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Is it a good idea to weigh yourself every day?

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Replies

  • DaniMerc72
    DaniMerc72 Posts: 188 Member
    I weigh daily because it really does help keep me motivated. If I only do it once a week, then I tend to slack off for half the week and then panic/starve/workout like crazy the couple of days before the weigh-in. If I do it daily, it helps keep me on track every day.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    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.


    Well, yes.

    I already said that- minutiae of data is uneccesary for me.

    No issues with anyone else doing it in whatever way works for them. Of course it is individual.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 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.


    I think you are being pedantic.

    Highly unlikely anyone says they weigh 100 lb less than they do, using tracking method you are objecting to.

    I dont think any lurkers would interpret posters method as meaning that and it doesn't matter how plotting data " really works " this isn't a scientific study, it is one person's method that works for them.
  • I weigh myself everyday.
    The frequency at which anyone weighs themselves is a personal decision and whether it is helpful or harmful or neutral depends on the person.
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    I am generally an every day weigh-er but I have recently hit an interesting snag, just in the last couple of months, that every time I reach a weight-loss goal I weaken and have a treat day.

    Always had treat days and I get straight back on with the regular eating plan after but before I did not indulge because I'd lost a hunk of weight "so could" and instead picked an occasional weekend when I would allow myself a day without calorie counting, literally as a treat.

    So at the moment I am not weighing myself at all, in fact I have put my scales out of sight so as to resist as I really need to break the "food as a reward" cycle I seem to have fallen into.

    Not worried about not weighing myself as I know if I stick with the programme, food and exercise, I will be losing but I guess we all like to measure our progress. My intention being to hold off for another fortnight.

    Anyone else experienced this? Any advice?
  • jepastrana
    jepastrana Posts: 1 Member
    This question is not really about what so-called experts say. But rather what you want. It is not a right or wrong...As folks have mentioned if it motivates and helps you, then do it. If not, then don't. Personally, I weigh everyday - same time, same manner, same scale. I have come to anticipate the fluctuations and am not bothered by it. I know that if I suddenly lose 1 - 2 lbs in a single day, that it will go back up...as long as I keep at what I do, then I know it will not go back up much more than it went down. An the cycle continues. Here is an example from my Garmin Index S2 scale.

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  • 7rainbow
    7rainbow Posts: 161 Member
    I don't think daily weigh-ins are the best. I've dealt with eating disorders before and it was the scale that broke me. Sure, once a day doesn't seem to bad, but it easily turns into twice a day, then before you know it six times a day. I realize that some people don't get obsessed over it, so it does depend on the person. However overall one won't see much difference on a day to day basis, and it can be discouraging sometimes. You aren't (and shouldn't) be losing a pound or more a day, so I found that a once a week weigh in is a lot more motivating and exciting when you can actually see more of a change. Just be careful with the scale, I almost lost my life a few years ago and the last thing that went through my mind was that I was about to die at x weight. Remember that the scale is a tool to help, not a worldly force that defines you as a person.