i find myself getting obsessed with the scale again. in the psat 3 days i've weighed myself.....4 times. I think I'm going to ask DH to hide the scale and only bring it out once a week.
I weigh once a week. I think it's a better track of my weight loss overall. But, then again, I'm one of those people whose weight flactuates a lot so all I have to do is, I don't know, drink a glass of water and breath funny in order to gain weight!
But somebody, particularly those who stay fairly constant, find it useful to weigh themselves every day. It allows you to look back over yesterday and decide what could have made you lose/gain. It's more tricky to do that with a weekly weigh in. But, as I said, you have to be one of these people whose weight stays fairly constant in order for this to work.
You could try weighing yourself every day but only "recording it" every week. That way you'll be able to pinpoint any potential mistakes but you won't get the downside of getting upset if you've gained weight overnight (which may still mean you're up for losing overall this week).
I tend to get really wrapped in the numbers too. It back fires for me though. If I have a few "good" days, then some how I think I have room for overdoing it. Like knowing I've lost gives me permission to go off the deep end. Does that make sense? If I only weigh once a week than I only know the numbers for that one day. It gives me less wiggle room and I think I'm less likely to get overly confident. The other benifit is that I don't get dicouraged over and over again if the numbers aren't going down. I have a whole week to make progress instead of being disapointed several days in row. The scale has way to much control over me. Once a week is enough fo me.
I'm a fan of once a week. I lost 10 lbs during the summer and I used to check once a week, faithfully. That helped me stay on track. Recently, I regained 5-6 lbs of what I lost (yeah, I know! ) and I was checking every day since I got a new scale. Decided it wasn't my thing because I would get so depressed if I gained and so happy if I didn't. Too much control that scale has...too much!!!
My point: I think once a week weighing is best. That's what I'm doing.
If it makes you angry to see weight fluctuations, then I think you should weigh once a week.
As for me, I weigh myself multiple times per day. I admit it. I'm obsessed. I've been doing this weight loss thing long enough though that I know fluctuations happen so it doesn't make me angry. It makes me happy to see the scale. Even if there is a day that I'm scared to weigh, I still weigh because I need to know where I am at.
I don't even own a scale. Nope. I was weighed in Sept '06 for my annual physical - got my starting weight. As my body size began to change, I'd step on a scale (or 6) at bed bath and beyond, then 6mos later at the gym. Most recently at the Dr. again or at my tennis club.
DH really feels strongly that I shouldn't have a scale in the house. I think he's afraid it will stress me out too much. He says it's better to just focus on regular exercise and eating healthy.
I weigh once a week. I also have the tendency to over-indulge if I weigh often and the scale is going down. A kind of "I deserve it" attitude. So, even though I'm on maintenance, I just weigh weekly.
I weigh once a day, right after I get out of bed, use the bathroom, and put in my contacts so I can see the needle. If the number is down, I get inspired and want to do even better. I'm getting close to maintenance now but when I first started I only weighed once a week because I would get so discouraged if the needle didn't budge. One reason why I like once a day is because if you look at it over time you get more of an "average" weight as opposed to just one moment in time, which we all know can fluctuate from day to day a lot.
Pam
I'm a once a day girl. It acts as a reminder of my goals and how i am doing. It don't get over stressed out about it, so it works for me. I do only "count" Tuesday mornings as my official weigh in though.
Well, I say once a week and record once a week but alas, I too seem to step on the scale almost everyday. I am like several of you where if it goes down I somehow feel I "deserve" to eat more. Sometimes, though, it gives me just the right amount of encouragement to stick to it. My main goal right now is to get me one of those dancing carrots for 5 lbs. lost! I just love those little guys!!!
If the normal daily ups and downs of your weight are going to change your behavior or mood in a way that isn't beneficial to you, try something else! When you've been exercising and eating as healthfully as you can, it's perplexing and depressing to see weight start to gradually creep up over several days. I know, if I keep on doing what I'm doing, and make sure that I haven't made in errors in how many calories some item has or whatever, that it will creep on down again, but thatdoesn't make it any less annoying.
I bought a scale that weighs in .5 pound increments rather than one that weights in .2 pound increments, because I figured I'd drive myself crazy with the inevitable small changes up and down each day. I'm ok with the half pound, but digital scales that weigh by the full pound would show a little less variability, and work better for some.
I had to monkey around with my graph and photo program to get this graph small enough to load and still be visible, but I've attached it. I weighed myself almost every morning in 2006 (red dots). I also got weighed in the evening at a support group once a week (the blue dots). You can see that the daily weight is is MUCH more variable than the weekly weigh ins, even though the overall trend for both is down, thank goodness.
I weigh every morning after I get up and have a pee. But I don't worry about what the number says unless its Saturday - then I freak out and get obessive about it! I found when I first started tho, I used to weigh 5 times a day, but as I got used to the idea that I was losing weight, I went down to once a day - but I still weight daily because I like to see how my weigh goes up and down with what I eat.
I weigh frequently and have been doing it long enough that temporary weight gains dont freak me out. I can usually guess if I am going to be up or down before I get on by how I feel.
In someways my obsession helps me because i learned about my body.
I know that if I quit working out for 3-4 days I will drop 2 lbs and pick them back up when I start working out again. If I didnt know that I would have been p'od when I finally got back in gear for workouts after my baby was sick and quit losing (I gained the 2lbs of water just slightly faster than I was losing at the time)
I gain 2-6 lbs the day after a really really long run. Imagine how shocking THAT was until I figured it out. Here I was burning up as much as 2500 calories in one workout and BAM I gain 6 lbs in ONE day- ummmmm. Fortunately it goes away in 1-2 days.
When I was on the pill I gained 3 lbs for TOM and 2 lbs the first day I took the new packet of pills.
A good poop day is worth a lb the next day.
I used to try and just keep track of the range "oooh havent seen that number before" or "its been a long time since I had a reading in the 170's" etc. but now I just pay attention to the low weights when I am trying to lose and the range when I am trying to maintain.
how often to weigh
I think I'm going to ask DH to hide the scale and only bring it out once a week.
) and I was checking every day since I got a new scale. Decided it wasn't my thing because I would get so depressed if I gained and so happy if I didn't. Too much control that scale has...too much!!! 
