[mishakal30]

Well... I have been at this for about 4 weeks now and I have been doing really well. I have stuck to a program and while my exercising has not been as good as it could have been, I have managed to lose 12 lbs and I made a conscious decision to MAKE the time to exercise daily.

However. this past weekend has been a complete write off. We went to the mall on Saturday and I did well at the food court. Later, we went to my sister's place to play some cards and I drank beer. They ordered donairs that night and I decided to have some as well. Sunday I ended up eating pizza for dinner and I had some cookies in the evening.

This morning I feel bloated and gross and even more determined than ever to get back on track so I can go back to feeling good and full of energy again. The question is... do I weigh in to see how much damage the weekend has done or do I wait until next Monday? Part of me wants to know and the other part of me is afraid seeing the scale go up will discourage me

[JustJuneBug]

i would say no. but then again i dont weigh at all anyway.

just start back on plan today and then if you must weigh, do it in one week.

[AquaChick]

Well... it's up to you. All the salty stuff might have really added to the bloat and the scale might be a wee bit inaccurate anyway.

If it were me, I would because I'm a compulsive scale climber. It keeps me on my toes. If I messed up I would take it as a case and point.

For some though, it is discouraging and it really bothers them to do that.

It is up to you, and how you can deal with it, and if it will do anything beneficial for you- like helping you stick to it.

[2frustrated]

You probably haven't put on fat from what you've eaten, and as people say, you will have bloated up due to increased salt intake. I know I went slightly overboard at the weekend and haven't weighed in today because I know it will annoy me!

However, some days I step on the scale to get that slap in the face to keep me going!

So depending on what your reaction to a 2lb or 3 or whatever gain might be, if you can use it healthily and reflect that it is just water, then go ahead it may spur you on a little bit. If however you step on and see 3lbs more, will it make you nosedive into the cookies even more?? If that's the case, I'd stay away from that scale!

[SherryA]

What I've noticed is that with my type of diet, the damage of a "cheat" doesn't always show up the next day. Sometimes it shows up 2 or 3 days later. SO that said, I would go ahead and weigh, while realizing that the scale is not always an accurate way to measure progress or the lack thereof. Scales will go up if you are retaining more water, go down if you are slightly dehydrated, will go up if you have undigested food in you, will go down right after a BM.

As long as you take all the factors into consideration then the scale becomes just a number that reflects many things and many conditions.

That is why I weigh every day, and sometimes several times a day. I know what affects my scale, and I know when I've been doing well and even if the scale ISN'T down during those times I know why. I tend to not let the numbers throw me though, because I know that if I've been doing well it SHOULD be lower. It isn't always, and when it isn't I can usually pinpoint why it isn't.

That said, you must know that you need more than one way to track your progress. You might use a tape measure or your clothes and the way they fit as an additional method. Also for me, when I give up weighing every day, that is when I tend to make new excuses for eating the things I want. When I know I am going to face that scale the next day and I WANT it to say a new number, then I tend to be more careful every day what I eat.

That's just me though. Doesn't work for everyone.