How often to weigh in maintenance
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Jubee13
Posts: 132 Member
I have always weighed once a week. I did try to weigh every day and look at the trend, but the fluctuations really messed with my mind. I on,y did it for about a week. However, I was considering “forcing myself” to weigh every day for the month of September just to see if that would take away the effect that number has on me. What are thought and options on weighing every day? Does the panic of seeing the scale go up (from normal fluctuations) ever go away?
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Replies
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I refused to weigh all of August and instead set performance based goals and it was liberating8
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Weigh if you want to. Don't weigh if you don't want to. Losing, gaining, maintenance, whatever stage of the journey you're at. Do what works for you.10
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What are thought and options on weighing every day?
Works for me - that it doesn't work for others is obvious but also a total irrelevance to my choice.
Does the panic of seeing the scale go up (from normal fluctuations) ever go away?
Never had any panic - to me it's just data. Occasionally that data is a disappointment or an encouragement. Mostly it has no emotion attached to it at all. I fully expect my weight to fluctuate day to day (or even intraday) as that's normal.
To me the big issue you should consider addressing is your overreaction rather than frequency of getting on the scales. "Panic" should be reserved for the situations where it's appropriate.
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I find it helps me to take note of the causes of fluctuations. If I’m down after running in the heat, if I’m up after eating sodium filled food, if I’m up because I didn’t get good sleep - I know now what I should expect, and if the scale is climbing for no obvious reason I can be fairly confident it’s a fat gain and not a temporary fluctuation. Then I can jump right on it and start paying attention to what I’m doing wrong - usually it’s something such as taking exercise estimates at face value, or not weighing calorie dense foods.
There’s no need to panic, in any case. You lost weight once and you have the tools to do it again if you start regaining.8 -
I guess I shouldn’t have said “panic”, but I do feel my reaction to the scale going up - even when I know it’s just a normal fluctuation - isn’t reasonable. It’s more of a worry that I’m eating too much than a “panic”. I would like to see the scale just as data, but I feel that number holds too much meaning for me, and I thought maybe weighing daily would lesson the importance of the number.1
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I am sort of the same way. So I just don't weigh every day. I do log and keep track of cals. I will weigh maybe once a week or at a min once a month to make sure I am not kidding myself but as long as I stay in range I don't feel the need to weigh every day. It's one of the perks of maintenance for me that I don't have to have my day influenced by some random #. I started that this year and so far it seems to be working for me. I don't really need the daily data and it's once less thing to clutter my mind with.3
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I just started maintenance and am weighing every day until I am certain what my maintenance calories are.9
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I'm weighing every day because I'm used to weighing every day. I've done it for the better part of 7 years, so I don't see why I would stop now. Fluctuations don't bother me at all and the act of weighing primes me for a day where I'm more aware of the actions that affect my weight. The only time I was bothered by water weight was when I had long stretches of water retention which messed with my trend. I don't like when data is inaccurate and not much I can do about it.
Try forcing yourself for a couple of weeks and see if it makes it easier for you. If it doesn't, there is no harm in continuing to do it weekly or even monthly. See how it goes and find your best fit.5 -
Every day for me, but I am a data junkie.3
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Some times everyday (out of routine because the scale is right there looking at me), others few times a week, and never on vacation. Maintaining for 9 years so I have a pretty good idea of what and how much to eat, and how my body responds to changes. At my age water fluctuations are minimal, except when traveling.
I don't take measurements too often either, maybe once or twice a year at the most. I trust my feelings, and my clothing.4 -
Not weighing every day in maintenance is why I'm currently trying to lose 19lbs.
I just pretended it was fine, and threw pants to the back of the closet when they didn't fit.14 -
I weigh every day now that I have reached maintenance, and I use Happy Scale. I do find that seeing the trend line helps me feel confident and I am reaching the point where I am more comfortable with days that my weight is up a bit, because I can see my history and know that’s just what my body does. Maintenance seems to be all about figuring out what works for you, not just in regard to your weight, but also your mental wellness.11
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I guess I shouldn’t have said “panic”, but I do feel my reaction to the scale going up - even when I know it’s just a normal fluctuation - isn’t reasonable. It’s more of a worry that I’m eating too much than a “panic”. I would like to see the scale just as data, but I feel that number holds too much meaning for me, and I thought maybe weighing daily would lesson the importance of the number.
