How often do you weigh?
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"Sonicmojo wrote:
These online cals do not specify what constitutes "exercise" either. There is a vast difference in walking around the neighborhood listening to Spotify vs spending an hour in a gym lifting hard steel.
Cheers
Sonic.
@Sonicmojo
That's one of the advantages of MyFitnessPal - you know what exercise you have done and for what duration rather than guessing an average volume and type of exercise in advance.
BTW, the calorie difference between walking and weight lifting is probably a much smaller difference that you think. Lifting is one of those things that feels much harder than the modest calories burned. Net calories for walking 3.5 miles in an hour or an hour of strength training aren't going to be much different.2 -
I weigh daily and log it in a trend app. I like having the data and the trend weight keeps everything in perspective. For me, this is the best way because I tend towards larger day to day swings.3
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4x/year while I'm losing. I'm losing at a really slow rate. I want to take off 20 pounds that came on over several years, but I'm giving myself a year to get it off. So every 3 months, I weigh for 4-5 days straight and take an average. I think once I am in maintenance, I'll probably keep a tighter eye on the scale, weighing every six weeks or so.2
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I recently nabbed a new scale and have been going daily for two weeks (which is very new for me). The trends are astounding once I found an accurate scale. The first shock was to see I was about 8 pounds heavier than the old mechnical scale I had been using. Then the next data point is that my weight has been steadily increasing even after logging every single thing in MFP ( to my current calculated daily max of exactly 1934).
For a guy that is 202 pounds - I should be seeing some slow loss at this daily cal amount. I am doing at least 30 mins of exercise of some sort twice per day but I do not understand what is happening - it makes no sense.
I won't comment on your lack of weight loss; you don't give enough information about what you are eating for that to make any sense. What I will say is that electronic scales are very individualistic. We have two here and they always weigh 0.6-0.8 kgs (so over 1 lb - nearly 2 lbs) difference. I use the heavier one as my guide because it's closer to the values I get from a third set of scales I have where I live for work (in normal times...). I have learned form this not to try to compare scales but to track on one set of scales and define my goals according to the data I get from them.
For me a daily weigh-in works (in the morning after exercise and before breakfast), but what I am most interested in is my monthly average weight.1 -
I won't comment on your lack of weight loss; you don't give enough information about what you are eating for that to make any sense.
I could certainly post my specifics but to keep it easy - let's just say that I really try to toe the line daily. I limit everything that is clearly not going to help and get plenty of what I need to stay healthy. Think fruits, veggies, lots of natural, non packaged fresh food - with of course a glass of wine now and then along with the occasional Friday night pizza or burger. I have been an 85/15 kinda guy for years now.
But more specifically - at least since I picked up the new scale - I have been conducting a hard core experiment just to see the impact and have been logging like madman for the past two weeks - trying to hit every macro, calorie and gram. Still - the scale continues to trend upwards - even in this so called "deficit" . Maybe it's not a deficit at all - but if I move down to a calorie ceiling in the 1800's - I am probably going to be cranky....What I will say is that electronic scales are very individualistic. We have two here and they always weigh 0.6-0.8 kgs (so over 1 lb - nearly 2 lbs) difference.
I have seen some strange stuff with scales as well - first I run with basic science and take the "me" out of the equation. For this new digital scale - I fired it up and placed one of my exact weight kettlebells on it - if the screen says exactly 5.00 pounds - the scale is ready to go.
Oddly - if I put the same kettlebell on the mechanical scale (same one I see in my doctors office) and zero it out - and then step on - like your observations - my weight is not the same as the digital scale.
Sonic.
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Kind of on-topic:
After weighing daily for many years, I genuinely don't believe I have a "true weight". I have a current weight *range*, and a long term weight *trend*.
Over a day up to a couple of weeks (sometimes longer), my daily weight will meander up and down through a range of a few pounds. The numerical majority of that variation is from water weight and digestive contents, not body fat.
