't think it makes me feel any better about it? I'm apparently SUPER prone to holding onto a lot of water and it becomes very, very exhausting.0 -
emeraldwoods4214 wrote: »The scale stresses me out. I think I get too obsessed with the number and then I make bad decisions because I feel like I’ve failed if I’m not consistently going down. I’m using the “clothes fitting” measurement system 🤣
Ditto with getting too obsessed. I can tell that everything fits me soooo loosely now but then I look at the scale and go; "HOW?!"
Then the water weight drops off and I'm even lighter than I was at the last weigh in and feel good for two weeks before it all starts again. It's a vicious cycle. 2 -
I HIGHLY recommend something like this. Weighing regularly is NOT a good idea. When you are working out, dieting, etc your body weight is going to fluctuate... both up and down.....water retention, new lean muscle mass, and other reasons. I personal only weigh myself every month. SOMETIMES every 2 weeks. I prefer to go off body measurements and progress pictures. Your weight is nothing more than a number. Means NOTHING. Go off of how you feel and how you look in that mirror.12
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I HIGHLY recommend something like this. Weighing regularly is NOT a good idea. When you are working out, dieting, etc your body weight is going to fluctuate... both up and down.....water retention, new lean muscle mass, and other reasons. I personal only weigh myself every month. SOMETIMES every 2 weeks. I prefer to go off body measurements and progress pictures. Your weight is nothing more than a number. Means NOTHING. Go off of how you feel and how you look in that mirror.
That is exactly what I've been thinking. I need to hide that little sucker from myself until the 28th of every month, I swear. My measurements have been drastically going down each time I take them (probably once every two-three weeks.)3 -
My daily weigh-ins and using that data to track my trends on Libra is one of the tools that I use as part of my weight management plan. I've stopped weighing daily in the past and I've promptly regained. So for me it wouldn't be a good idea, but you can always just give it a try for a month or two and see how it works out for you.
I'm more like zeejane, if I don't weigh daily I start grazing again. I don't mind my weight fluctuating, so the daily weigh-in keeps me from lying to myself that "oh this extra serving won't matter" without stressing me out too much.4 -
I only weigh myself when I have to. When I sign up for a powerlifting meet, weigh myself to know which weight class to sign up for, get weighed in the day before the meet and visits to the doctor. Other than that I never step on a scale.1
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I rarely weigh myself. I go by how do I look, how do I feel, how do I perform.2
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If the scale is annoying you, then I wouldn't look so often. Maybe weigh monthly and focus on eating well and exercising? What do you think?1
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dogWalkerTX wrote: »If the scale is annoying you, then I wouldn't look so often. Maybe weigh monthly and focus on eating well and exercising? What do you think?
I think that is an excellent idea and just what I was leaning toward.0 -
Dreadful idea.
A daily weight check is a great way to make sure you’re on the right track.
Weighing in at long intervals is bad because you could be weighing on two “spike” days which will give you a very wrong indication of your progress.
That isn’t enough data points.
Daily (once per day, at the same time in your daily routine) is the only way to go.
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Obsessing over daily changes will mess with you mentally & make you more prone to making irrational decisions (excessive dieting, purging, excessive exercise, etc.) when they are completely unnecessary. Slow & steady wins the race/focus on the big picture for long term. Too much of a crap shoot looking at weight by itself (water/hydration status, inflammation, workouts, hormonal cycles, muscle gain, fat gain, recent food consumption, etc. among the many variable @ play)
Generally go with waist/hip/thigh/chest/shoulder measurements, the mirror, & clothing fit when deciding to make long term changes1 -
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I think this is an individual thing. Some people do well with the data and others don’t. For me it’s a habit and the scale does not stress me out at this time. But if it did, I would consider your approach.
To me the scale is just one tool to gauge my fitness. My pants size is also an indication on how I’m meeting my weight loss goals. How far or how long I can run is another tool I use to gauge my fitness. I bought a new fitness tracker that has a heart rate monitor that I am finding very intriguing. The results from my cholesterol screenings are more data. I think a combination of tools is giving me a better picture of how things are going.
At the beginning of this journey I think I needed the scale more often. I needed to form the habits. Track food.... weigh self... keep repeating... the setting of the habits have helped me not stress about the variances.
It might just come down to finding the right tools and schedule of when to use each of those tools that give you accountability but also keep you from going crazy. I think that combination of tools may be different for each of us. Give it a try!0 -
If your instinct is to put the scale away then, at least for now, that is what you should do. You don't need daily numbers to manage your weight.4
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When I was losing weight, the scale was not my friend. If I hadn't lost anything, or found I had gained, I would tell myself, "This isn't working. I might as well just eat what I want and forget the diet." If I did lose weight, I would say, "Oh good, I'm down 3 pounds. I can celebrate by eating some ice cream or pizza." I was better off weighing every couple of weeks. When I saw I'd lost 3 pounds in four weeks, I'd think, "Okay, this is good, but I can do better."
Now that I'm in maintenance, I weigh myself more often. I have a 5 lb. window, and try to stay on the low side. I don't get upset if I'm up a couple of pounds, but I need to stay on top of it if I gain more. From past experience as a lifetime yoyo dieter, I know how easy it is to ignore weight gain when I don't want to see it.0 -
Dreadful idea.
A daily weight check is a great way to make sure you’re on the right track.
Weighing in at long intervals is bad because you could be weighing on two “spike” days which will give you a very wrong indication of your progress.
That isn’t enough data points.
Daily (once per day, at the same time in your daily routine) is the only way to go.
