Daily Or Weekly Weigh In? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Loving Me · 12-14-2009, 11:19 AM

Since I started my journey I've weighed in weekly on a Friday am first thing. I have sneaked on the scales mid week a couple of times, but have mostly been good about the once a week only thing.
Then last week mid week I was feeling really fat and bloated so stepped on the scales to find a 2lb weight gain which I was gutted with. I posted here and got some good advice and when I considered it realised I'd had two days with lots of sodium. Sure enough by my weigh in last Friday I was down those two pounds plus another half.
Some of the advice I got was to weigh daily so that you learn to deal with the daily ups and downs and aren't so fixated on the number on the scale once a week. So I've been trying this for the last week and whilst I can understand that over time you learn not to obsess so much, I really don't know if it's for me yet.
So I have some questions please. Do you weigh daily or weekly? Why did you choose this method? What do you think the pros and cons are for your chosen method? Just thought I'd try a sort of survey and see what the results are.

emilydreaming · 12-14-2009, 11:30 AM

I weigh daily and have consistently since I bought my scale back in September. I avoided scales for so long (I went from 250 to 280 over the course of three years without ever seeing a number in between) and I think weighing daily keeps me accountable and more importantly aware.

It can be easy to get weighed down by an increase on a day to day basis and I did get bummed out at first, but now I just see it as a tool and I can usually (although not always) trace it to something I did the previous day.

Gracie789 · 12-14-2009, 11:42 AM

I started my weight loss journey at the beginning of 2009 and didn't weigh myself until recently. For the last few weeks I've been weighing myself daily. It's great when the numbers go down, but one day last week I had a lot more sodium than I'm used to and it reflected on the scales. It completely freaked me out. The sodium really messed with my body, and seeing the numbers go up a pound and stay there for 3 days really unnerved me. Finally this morning I saw a nearly 3lbs loss (good-bye water weight).

Weighing myself daily is definitely getting myself more in tune with my body and what I eat. Seeing the direct effect of junk food was a real eye-opener. Also, seeing the numbers go down is highly motivating for me (I am determined to reach onderland by Christmas). But, I am also sort of obsessed with tracking the numbers and seeing a change. For me, I think the same issues would be true if I weighed myself weekly, but at least with the daily measurements I am seeing the consequences of my choices sooner.

Once I get closer to my goal weight I'll probably adjust to weekly weigh-ins but for now, the daily is working just fine.

TJFitnessDiva · 12-14-2009, 11:53 AM

I weigh myself every single morning. I did this because I wanted to know my body, if you start questioning things like "why did I gain 2-3lbs in a day?" instead of feeling bad for yourself will help you get a better grip on the weight loss thing

At least for me it did lol

If I posted my daily weigh in's you'd see lots of dip ups and dip downs.

kuhrisuh · 12-14-2009, 11:54 AM

I usually weigh daily to keep myself accountable. Officially, though, I only change my ticker/profile/blog weight on Sundays. I always weigh in the AM before eating & after using the bathroom. I'm comfortable with it now, but at first I had to get used to the #s changing so much. Now, I know that they'll change and it doesn't bother me really. I know some people that also only weigh once a month, and that works better for them. So it might just be testing each method out (like you're doing

) and seeing which you like best. Good luck!

skylark826 · 12-14-2009, 12:29 PM

I weigh myself daily in the am but my official weigh in is Saturday mornings. The number that I see on Saturday is the number I change my ticker to. There are too many ups and downs during the week

.

LizR · 12-14-2009, 12:32 PM

I weigh once a week at the doctors. I don't think I could handle weighing daily. I know in my head that fluxuations are normal especially due to TOM. They still drive me crazy. I'd like to not weigh at all and go by how I feel and how my clothes fit.

ubergirl · 12-14-2009, 12:40 PM

I weigh daily. At first it was really hard because the ups and downs freaked me out. It was also really hard because my scale would give me three different weights if I stepped on it three times. So I bought a new scale, and obviously I bought the WRONG new scale, because the new one did the same thing. That of course encouraged me to weight many x per day just to see what it would say, LOL.

Finally I splurged on a really good body composition scale. It ALWAYS give me the same weight, even if I hop on it 100 times, so now I only hop on it once.

The main reason I weigh daily (and move my ticker as soon as I see a loss) is that I get a bigger high from the success of seeing the scale dip down, than I get frustration from seeing it bump up.