Over a few weeks to a few months of fairly consistent eating/activity behavior, the range from one time period can be compared to the range from an earlier range. That comparison shows the ranges to be higher (gaining), similar (maintaining) or lower (losing) as a longer-term trend. Absent weird circumstances, the majority of that difference is about body fat levels. The trending apps are helpful, but not infallible, for visualizing this.
Over months to years, muscle mass changes can show up, but rarely do so in shorter timespans (compared to magnitude of shifts in water, digestive contents, and body fat).
Even when losing body fat steadily and fairly fast, daily weights are not down-down-down, they're up and down mini-bumps on an overall downhill trend line. Expecting consistent downward weigh-ins is a source of frustration and stress for many.
Now, kind of off topic:wunderkindking wrote: »Heh. Calorie calculators are pretty consistently about 300 calories too LOW for me. Definitely need to do some experimentation to figure out what exactly your calorie needs are. That said, so many things impact your daily energy use and it is so inconsistent day to day (for most) that even then you're going to be doing an awful lot of rough estimating and guessing for quite a long while.
And that's ok.
Yup, MFP and others (including my good brand/model fitness tracker) estimate *hundreds* of calories *below* the maintenance calories that almost 6 years of careful logging has demonstrated that I need, which is on the order of 25-30% low. 🤷♀️ (MFP says around 1500 + exercise; logging results say a bit over 2000 + exercise.)
That does *not* make me say that "calculators estimate low", because IMO that would be inaccurate.
They spit out what amounts to a population average for a particular demographic (similar weight, height, age, etc.). Real people vary, probably in some kind of normal distribution (bell curve) kind of way. Research suggests that the standard deviation is small (i.e., that it's a fairly tall, narrow bell curve). Most people will be close to the calculated estimate. A few people will be a meaningful way off (high or low). A very rare few people will be quite substantially far from the estimated value. That's just the nature of statistical estimates.
Each individual needs to run his/her own experiment, over multiple weeks (4-6 weeks minimum): Believe the calculator to start, log calories (in and out) carefully, monitor scale weight, adjust if results differ from expected.
There are complications that make this not absolute, but if people are saying "I'm eating at a deficit but not losing as expected" or "I'm eating at maintenance but still losing", and there's not a significant logging issue, often the answer can be that they believed a calculator estimate that was inaccurate for them, because they're non-average. It happens.6 -
I used to weigh daily, but now that I'm in maintenance I weigh twice a week - Wednesday's and Saturday's.0
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Once a week on Monday the end of my work week.2
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Honestly?? I used to weigh every week, but it was really messing with my mind state and mentally messing me up.. so now, I actually never weigh in... just go on how my clothes are feeling... for me personally, this has worked out much better2
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tbh...never. my partner doesnt keep a scale at his house when i visit and i dont use one at the gym. but my measuring tape is a godsend. i often take my bust and waist and thigh measurements 1 or 2 x a month. any waist larger than 26".....i know i gotta cut back. mothersday offered me 2 nutrisystem ice cream sandies and key lime pie filling.....no measuring post week after😝2
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I recently switched to daily from every week and a half or so. I found I was preoccupied by it when I was weighing less often and my brain has really chilled out since the switch.1
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I weight every morning, because I feel like it gives me a more thorough understanding of my fluctuations and overall trends. When I first started tracking I would get upset if I gained weight from day to day, but now I find it interesting.4
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I get on the scale once a month.1
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While actively losing, daily (often twice a day) because I wanted to see my progress and learn how my body reacted to exercise, eating certain foods, overeating, cardio vs weight training etc. Being pretty much at maintenance I weigh much less often, more for accountability sake than anything else. I officially record once a week but jump on the scale several times a week.0
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Every single morning when at home, so I’m using the same scale. Great way to monitor and to catch something early!2
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Probably over the top every morning, before any food or drink. I feel I can make small adjustments throughout the days depending on fluctuations. But I try not to fret to much 🤣1
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I register my weight in another app every day, to see the trend. But I register on mfp sometime on the weekend.1
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BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »Daily and watch the trend.
