[Matisse]

I have a tendency to weigh myself daily and I am not sure if it's the right one anymore. It is discouraging to see the scale go up and there are lots of legitimate reasons for that to happen. What works for you the best?

Thanks for your input.

[Arrwillia]

I weigh in every morning (and every time I'm near the scales lol). As a woman there are many many reasons for weight fluctuation and weighing every day allows me to see the bigger picture. If I only weigh on Saturday then I might miss the low weight of the week on Weds. I also keep track of things like high weight around period time, that way when the scales go up I can say "well that's still 5 lbs less than this time last month".

[Kaitie9399]

I weigh myself twice a day, once in the morning and once right before I go to bed. For me it keeps me in check and helps me to be accountable for what I eat and do during the day.

I personally think that I'm slightly insane for doing this but I started out only weighing myself once a week but then the trauma of stepping on the scale after working hard all week to find that I didn't lose anything or worse, I gained weight was too much. This way I know for sure that I'm losing weight and there's no surprises!

:-)

[Tuscany]

I too weigh daily. For the most part, I've learned to ignore daily fluctuations and focus on the overall trend. I'm like Katie...the trauma of a disappointment after an entire week would just be too much for me. On the other hand, a disappointing day is neither here nor there, since there's always tomorrow and that's not long to wait.

In addition, knowing that I will have to step on the scales the following morning tends to keep me honest. I suspect I would cheat a lot more if I thought I had an entire week to compensate for my cheat.

[SuperHeroTeacher]

I weigh daily and have an official weigh in weekly at the medifast clinic. I don't think daily weighing is for everyone, but it's something I have to do. There's no way I could go a whole week without weighing, I'm a bit obsessive about it.

[Aclai4067]

I weigh most days, but only track the weight once a week.

[CherryChan]

i weight myself daily, and most of the time, I ended up depressed...

[crbcrzy]

I weigh myself everyday and sometimes more than once a day. I have tried to weigh weekly but I always cheat and take the scale out! I guess my lack of control isn't just with food

[Rhiko]

I used to weight myself daily, but now I don't care because my weight loss is an on/off thing so I try for once a week to record it. If/when I get back into serious weight loss, I'll try for everyday, though once a week is looking more appealing!

[kakeJ]

This thread got me thinking,
When I started to diet, I weighed daily and fretted or rejoiced about every change . As i began to see losses, i went to weekly or twice a week.
now that I had attained my ORIGINAL GOAL. I guess I took a break and though I've set a new goal, I have been a little lax and have crept up a few lbs. oops! So now I want to weigh everyday, ( gotta make sure I don't get to 200 at 199 now).I am amazed that I am gaining in this heatwave, no one including me even feels like eating. My husband can lose 4 lbs.just mowing the grass I checked! before 193 after 189. Grrr. But I have an adult cold drink and put on 2 lbs. I guess I check more often when I want to get started losing,just to be sure I am going in the right direction.

[zoesmom]

I weigh daily and keep a log of it all. It allows me to figure out what is water weight, what is acutal low, and when TOM is approaching (I am irregular.) It also keep me honest with myself. That being said, I discount all my daily weigh ins. They mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. I have an offical weekly weigh in that is the true measure...and the tape measure itself is more accurate than the scale. Even when the scale goes up, the tape measure goes down

[kaplods]

Weighing daily doesn't have to be discouraging. Discouragement is all about expectations. Normal fluctuations are only discouraging if you aren't prepared for them.

For me, weighing daily, or even more frequently to be encouraging because I chose to focus on "not gaining." I forced myself to celebrate the not gain. Even if I saw a gain, I still had an opportunity to "not gain" the next time I stepped on the scale.

I also looked at frequent weighing as a tool for understanding the weight fluctuations. I spent about a month weighing many timed a day and recording the results and taking notes. Weighing before and after going potty, before and after showering, getting dressed, eating a meal, exercising, sleeping....

I still document my daily weight and still look for new patterns. Last summer for example, after a significant post-sunburn gain of several pounds, that injury repair causes water retention. Technically, this was a reminder of what I knew from college biology.

Now I know to expect a gain after exercise, or even a mild injury, and in fact it's not at all a bad thing. I know my body needs the water temporarily and I will see a loss soon.

I think it's very important to learn not to catastrophize weight fluctuations.

[fadedbluejeans]

I weigh every morning and record it in a spread sheet, where I also track my progress week to week and month to month, charts and everything!
It has helped me to understand and accept daily fluctuations, and on a gain day, my chart is a good reminder that I have made progress overall. Plus, it bugs me when I don't have a data point for everyday, lol.
As with choosing an eating or exercise plan, you have to do what works for you. If it's motivating to weigh everyday, do it! If not, try something else

[Matisse]

Thank you all,

You have convinced me to weigh daily and not freak out if the scale goes temporarily up. I realize my expectations of weight loss are unrealistic. In my twenties, I used to do a really low calorie diet called the Scarsdale and I could see a variation of up to fourteen lbs in two weeks on the scale although I was technically always in the "healthy" BMI category. Of course much of it might have been water weight because I had binged before the diet, but the scale moved almost every day and it was uplifting.

Now, I do not achieve these results anymore and I have so much bad memories of sleepless nights and heart palpitations because the diet was so restrictive, so I definitely do not want to go back there.

I have to recondition myself with the mantra "slow and steady wins the race". That being said, I want to use the next two weeks to really step up exercise and kick my body into higher metabolism.

[micheal]

I take my weight every week and compare that with the last week. I have fixed a target for myself and working for it daily, mission not yet accomplished.