One day of Eating bad

jocelyn_jose
jocelyn_jose Posts: 7 Member
edited June 2022 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello guys! Just feeling a little discouraged today. I worked out all last week and a couple of days actually lost 1000 calls through exercise and ate well. I ate pretty bad over the weekend and stepped on the scale today and the scale didn’t budge from last week :( Any advice on when the best time is to weigh yourself?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,455 Member
    edited June 2022
    When I was losing weight I weighed daily.

    I didn't lose every week, you probably won't either.

    You don't really give enough info for us to be much help...do you log everything? Even the days you eat above your goal? What is your goal? (Height, weight, calorie goal?)
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,881 Member
    edited June 2022
    You're only weighing once a week? Weight fluctuates from day to day and changes in water weight and food waste in your digestive tract can easily mask fat loss on the scale short-term.
    'Eating bad' over the weekend can have a short term impact on your scale weight: extra food being digested if you ate more than usual and extra water weight from extra carbs being digested and extra sodium intake. So your weekend may have caused a temporary uptick on the scale, making it look like you didn't lose weight since the previous week.
    Since you mention exercising as well, that can also cause an uptick on the scale if the exercise is new/more intense than usual (water retention for muscle repair).

    Your weight trend is best evaluated over several weeks: ideally one month/menstrual cycle at least. Purely from a data standpoint, it's better to weigh daily and look at the overall trend (for example using a trending app like Libra or Happyscale) - more data points makes it easier to spot the trend. It can be really informative to see how our scale weight reacts to high sodium meals, heavy exercise sessions etc.
    However, some people have trouble accepting these fluctuations and prefer to weigh weekly. If that's your case, perhaps it's better to shift your weekly weigh-in to Friday morning, which for many people will be a day where they are less likely to have a temporary high weight (most people tend to indulge on the weekends and less during the week).
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    This is a lifetime process, not a weekend fling. As long as you stay within your calorie goals most days, you'll win it in the end. But don't fret about not losing anything in a week, or even gaining a pound or two. It'll all work out if you stay consistent in the long term.
    And I agree with 1000 cal. a day deficit being too hard to stick with. Do something, eating and activity wise, that you can live with.

    Good Luck!!
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    IMO, it's best to weigh yourself daily, log it, and notice if it's trending in the direction you want. My weight will easily fluctuate by almost five pounds a day, up or down, eating normal stuff.
  • azuki84
    azuki84 Posts: 212 Member
    the best time to weigh is when you can remove the most variables AND do it consistently. after you wake up and use restroom, weigh daily, then take weekly average. even then you will still have water stores/hormones that will affect it so don't worry over it so much!
  • JbeanR0212
    JbeanR0212 Posts: 721 Member
    edited June 2022
    I agree with much of what was said above. I didn’t like the daily weigh in myself either but one of my accountability groups insisted on it. The easiest time for me was as stated above, when I get up in the am and use the restroom. If I have too much sodium or over-indulge I’ve noticed it takes a day or two to show up. Also things like my water, cycle, workouts (DOM’s) or digestive process will easily affect it. The important part is to watch your trends and keep going. I agree that pushing yourself too hard isn’t healthy, you will get discouraged too quick and are more apt to give up. Also if you are starving yourself with that deficit you are setting yourself up for another host of health issues. I’m down 10lbs since March 10. Stick with the process. Consistency is key, hang in there you’ve got this.


    “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston S. Churchill
  • Aubgurl81
    Aubgurl81 Posts: 13 Member
    I weigh everyday but only track my weight once a week. Weighing daily helps you see if what you are eating makes you retain water or things like that. I know a lot of people weigh daily and then average the daily weights and track that once a week. Females also tend to retain water when on their period, so that can factor in as well.
  • sbelletti
    sbelletti Posts: 213 Member
    One thing too... How many days should it take you to reach your goal? 90? 180? More? One day of going way over isn't going to make a huge impact in the long run. Don't fret over the scale... Just don't let that one day turn into an excuse to give up. Start again tomorrow and remember this feeling before you make the decision to go over your calorie budget again.