Well - the easiest ways to know if you're eating too much is to either keep a food log or to weigh yourself. I find doing both is the best because then I KNOW if I've eaten too much, and I know it before it causes a change in my weight.
I like to weigh every day. I don't do it, but I like it the best. I do log my food, though. I've been logging food long enough to be able to fairly accurately guess my weight on any given day, so there is that. :flowerforyou:2 -
amckholmes wrote: »I weigh every day now that I have reached maintenance, and I use Happy Scale. I do find that seeing the trend line helps me feel confident and I am reaching the point where I am more comfortable with days that my weight is up a bit, because I can see my history and know that’s just what my body does. Maintenance seems to be all about figuring out what works for you, not just in regard to your weight, but also your mental wellness. [/quote]
You nail it!!!0 -
I still weigh once a week, same as when I was losing. I think if I weighed every day I would drive myself crazy about it lol3
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I weigh every morning after I brush my teeth. It's going to fluctuate - I know that. I look at new lows and new highs. If I weighed once a week I'd start fretting about variations. Now, I expect them.5
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I guess I shouldn’t have said “panic”, but I do feel my reaction to the scale going up - even when I know it’s just a normal fluctuation - isn’t reasonable. It’s more of a worry that I’m eating too much than a “panic”. I would like to see the scale just as data, but I feel that number holds too much meaning for me, and I thought maybe weighing daily would lesson the importance of the number.
Really only you know where this falls in the balance, for you.
If you can weigh daily for a month, not be too stressed about it, and look at it as an experimental way to begin to understand what causes your personal weight fluctuations, then it could possibly help you reduce anxious feelings about the number (because you begin to understand viscerally that certain changes are sodium, or new exercise, or a monthly menstrual cycle if you're female/right age, or a minor virus/infection/injury with inflammation or conjection or swelling, or some other such thing). If that self-learning could happen, it might help you move toward treating the number as "just data".
If you're following a sensible eating plan, even if not weighing/logging food, there is no way a sudden unexpected scale jump of a pound or more is all fat gain (you'd notice if you'd eaten the extra 3500 calories over maintenance that you'd need to gain one pound, right - let alone more?). Fat gain, in that scenario, would show up as a very slow upward creep of scale weight over a period of weeks.
So, if it isn't fat gain, you know it's water weight or extra digestive system contents, and you can think about why (it won't always be obvious, but often will). Water weight and digestive contents aren't worth stressing over.
On the other hand, if you can't weigh daily without increasing anxiety and hindering your happiness, then there's really no good reason you need to do it.
Only you know where your feelings fall, between finding it a little scary but tolerable, or having it cause anxiety to the point of unhappiness.
One thing for sure: Whatever number shows up on the scale, it's only telling you a simple fact about the relationship between your body and gravity. It's telling you nothing about your worth as a human being! :flowerforyou:
Best wishes!23 -
I guess I shouldn’t have said “panic”, but I do feel my reaction to the scale going up - even when I know it’s just a normal fluctuation - isn’t reasonable. It’s more of a worry that I’m eating too much than a “panic”. I would like to see the scale just as data, but I feel that number holds too much meaning for me, and I thought maybe weighing daily would lesson the importance of the number.
Do the math. If the scale jumps up a couple pounds overnight, the math will tell you that it's not fat. I'm pretty sure you'll know it if you eat 3500 calories over maintenance.2 -
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Normally once a day when I get up and use the bathroon but, since I started IF, I've been weighing myself at various times b4 I start eating again; ususlly after my daily 5k row and just b4 I start eating again.
Started doing that out of curiosity but started to do it regularly because I have found that I can lose an additional 1-2# between the time I get up (usually around 7) and when I start eating again (usually around 1). And, I chg my wt to the lowest # b4 I go off the fast, which I think is the most accurate way to gauge the effect of IF on my wt.0
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