I get "the daily dish" from the South Beach Diet daily. I thought I would pass this one on.
Do you weigh yourself every day? Do you worry about even the slightest change in your weight? If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, you may be obsessing over the scale — and if you're trying to maintain healthy habits, this behavior can actually be counterproductive.
The truth is, your weight may change from day to day for many reasons. Fluid retention, hormonal fluctuations, constipation, and even the food you ate right before stepping on the scale can cause daily ups and downs. These variations can be misleading and worrisome if you don't understand them. For an accurate measurement of your weight, weigh yourself only once each week and on the same scale every time (different scales may give different readings). An even better method of measuring your success is to let your belt be your guide. If your clothes fit better and you feel better, then you're getting healthier — even if the bathroom scale doesn't show big changes.
Ultimately, it's up to you to stop scale obsession. Weight loss takes time, so patience is required. Dr. Agatston, preventive cardiologist and author of The South Beach Diet® says, "It's a marathon, not a sprint."
By the same token, for some people, weighing just once a week is far too stressful to be productive. For some people, being able to spot a trend as it develops is more comforting. Even if the trend is not what you expected or wanted, at least it doesn't sneak up on you as a surprise.
I am an extraordinarily slooooooooooow loser. And I tend to seesaw and hover like a madwoman. These are things I discovered as a daily weigher. When I used to weigh once a week, I felt entitled to a 2-3 pound loss after a week of being "good". Didn't happen. Inevitably, I'd get totally infuriated with the whole losing-weight idea and quit.
As a daily weigher, I KNOW there's not going to be a dramatic 2-3 pound loss between yesterday and today, so I don't expect it. And even though I'd far prefer to have a steady, always downward line, I understand and expect the daily fluctuations.
I have an "official" weigh-in day (Saturday) that I use for stats keeping, but I weigh and record every day. Same time, same scale.
In other words, once a week leads to less stress for some people. Daily is less stressful for others. It's all individual. I think you can obsess over the number itself, whether you weigh daily, weekly or monthly. It's not the activity of getting on the scale that makes it an obsession -- it's the freaking out over the result shown.
I'm with Lena on this one. I can't just weigh once a week. I obsess about it. It's far too stressful for me. Instead, I weigh . . . well, all day long. My weight hits its low in the morning, and increases all day long. By night there's generally a 5-6 lb increase. Come morning, it has dropped back down (usually with a few ounces gone, but occasionally with a few added). I record it daily to keep track of metabolism and what not, but I keep track of my progress with a Sunday weigh-in.
For myself, I tend to weigh in once a week. But I do find it interesting on others rational behind when they weigh and why. It is weird, because until I got pregnant with my first son....I never really weighed myself regularly. Seriously....I do not recall what I weighed in high school...and college forget it! Hmmmmm...interesting.
I'm with Lena and Helena on this one. I weigh myself everyday (or every other day) just to keep an eye on things and take a grain of salt with the results. My official weigh in day is Sunday.
I'm with everyone else and say that every morning I routinely wake up, and weigh myself right before returning to bed again for the last few minutes of sleep. I like to see how it changes, and I've noticed a slight pattern in my lost. From Sunday to about Wednesday is the real losses, then until my official weigh in day on Saturday, it's up to me to maintain the loss. I know it'll change soon, but I'm still looking forward to identifying another pattern if any. I must say that I try not to let what the numbers say make or break my day. However, if they are lower, I definately walk with an extra pep in my step!
I graph my daily weight loss and gain. Yes, that's probably a little strange. I actually spent time figuring out the equation associated with my current weight loss pattern. Yes, I am beyond sad. It gives me an approximation of where I'll be and when. I also really enjoy when things go off course so that I can find a new equation . . . Yes. I am very, very sad.
Nicklewise - I weigh myself before and after taking a shower. Before the epic shearing of 2006, my hair could hold an average of 2.6 lbs of water. Now I'm lucky if it holds one.
I think there's a possibility that I might be obsessive-compulsive. At the very least I have the compulsive part down . . .
I agree how often one should way is a very individual decision. As a matter of fact, I've changed how often I way several times during the last year and a half. At first, it was once a week because I was emotionally impacted by the number on the scale. The slightest fluctuation could derail me. After several months of losing weight I became a daily weigher. I liked graphing the fluctuations and was able to identify very specific patterns thus learning a lot about how my body reacts in various situations (PMS, too much sodium, not enough water, etc.). The information was very useful and I had reached a point that I was confident in my ability to lose weight so the slight changes didn't bother me anymore. Now, I'm back to weighing once a week or less. I'm nearing my goal weight so I am more interested in inches lost than the scale. My weight loss has slowed significantly so I don't have those big "woohooo" moments anymore. Weighing just isn't as much fun as it used to be.
If I find my weight creeping up I start getting on the scale every day again just to get things back in check.
Stop scale obsession