I’ve always thought that if you weigh less frequently you have less idea of your true weight trend since there are so many uncontrollable factors affecting weight; water, digestive contents, hormonal fluctuation etc and no way to know how many of those are in play on any specific day.
If you weigh on a monthly or weekly basis you might catch a ‘high day’ and feel discouraged when, in fact, you’re perfectly on track. 🤷♀️
Ditto. I can easily fluctuate 3 lbs or more within the same week, and I am only shooting for a half pound loss per week, so a high day could obscure actual progress. I weigh most mornings but try not to think about the actual number. I keep the progress graph set to "since starting weight" and watch the trend.
But to each their own!0 -
Once a month. Dealing with my period, I only have the scale reflect loss the few days/week immediately after my period, anyway. No sense in frustrating the crap out of myself.2
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Maybe once a week?1
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6:54 am on Sundays. Then a few hours later before I do my 3 mile jog. Then when I’m done with jog I’ll do 1 more weight check. I like confirming my usual 3-4 lbs of water loss. I take my weeks new weight from the reading before the jog. Up or down I update my weight to get the new calories burned going fwd for the week starting with the 3 mile jog.1
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Once a week, Sunday morning after I wake up!1
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Like so many, I weigh every Friday morning before drinking or eating.
It ends my week on a good note 🎶2 -
Initially, i would weigh myself daily. Hopefully to see a reduction in weight every day. But it doesn't work all the time. There will be days when it's high and there will be days when it's low. It is really depressing when I hit the high weight when what I did what really exercising and dieting hard the day before.
So right now, I weigh myself weekly. Plotting the weight on a chart. I actually see a gradual downward trend, which is good as I know I'm on the right track. We have to look far. We should be looking months ahead towards our goal and not daily weigh-in. Because our weight fluctuates greatly between days.
Hope that helps.0 -
I'm trying not to weigh myself as often now.
I have plateaued and the number on the scale was affecting me negatively so I weigh about twice a month.
If I feel a difference in my clothes then I weigh in.
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I weigh daily because otherwise I will, without realizing it, start to game it. Night before not drink, take extra stuff to get my gut cleaned out, eat much less the two days before, etc. If I weigh every day it's just a number and I can observe trends and how things affect me and I don't get weird about it.3
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When I actually care about what I am doing (which I am trying to have been more often than not) I weigh every morning. To encourage this, I participate in challenges that include daily reporting in. Part of the value of this daily weighing is I understand the transient (and non-transient) effects of what I eat. For example, my recent challenge weights.
4/6 - 133.4
4/7 - 133.8
4/8 - 135.2
4/9 - 137.4
4/10 - 136.0
4/11 - 135.4
4/12 - 138.0
4/13 - 136.6
4/14 - 135.2
4/15 - 134.6
Here is a cut and paste from yesterday's post in the challenge I follow that discusses these numbers:
"So my history this round is great for anyone unfamiliar with the cause and effect of daily food selections and how some is real (AKA fat) and some is temporary retention. So on the 7th and 8th I did some high carb, fat and salt eating that led to a gain of 4 pounds. Got back to focused eating on the 9th and 10th and dropped two. Misbehaved again on the 11th with salt, fat, carbs again for one day and went up 2.6 pounds. Focused again on 12th and 13th and am back down 2.8 pounds. These fluctuations cannot be explained purely by calories consumed as to gain those 4 pounds of fat I would have required that I eat roughly 14,000 calories OVER my daily caloric needs during those two days, which did not happen. Weighing daily over the years has allowed me to witness these cause and effect and how they apply to me. I am rarely blindsided by the number that I see on the scale."
As an added note, YOU should do what supports YOU best. Getting input from all of us gives you the opportunity to think about different approaches and lets you assess what matches you best. I worked as a WW receptionist for 12 years and I certainly saw over the years that people respond differently to the data they receive from the scale.
Good luck with your journey!!
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Daily with a trend app1
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Every Thursday morning after I swim laps1
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I'm a numbers person too and somehow am not discouraged to weigh daily. I look forward to my weigh in. If it's a little high I am able to tell myself that that is expected sometimes.0
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