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Is it a good idea to weigh yourself every day?

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Replies

  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,359 Member
    Some people can't cope with the natural daily fluctuations and a natural gain fluctuation sends some people into a tizzy and they spend the day severely undereating or overexercising, some others may just give up. They've yet to understand that its the long term trend that is important not the daily ups and downs.

  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    The issue I have with a weekly weigh-in is that what you eat the day before the weigh-in (and also your physical activity) could have a significant effect on the scale weight.

    As an example, if I were to weigh my self Monday and I get X, Tuesday I get Y and Wednesday I get Z (all about the same or trending down), then Wednesday night I have a heavily salted take-out meal (and even tho I stay within calories) my weight on Thursday is up 3 lbs because of water retained from the salt. By having the daily value, I have the opportunity to look at what I did for the week and realize that the Thursday weight is a blip and not part of the general downward trend that the rest of the week's data indicated.

    You can also 'game' the once a week weigh-in value by purposefully eating light or drinking less water the day before so that the number on the scale is less (yes, people really do things like this - ask any WW coach who has been in the business for awhile). It is really difficult to try and 'game' the system with daily weigh-ins.

    By weighing myself every day and recording the info in a trending app, I know the trend is downwards and is (to me at least) a much more meaningful data set than once a week weigh-ins. The curve on the daily trend is more precise than the curve on a weekly weigh-in.

    I weigh myself Saturday morning first thing. My week is very stringent when it comes to my caloric intake, and I exercise every day. The weekends I eat what I want within reason. So I would never weigh myself on Sunday or Monday for the reason of water retention. I have had one week out of six where I was up one pound, instead of my normal two pound loss.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    edited September 2020
    I think if you have a good understanding of how weight fluctuates in response to differing hydration levels and the weight of food/waste in your digestive system, either daily or weekly should work fine for you.

    I think if you don't have a good understanding of those things and tend to react emotionally to fluctuations, neither daily nor weekly will work that great for you. It's about the person's understanding and reactions; it's not about the method.

    Edited to correct a typo.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    It works for me because it is part of my routine. But also because I don't get hung up on the # and understand my body's month long trends. (Which I understand from having many data points from daily weighing.)

    On the other hand, if I get off routine slightly it does not derail me. I don't take the scale when I go out of town, for example. And if for some odd reason my morning routine is interrupted then I don't get on the scale. Like if I wake up with a headache and down some Advil with a glass of water, then I won't bother to get on the scale AFTER drinking water.

    With many data points, one can see a picture form. For daily weighins, you really need 2-3 months or more to see that pattern. But if you're weighin in weekly, doing so for 2-3 months should show you a similar outline. Just without as much detail to know you're likely to be up on day x of your cycle and down on day y.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    The main problem, perhaps, comes to those who are new to the process and have unrealistic expectations, and give up after 1 or 2 'bad' weighins. But that can happen easily no matter how often one weighs in.
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,135 Member
    I generally weigh every day. Do I take a few days off every now and again? Sure! But generally I'm of the mindset that you can't manage what you don't measure. So I weigh every day (for the most part), log it, and keep track of the average so I can manage my trends.
  • ddavenport6962
    ddavenport6962 Posts: 17 Member
    I like to weigh once, sometimes twice a week, i find that daily is too often to deal with flutuations!!!
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    edited September 2020
    I really don't understand the mindset of weighing less often because of fluctuations. There are still fluctuations in a weekly weigh in, you just have less data/information. If you happen to weigh on a low weight (dehydrated for example) day this week and then next week you weigh after a salty day (so more hydrated and maybe even retaining water) you'll think you gained weight. If you weighed every day you'd know the trend is what you expect... or you'd know it isn't what you expect and that's real and you need to change something.

    I don't weigh weekly BECAUSE of fluctuations - did anyone say they do that?

    No I wouldn't think I gained weight if one reading was up a bit and one was down a bit and not sure how you know what all weekly weighers would think?

    I would accept it as fluctuations within a range - unless the trend was continued rise.
    I can still see the trend is what I expect on weekly and I don't need more data or information than that

    Do what works for you, no objection to that.

    Objection is to inability to understand anyone doing differently and tone of telling us what we should think and do.

    *edited by a MFP volunteer moderator
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,033 Member
    edited September 2020
    I really don't understand the mindset of weighing less often because of fluctuations. There are still fluctuations in a weekly weigh in, you just have less data/information. If you happen to weigh on a low weight (dehydrated for example) day this week and then next week you weigh after a salty day (so more hydrated and maybe even retaining water) you'll think you gained weight. If you weighed every day you'd know the trend is what you expect... or you'd know it isn't what you expect and that's real and you need to change something.


    I don't weigh weekly BECAUSE of fluctuations - did anyone say they do that?

    No I wouldn't think I gained weight if one reading was up a bit and one was down a bit and not sure how you know what all weekly weighers would think?



    Maybe you don't. But I have seen plenty of people say they can't handle the fluctuations and weight weekly because of that. So it is one of the strategies being used by people regarding weigh-ins.

    My weigh-in strategy is my own, for all sorts of reasons. More data is better, I believe, especially having chosen a slow rate of loss: easier to spot the trend. And also interesting to see how my body reacts to what I eat, to my exercise etc. But some people don't need or want that data, that's fine.
    One other reason for me is purely psychological: weighing daily keeps my head in the game. Any time I stopped weighing myself, I gained weight. My boyfriend weighs weekly or oven less, but has very few weight issues, so it works for him.
  • Mellouk89
    Mellouk89 Posts: 469 Member
    I weigh myself everyday cause I don't count calories, I use the scale, the mirror and body measurements to track my progress. It works well.