I have been weighing every day for the last 8 weeks. It is frustrating to see fluctuations. But, like Zelma said it is a way to learn your body. I'm convinced that I also gain during ovulation and TOM. Knowing this helps me not beat myself up but wait for it to pass. I have two weights I sort of go by now. The morning low and the mid afternoon high. It's interesting to learn that I normally fluctuated anywhere from 4 to 8 lbs depending on what I've been eating, drinking, or what my hormones are doing.
I do go to TOPS and only "officially" write my weight down and change my ticker once a week.
I've noticed a few of you mention fluctuations and understanding them. Can someone explain to me why there are such great fluctuations during 1 day? I can literally go to bed at 10pm, sleep for 8 hours, wake up, pee once, and voila, 3 lbs less. I know that one urination didn't account for 3 lbs, did it?
While I was losing, I only weighed in every Friday morning right after using the bathroom upon waking, and before eating or drinking anything, with nothing on.
These days though, I sometimes weigh daily, or at least every other day. It's just to keep myself in check so weight doesn't start creeping up on me.
Jenlag, you burn calories while you sleep. During the day, you're eating every 2 or 4 hours, refueling those calories. At night, you spend 8 hours burning them, digesting the food that created that 3 lbs.
When I was losing I weighed every day (first thing in the morning) and I am still weighing every day. I like to 'understand' the fluctuations. I feel that a GREAT deal of my success has been learning what my body needs, how it reacts to certain things and what that does to my weight. For example, I had NO idea that I gained weight during ovulation before I started weighing every day. Therefore, if I only weighed once a week, and all of a sudden my weight was up 5lbs one week (yes, it CAN go up by at LEAST that much during ovulation) I would go into an immediate panic and not have any idea what I had done 'wrong'. Now, I EXPECT my weight to go up at that time and I just record it and get on with my life.
That's the exact reason I weigh every day (unless I forget). The scale is just one way to measure what's going on, and I've finally realized that even people who have never been overweight do not just have one weight. My body is in flux all the time and ups and downs are perfectly normal.
I weigh daily, but only count my Monday weigh-in (and since I joined TOPS with my hubby last week, I will only count the weigh-in there on Monday evenings).
I've been hearing the advice to only weigh-in once a week for years. Yes daily weigh-ins can feed an obsession, but in some ways, it's like telling an obsessive hand washer to only wash their hands once a week, or even once a day. There isn't anything magical about one day or one week. For me it was a better learning experience to learn NOT to get upset by daily fluctuations.
Assuming that we can't "handle" seeing weight fluctuations, feeds into the belief that fat/weight is something inherently evil and traumatizing, and we should spare ourselves the pain of seeing our weights go up a few ounces while dieting. I think most women (and men) are smarter and stronger than that, and can see a fluctuation as merely that.
While I totally disagree with you, I just want to make it clear that I dont't judge anyone here who does that. It's a personal choice and I respect that.
My personal experience is that people can NOT handle it if things are not going well. Think about how many times people "fall off the wagon" or "went off the rails". For some people the SCALE is a huge trigger.
I am also personally not saying anything remotely close to what I highlighted above in your post.
Simply put, if you are one who really can not handle it, or if it triggers you, you should not weigh daily. Be honest with yourselves. That's all.
jenlag, also during the night you are not drinking water (unless you get up for a glass). For most people, the weight first thing in the morning is the lowest. Mine can go up 3 pounds from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Not to worry. Our bodies are alive and changing all the time.
kaplods and Velveteen: I have a friend who is one of the most brilliant people I know, and she got rid of her scale because the numbers were ruling her emotional life in a way that was not good. She is smart enough to know better, and no one told her to "assume" anything. She now weighs once a week at her WW meeting and is quite happy with that.
Some of us can see that number as simply information, and others can't. I agree with Velveteen that if you can't handle seeing the daily changes, don't weigh daily.
I was not speaking to anything anyone in particular said, but rather all of the advice I have heard and read. The consensus amond diet experts still seems to say weighing daily is generally a bad idea, and yet there's this research that suggests that (at least for many people) this isn't true.
Yes, knowing yourself and dealing with it accordingly is appropriate, however I also think that avoidance shouldn't be a first-response for most people. I think most people are better off trying to overcome irrational fears, beliefs, and emotions. Not everyone can or is willing to accept the number as just a number, but I think it's a skill worth trying to learn.
In some ways this is like "emersion" therapy for phobias. Weighing daily can actually teach many people not to fear the scale, and to gain a more realistic understanding of weight loss and their own body.
Is it right for everyone? Probably not, because there are darned few things that are.
Life goes on!