Except there's no one best way, or in your words "only way to go" for most things, including monitoring your weight. If stepping on the scale every day is the catalyst for making poor decisions, then it's not a good idea. I personally think it's a dreadful idea to continue to do something that is both unnecessary and causing someone a large amount of stress. If someone is in a calorie deficit, they will lose weight. A scale isn't going to cause them to do so. It might help them notice when they've stepped out of that deficit, but if they've managed to continuously lose weight (which it sounds like is happening for the OP) then what's the point in weighing oneself other than for their own curiosity.5 -
I've flopped back and forth between daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and just whenever I feel like it weigh-ins depending on my motivations at the time.
All have advantages and disadvantages and which is right for you can really vary from person to person or for the same person depending on how you are feeling at the time.
Do what works for you when it works for you.0 -
Dreadful idea.
A daily weight check is a great way to make sure you’re on the right track.
Weighing in at long intervals is bad because you could be weighing on two “spike” days which will give you a very wrong indication of your progress.
That isn’t enough data points.
Daily (once per day, at the same time in your daily routine) is the only way to go.
Except there's no one best way, or in your words "only way to go" for most things, including monitoring your weight. If stepping on the scale every day is the catalyst for making poor decisions, then it's not a good idea. I personally think it's a dreadful idea to continue to do something that is both unnecessary and causing someone a large amount of stress. If someone is in a calorie deficit, they will lose weight. A scale isn't going to cause them to do so. It might help them notice when they've stepped out of that deficit, but if they've managed to continuously lose weight (which it sounds like is happening for the OP) then what's the point in weighing oneself other than for their own curiosity.
On any day in you life your weight has a value whether you weigh yourself or not.
Willfully ignoring that value is buying into “ignorance is bliss.”
Especially since it takes just a few seconds to step on the scale.
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Because of a history of anorexia in my teens I am NOT a daily scale person! I go by visual, measurement, performance, and clothes. I’ll weigh on a month to month basis to check my calorie formula but that’s it...and I’m super happy with the approach!
I do however weigh everything I eat so that my caloric intake is as accurate as possible.6 -
Dreadful idea.
A daily weight check is a great way to make sure you’re on the right track.
Weighing in at long intervals is bad because you could be weighing on two “spike” days which will give you a very wrong indication of your progress.
That isn’t enough data points.
Daily (once per day, at the same time in your daily routine) is the only way to go.
Except there's no one best way, or in your words "only way to go" for most things, including monitoring your weight. If stepping on the scale every day is the catalyst for making poor decisions, then it's not a good idea. I personally think it's a dreadful idea to continue to do something that is both unnecessary and causing someone a large amount of stress. If someone is in a calorie deficit, they will lose weight. A scale isn't going to cause them to do so. It might help them notice when they've stepped out of that deficit, but if they've managed to continuously lose weight (which it sounds like is happening for the OP) then what's the point in weighing oneself other than for their own curiosity.
On any day in you life your weight has a value whether you weigh yourself or not.
Willfully ignoring that value is buying into “ignorance is bliss.”
Especially since it takes just a few seconds to step on the scale.
But that's *your* belief system. That's not the universal key to success. Yes, people who daily weigh may have greater successes with loss, but that doesn't mean that those who don't weigh are "willfully ignoring that value" and "buying into ignorance is bliss."
I don't have a scale at home. I weigh at my gym, and try to *only* weigh at the gym. Which means in the nicer weather, when I'm running outside, I can go weeks between going to the gym (I have barbells, plates, bench, and a rack, and lift at home). And it certainly would take more time than just a few seconds to go to the gym, go to the locker room, and step on the scale.
Guess what? I still lose exactly as my deficit says I should. I don't need that magical home scale and daily weighing to still lose. And I suspect that when I'm ready for maintenance, I won't need that magical mythical daily weighing to stay in maintenance, considering I'll be logging and weighing my food just as I always have.6 -
collectingblues wrote: »Dreadful idea.
A daily weight check is a great way to make sure you’re on the right track.
Weighing in at long intervals is bad because you could be weighing on two “spike” days which will give you a very wrong indication of your progress.
That isn’t enough data points.
Daily (once per day, at the same time in your daily routine) is the only way to go.
Except there's no one best way, or in your words "only way to go" for most things, including monitoring your weight. If stepping on the scale every day is the catalyst for making poor decisions, then it's not a good idea. I personally think it's a dreadful idea to continue to do something that is both unnecessary and causing someone a large amount of stress. If someone is in a calorie deficit, they will lose weight. A scale isn't going to cause them to do so. It might help them notice when they've stepped out of that deficit, but if they've managed to continuously lose weight (which it sounds like is happening for the OP) then what's the point in weighing oneself other than for their own curiosity.
On any day in you life your weight has a value whether you weigh yourself or not.
Willfully ignoring that value is buying into “ignorance is bliss.”
Especially since it takes just a few seconds to step on the scale.
But that's *your* belief system. That's not the universal key to success. Yes, people who daily weigh may have greater successes with loss, but that doesn't mean that those who don't weigh are "willfully ignoring that value" and "buying into ignorance is bliss."
I don't have a scale at home. I weigh at my gym, and try to *only* weigh at the gym. Which means in the nicer weather, when I'm running outside, I can go weeks between going to the gym (I have barbells, plates, bench, and a rack, and lift at home). And it certainly would take more time than just a few seconds to go to the gym, go to the locker room, and step on the scale.
Guess what? I still lose exactly as my deficit says I should. I don't need that magical home scale and daily weighing to still lose. And I suspect that when I'm ready for maintenance, I won't need that magical mythical daily weighing to stay in maintenance, considering I'll be logging and weighing my food just as I always have.
The fact that your body has a specific, measurable weight every day is not a “belief system”.
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