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Is it a good idea to weigh yourself every day?

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Replies

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    edited November 2020
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    Ouch! Please do not 'speak' to me like that. Who do you think you are?

    Instead, you should have asked me to clarify and had you I would have explained that by choosing to only record the drops it makes it easy for me to see when these drops happen against calories consumed and exercise taken. It is how I choose to manage my data to help me.

    Now - wind you neck back in.

  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
    Mw000 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and it does fluctuate but if I dont it doesn't give me the opportunity to check myself ,I had a period when I didn't to try something different and during this period I put a stone on very easily

    this. I get lazy or cocky and overeat when I don't stay on track with my daily weighing.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    Ouch! Please do not 'speak' to me like that. Who do you think you are?

    Instead, you should have asked me to clarify and had you I would have explained that by choosing to only record the drops it makes it easy for me to see when these drops happen against calories consumed and exercise taken. It is how I choose to manage my data to help me.

    Now - wind you neck back in.
    I also find tracking only new lows to be a useful way of seeing trends. None of the smoothing programs out there have been of any use to me, since they still show “trends” which aren’t trends at all, but tracking new lows was very useful. If I didn’t see a new low once a week while I was in the earlier stages of my weight loss and every two weeks in the later stages I knew I needed to tweak something. Meanwhile the other days bounded around in a way which was completely misleading.

    In maintenance obviously I don’t see new lows all the time, but tracking lows is still useful. I know if I haven’t seen the previous low number in a while that it’s a legit gain and I need to take action.

    As for smoothing programs, is there one which keeps track of trends compared to previous days of the week? I know Wednesday is going to be almost two pounds heavier than Thursday due to my exercise and eating patterns. That means nothing. But if this Wednesday is two pounds heavier than last Wednesday that’s significant.
  • charmmeth
    charmmeth Posts: 936 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    I do this too, except that I enter my daily weight into a spreadsheet which calculates a monthly average and a running-seven-day average. That gives me my trend. I only enter a weight on mfp when I have a loss to record. That's partly because I don't particularly want to share all my data with mfp. I agree taht a weekly weigh-in loses much information; I like hte complexity of the daily weigh-in data.
  • breefoshee
    breefoshee Posts: 398 Member
    I have a fancy scale with bluetooth that I got for free through my insurance. I weigh in every morning, but only check the information on my phone once a week.

    I like the information over time, but it can be discouraging. The digital scale gives me the best of both worlds.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?

    It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.

    I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.
  • IronIsMyTherapy
    IronIsMyTherapy Posts: 482 Member
    edited November 2020
    If you react emotionally to the scale, no.
    If you don't react emotionally to the scale, it's not super important but you can learn things about how different factors affect your weight from carbs to water to sodium to alcohol, etc.

    Yes you can - if you want to.

    For those of us who are not bothered about learning how different factors like that temporarily affect our weight ( what I called before minutiae of data - wasn't meant to be a 'character laden term' just an objective phrase describing above) then no need or point in doing that.
    I would argue that it is way less than super important , it isn't important at all unless you want to know it.
    And nothing wrong either way ie learning such stuff or not.
    Back to whatever works for you.

    What I found it did for me was it helped me come to expect to have a low weigh in on Saturday AM after having great diet adherence since Monday and conversely to expect a high weigh in on Monday after consuming higher calories on the weekend. That resulted in the ability to REMOVE any emotional response to the scale, which for me (and many others) is hugely beneficial.

    Minutiae of data for you? Fair enough. For me? Absolutely not.

    Edit: I'm not disagreeing with you, simply pointing out that whether it's minutiae is individual.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?

    It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.

    I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.

    Actually if you already know your trend is downward, tracking just the drops is eliminating noise. This is what my chart looks like during the actively losing phase of my weight loss (had already lost 25 lbs before joining MFP)

    f1dj7ynbmlhs.jpeg

    Granted this is not going to help you figure out why you aren’t losing weight, or what you are doing wrong. But when I’m accurately tracking calories I don’t need to do those things. I’m not one of those people who can say “well weight loss isn’t linear,” because yeah, for me it pretty much exactly is.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?

    It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.

    Disagree.
    Tracking the trend and reporting/recording progress can indeed be two separate things, it's not at all uncommon.

    I track my trend all year but for the start of the cycling season I drop to my best riding weight - I just record the drops when I know that a new low weight is a "true weight" rather than a downward fluctuation. No data is discarded or even discounted.



  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?

    It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.

    I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.

    They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.

    They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.

    They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.

    This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.

    Better than I could have explained it and spot on. Thanks!
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member

    Actually if you already know your trend is downward, tracking just the drops is eliminating noise.

    Yes, it eliminates the noise, an excellent description of why I now just record the drops as daily weighing means you do not miss when proper drops happen but it also generates a heck of a lot of noise..