Each and every time I see a lower weight I'm so excited that it encourages me to keep going. Why wait a week for that? When I see the scale bump up a pound or two (sometimes as much as five) I don't sweat it because I know I've stayed on plan one way or the other.

CLCSC145 · 12-14-2009, 12:43 PM

Daily for me. It helps keep me on track and I don't miss out on seeing any low days.

rockinrobin · 12-14-2009, 12:59 PM

I avoided the scale for close to 15 looong years. While I was losing, I weighed daily, though only recorded it on Mondays. Not weighing daily - I know where that led to in my past. It was a way of denial and escapism. We've got this tool available to us. It just makes sense to me to use it. With a grain of salt of course. But use it and don't fear it.

Facing the scale now, every morning is just part of my routine. It's just what I do. It's part of my health-minded way of life. Some days it makes no sense to me, but I have learned to live with and deal with the "quirkiness" shall we say, of it. When we're doing the "right" thing there is nothing to fear about it. And ya know what, when we're doing the "wrong" thing, nothing to fear either. Perhaps that will shake us up and make us do - the "right" thing. The scale is just one of my tools in the box that I use now to help me be aware of what I do - and don't do. And that each of those choices has consequences. This is my body we're talking about here - my body - and I want to know what's going on with it. No more ducking from it. Is it perfect? Nope. So be it. Neither am I. We're a match made in heaven.

Loving Me · 12-14-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ubergirl

I weigh daily. At first it was really hard because the ups and downs freaked me out. It was also really hard because my scale would give me three different weights if I stepped on it three times. So I bought a new scale, and obviously I bought the WRONG new scale, because the new one did the same thing. That of course encouraged me to weight many x per day just to see what it would say, LOL.

Finally I splurged on a really good body composition scale. It ALWAYS give me the same weight, even if I hop on it 100 times, so now I only hop on it once.

The main reason I weigh daily (and move my ticker as soon as I see a loss) is that I get a bigger high from the success of seeing the scale dip down, than I get frustration from seeing it bump up.

Each and every time I see a lower weight I'm so excited that it encourages me to keep going. Why wait a week for that? When I see the scale bump up a pound or two (sometimes as much as five) I don't sweat it because I know I've stayed on plan one way or the other.

That makes so much sense, thanks very much. Would you mind telling me what scale you bought? My scale is a body fat scale but I don't use it for that usually, just the weight, but it reads in .5lbs and is different everytime I step on it. I have to get on 3 times and use the best of 3

Eliana · 12-14-2009, 02:22 PM

I'm reading with interest. I try to weigh only once a week, but this daily weighing you all describe does not sound obsessive. It's the obsessing I need to get away from. But I obsess anyway, whether I step on the stupid thing or not.

duckyyellowfeet · 12-14-2009, 02:34 PM

I know I've said this before, but here goes.

I weigh myself all day. Seriously, every time I go to the bathroom, i weigh myself before and after. We even have two scales in the house, so I'll weigh myself in the downstairs one and then run upstairs to see the difference (the downstairs one is off).

For me, this works because I'm learning different things about myself. Tequila, for instance, will make me retain water for days. My favorite sweatshirt weighs close to three pounds. I always weigh about three lbs more at night. I like knowing these things because I can't always have a perfect morning, post-bathroom weigh in time. I don't want to freak out if I weigh myself at the doctors office or the gym and see an increase. I'm learning how my weight fluctuates throughout the day, under different circumstances.

My official ticker-changing weigh-in is Wednesday mornings, for this semester at least. No numbers matter until Wednesday morning....they are just for fun

CLCSC145 · 12-14-2009, 02:47 PM

While I'm a big proponent of daily weighing, I don't believe there is any reason to weigh more than once in a day! I weigh every morning, with no clothes, before breakfast, and as "empty" as possible. That way I know it's as accurate a picture of my weight as I'm going to get.

Weighing in at other points during the day is not going to give me any valuable information. Why do I want to know what me + clothes weighs? Or me + clothes, breakfast, 3 beverages, and lunch weighs? That kind of multiple daily weighing doesn't help anyone. That's where "informed" crosses over into "obsession". So if you chose to weigh daily, do it once, in the same way before you start your day and stay off it until the next day.

Nada · 12-14-2009, 02:53 PM

I got in the habit of weighing 3x a week. Tues, Thurs and the official WW weigh-in on Saturday.