what is better, daily weigh ins or weekly?

trulyhealy
trulyhealy Posts: 242 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i cant decide what one to do because on one hand i like weekly weigh ins because i look forward to weigh in day but then also get very stressed/sad if i don’t lose weight but i also kind of want to weigh in daily using a trend app but i’m not sure

what one do you prefer if you have done both of these

Replies

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,302 Member
    I dont think either is intrinsically better.

    Personal preference, that's all - and of course understanding fluctations/weight-loss- is- not-linear whichever you do.

    Me - have always just weighed weekly and recorded it in my diary, not used any trending apps or additional things.

    But whatever works for you.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Whatever works for you. Some folks even weigh monthly or don't weigh at all and rely on the measuring tape. I do daily weighing because it reminds me every morning to stick to it. That works for me. Lots of folks hate daily weighing. Just, whatever you do, remember that weight loss isn't linear. You'll want to use the report function to look at how you are doing over a longer period, e.g. a month or 90 days.
  • Sawjer
    Sawjer Posts: 229 Member
    At the end of the day do what you prefer - my two cents - weekly. You should not obssess over scales. Take pictures weekly too, pictures say a lot more than scales.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Putting undue importance on what number comes up on a simple measuring device would appear to be the problem.

    If weighing daily tones down your stress level and helps you understand totally normal weight fluctuations and put them in perspective (i.e. expected and accepted) then it might help you. But you need to address your emotional response as well. Data really should be processed by the logical, not emotional, part of your mind.

    Daily weighing and keeping a casual eye on my underlying trend works best for me. It's just a few seconds in my normal routine and there's no undue celebration or disappointment over what number comes up - 1 data point in 365 has trivial importance.
  • Mandy72CM
    Mandy72CM Posts: 59 Member
    I used to weigh daily and switched to weekly. I’m now heavier than I ever was therefore I’m going back to daily as from tomorrow. It keeps me on track.
  • threewins
    threewins Posts: 1,455 Member
    It depends on the person. I find daily useful because it tells me when I've overeating. Some people may not handle the scale anxiety of daily. Try both and see which is best.
  • Geneveremfp
    Geneveremfp Posts: 504 Member
    I randomly weigh. I have a toddler and work as a teacher so don't have time to weigh every morning (like sometimes in brushing my teeth at work because I've run out of time). Probably 3 times a week on average. However if the scale is higher than I think it should be I weigh every day for a few days to chill myself out - because it always goes back down over a few days. It's actually helped me. I personally get a bit obsessive so either weighing once a week or once a day makes me a bit neurotic. Making sure I weigh more often than once a week but no set day helps me.
  • paulcaesar67
    paulcaesar67 Posts: 45 Member
    I like daily weigh ins. At first it's weird because of the fluctuation but now I can read the fluctuations and have confidence that I am still losing weight. Also I find it keeps me honest and accountable after a cheat day
  • helen_goldthorpe
    helen_goldthorpe Posts: 340 Member
    I do both. I do daily weigh ins on a trending app but I take my Monday weight each week and put it on Garmin connect which then syncs to another couple of places. Sometimes if I know it's really bad bloating I take my Tuesday weight instead ;) but for the most part I know it's just a snapshot and the trend is more important.
  • BrianTSpaz
    BrianTSpaz Posts: 6 Member
    It really depends on your preference. When I was on my "weight loss" journey, I actually preferred monthly weigh ins because I figured seeing the scale go up and down might discourage me. Currently I'm on a "weight gain/bulking" journey so I do weekly weigh ins to make sure I'm not gaining to fast. I know that doesn't answer which is better but, hopefully it helps ya in making your decision.
  • cerad2
    cerad2 Posts: 70 Member
    You can always split the difference. I find a Monday, Wednesday, Friday weigh in works for me. I started doing this mostly because my weekend routine tends to be quite different than my weekday routine. It was easier to be consistent.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,748 Member
    I used to respond badly to weigh ins. If I was up in weight, I'd get upset, decide that the diet wasn't working, and go for a splurge. If I was down in my weight, I'd decide to celebrate, by eating of course. When I was trying to lose weight I'd only weigh myself about once a month to keep from that roller coaster. Now that I'm in maintenance and have a 5 lb. weight window I weigh myself a couple of times a week. I don't get excited about the result since I have that window. If my weight seems too high, I'll weigh myself the next few days to see if it's water or fat. Then decide if I need to cut back on my food. If it's low I may eat a bit more, but I try to stay close to my goal since I know that that works.
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
    I'm in the same boat as you. So I haven't tried this myself yet but I was wondering about getting one of those wifi scales that syncs to an app and then covering the display with tape or something that prevents me from seeing. So I could step on each day and have the app get the data, but I would only go into the app and actually look at what was going on like once a week or even once a month.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    I weigh and log weekly - habit from a brief stint of going to Weight Watchers - but sometimes I get on the scales in the middle of the week out of interest. There's no wrong or right / better or worse.
  • blue_killen
    blue_killen Posts: 26 Member
    weekly is better for me. is more accurate, and less likely to have me overthinking what I'm doing. either way just make sure to try take it in the mornings before eating and either without clothes or wearing similar clothes each time, just to get the most accurate results
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i weigh and log weekly (fridays)

    sometimes ill step on the scale mid week, but i dont log it
  • Rhumax67
    Rhumax67 Posts: 162 Member
    Daily for me - I can do a lot of damage in a week. But it's really just personal preference.
  • Jessie24330
    Jessie24330 Posts: 224 Member
    I weigh and track on an app daily, I track on Fridays for MFP. It's better for me as if I'm retaining water for some reason on Friday, I don't have to worry about it. I know that it's not a real spike. I can see that it's went up two or three kg from the day before, and know that's impossible to be "real" weight, whereas if I weighed once a week, I may freak out thinking I'd really gained that much over the week.
  • ALZ14
    ALZ14 Posts: 202 Member
    I weigh in daily because I’m more motivated by small losses than I am by small gains. Weight fluctuates, even for men, so seeing the scale go up can be frustrating but not devastating for me.

    If I were to weigh once a week and it happened to be on an “up” day that would be more disappointing for me since I wouldn’t know what had happened in the week prior.

    But we are all different so you do what is best for your mental health.
  • StevefromMichigan
    StevefromMichigan Posts: 462 Member
    I find that, like others, weighing daily keeps my on track better than going a whole week.
  • caseydimples
    caseydimples Posts: 173 Member
    Because I struggle emotionally with what the scale reflects, I've found weighing daily is better for me and that was a surprising discovery. I really like seeing the trending better. I can be totally devastated by a number on the scale and if I was only weighing in once a week it might not reflect what is actually going on.

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