    When I started out I used to record it all on MPF but I ended up with a very jagged line, pretty but not information I found useful. So over time I stopped doing that and just do the drops and I now can easily when my drops have occurred without having to fight my way through the daily fluctuations.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    edited November 2020
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?

    It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.

    I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.

    They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.

    They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.

    They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.

    This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.

    So we can all say we weigh the lowest weight we've tracked, even if we weigh 10 lbs, 20 lbs, or 100 pounds more than that.

    ETA
    It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.

    I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?

    It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.

    Disagree.
    Tracking the trend and reporting/recording progress can indeed be two separate things, it's not at all uncommon.

    I track my trend all year but for the start of the cycling season I drop to my best riding weight - I just record the drops when I know that a new low weight is a "true weight" rather than a downward fluctuation. No data is discarded or even discounted.



    Yes. Two. Separate. Things.
  • threewins
    threewins Posts: 1,455 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?

    It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.

    I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.

    They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.

    They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.

    They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.

    This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.

    So we can all say we weigh the lowest weight we've tracked, even if we weigh 10 lbs, 20 lbs, or 100 pounds more than that.

    ETA
    It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.

    I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.

    Actually, no. If your recent minimum was 3 days ago, you can probably assume that you haven't gained a large amount since then. If your recent minimum was 3 weeks ago, you should probably eat less. Don't forget that you're still weighing yourself daily and you can see the scale showing you gained 20 pounds since your recent minimum.

    The choosing a minimum is what I do in the Give Yourself 10 Days challenge. I have up to 10 data points, and I choose the minimum for the previous rounds. That's because I sometimes have salty food, and I gain heaps. This can take up to 3 days to lose the salt related water. I tried using an average but if I went to Subway (which is riddled with salt) twice on the 10 day period (day 1, day 7 say) my average weight would be higher than the previous round when I didn't go to Subway at all. That's why I gave up using average and now only use minimum for previous rounds.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    I weigh every day and record the reading manually on my kitchen calendar as I find it interesting. I however only record the drops on MFP as I find that better for tracking the trend.

    Given how my weight fluctuates, weighing one a week would not work for me as you might hit a peak or you might hit a trough so daily is what works for me.

    Cherry-picking data to plot a trend is not how trend-plotting works.

    It's not like any of us are submitting the data for peer review or using it to send a shuttle into space. If it works for that user, what's the problem with only recording the drops?

    It's fine for anyone to do anything that works for them (assuming it's not illegal or hurting other people). But don't call it something it isn't. Tracking just drops is not tracking the trend. It throws out all data that might reveal you're actually on a gaining trend.

    I eat several meals and one or more snacks a day. It works for me. But I don't say I'm following OMAD.

    They are tracking the trend of their weight loss. That's the literal trend that they're tracking.

    They are not tracking the trend of their weight as it may fluctuate day-to-day, but anyone who is just tracking the trend of their weight loss and weighing each day is also perfectly capable of noticing "Hey, it's been a while since I've had a loss, this may not be working anymore" and then they can change. They're also recording all the data on the calendar so it's obviously there to look at and use if it becomes necessary.

    They're tracking a trend. Not the same one that you might find useful to track, but you're not the one doing it.

    This is not like you claiming to eat one meal a day when you're eating several. This is more like you getting annoyed that someone is eating at 3 PM and calling it lunch because you think that's actually dinner.

    So we can all say we weigh the lowest weight we've tracked, even if we weigh 10 lbs, 20 lbs, or 100 pounds more than that.

    ETA
    It's literally not tracking a trend when you only include the data that fits the line you want to draw.

    I'm not saying anyone has to do it any particular way. I'm not even trying to convince anyone who's posting. But for the lurkers, that's not the way plotting data and fitting a curve or line to it works.

    Obviously your weight is whatever it is on the scale at any given moment. But, not being a boxer, I have no interest in my scale weight as such. I’m interested in fat loss, which is much better represented by the chart which eliminates the noise from daily water fluctuations. There is overwhelming evidence my method is accurate over the long run.
  • ExpressoLove11
    ExpressoLove11 Posts: 337 Member
    I weigh daily for a number of reasons. Firstly, I log it in to Libra and I like to see the trends because I like numbers. Secondly, it has become helpful in managing my IBS - if I am holding on to water weight all of a sudden (not including when I have takeaways or anything where I would expect a fluctuation) it is usually because I have accidentally eaten something I shouldn't have so I can go through and check my diary - I don't always get the pain but I do get the bloating so this is just another useful way of identifying foods I need to be careful with.

    There is nothing wrong with daily weighing if you are emotionally resilient enough to cope with fluctuations and apply logic to those fluctuations - i.e. I have takeaway every Saturday so Sunday's numbers are a mess.