To Weigh or Not To Weigh - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Shouka · 08-05-2009, 12:34 AM

I'm sure that this has already been addressed and if so please point me in the right direction.

So, to weigh or not to weigh. Should one get on the scale everyday and chart their progress or should one only get to the scale once a week?

I see so little progress during a week that I'm wondering if I weigh everyday I would be slightly more incouraged.

I guess I'm just wondering what everyone else does and why.

Thanks,
Shouka

ValRock · 08-05-2009, 01:01 AM

I used to weigh multiple times a day. But... I started to notice that seeing a number I didn't like on the scale in the morning set me up for a super crappy day. Your weight can fluctuate so much in a day, water, sodium, weight of food, etc... I hid my scale and told DH to let me have it on Mondays now. We'll see how that works.

You just have to do what works for you personally!

AbbySinthe · 08-05-2009, 07:18 AM

I weigh first thing every morning, after the bathroom, nekkid.

For me, I think seeing the peaks and valleys of my weight loss helps me to not freak out when I'm up for a day. Because I can look at my graph and know that my overall trend is down.

femmecreole · 08-05-2009, 07:27 AM

I don't weigh myself at all. I hate scales. During my journey I let my clothes tell me how I was doing.

I read recently in a book that weight comes off in "spurts" with plateus that are perfectly normal. Weighing constantly MAY put you in a bad place mentally telling you that your new healthy lifestyle is not working even though it is.

Everyone is different, but I find scales to be evil and discouraging.

Here is an interesting article I bookmarked on the subject.

seagirl · 08-05-2009, 07:32 AM

I weigh every day but only track my weight on Fridays.

Windchime · 08-05-2009, 08:39 AM

I'm like seagirl. I weigh daily (and graph it) but my "official" weight is what I record on Friday. I record either Friday's weight or my average weight for the week, whichever is lower. Yeah, it's a little nutty but it's my graph so I can record what I want!

Way back when, I would be upset by every little blip but now I realize it's perfectly normal for little ups and downs to happen.

I know I'm in trouble when I don't want to get on the scale. That means, for me, that I KNOW I have gained and I don't want to face it. So weighing daily is a must for me. But only if I have access to my own scale; if I'm visiting friends for a few days, I don't weigh. I stay on plan as close as possible, but I don't weigh.

Get n healthy · 08-05-2009, 09:06 AM

If i dont weigh, i dont see my slip-ups, so i continue to slip up...if i weigh it keeps me accountable. I always know when i stop weighing that i am in dangerous waters, avoiding the scale gets me in trouble.

kellygram · 08-05-2009, 09:38 AM

Once a week for me. Lately I got in the habit of weighing every morning, but like some other posters here, it could make or break my day. I still sneak a peak a few times during the week, but the only # that counts for me is Sunday a.m.

And YES, definitely chart your progress!

HardCandy · 08-05-2009, 09:48 AM

i used to weigh everyday and i did so well with that method. i kept on track.

now i weigh once, and then don't look at the scale for awhile. haaaa that explains why i'm not losing anything! i'm more comfortable *cheating* when i have nothing to hold myself responsible with (the scale). because in my mind i'm like 'oh i'll have this and then tomorrow be really good'......except it's an endless battle and i end up getting to the point where i am terrified to get on the scale at all. =/

this morning i made the decision to start weighing again everyday. whether that's good or bad, it's the only way i stay on track.

Pita09 · 08-05-2009, 09:48 AM

I have an "official" weigh-in once a week at TOPS. I also weigh on my scale every morning under the same conditions. I record my daily weight in Fitday, which has a nice looking graph. I've been doing this for a month now and it's interesting to see how my weight goes up and down and why. I've also seen this last month that my plan is in desperately need of tweaking.

goodday · 08-05-2009, 09:55 AM

i have an official weigh in once a week, sometimes ill check my weight at one other point in the week just to see where im at, but never more than twice a week, always in the morning. the fluctuations drive me crazy otherwise.

shasha17a · 08-05-2009, 10:36 AM

Personally for me, I need to weigh in everyday. Unfortunatly if I don't then I can slowly start getting off track and then the weight piles on. If I ate crappy the night before and then I weigh in a few lbs heavier the next day, I'm right back on track. But my official weigh in day is still Friday morning.

kaplods · 08-05-2009, 11:02 AM

I weigh daily, and document the weight every day, but try to remember that the scale isn't always my best gauge of progress, but it's the easiest to use. To do that, I have to remind myself that it's not the precise number that's important, it's the progress towards feeling better, being healthier (and yes, even looking better and being more a more socially acceptable person, which the nonconformist in me resents a bit).

I try to keep this about more than the weight. In my journals I write down things I couldn't do at the beginning, that I can do now. Those things sort of creep up on you, though. I was putting dishes away on high shelves for weeks before I realized that I was able to lift them over my head and put them away without pain. When I started, I had to have my husband put away anything heavier than a few ounces, if it was over my head, otherwise it hurt to do it and I risked dropping it.

When I weighed only weekly, and even when I weigh daily, the weigh-in represents the start-over point for me (after a binge, I'd feel I'd blown it, and I would vow to start fresh on Monday, my traditional start-over point or to my next weigh-in). To learn to start over immediately, I began using the scale. Literally if I eat off-plan and start to think that I've blown it and should just keep eating until the next start-over point, I get on the scale. Whatever I see (even if it shocks me) becomes my new start point (and I don't allow myself to beat myself up for the number).

I also have a chart (looks a bit like a bingo card) that I put a sticker in a box for every pound lost. If I regain, I don't tear off the stickers, but I can't put in a new sticker intil I lose the next pound (not one I already lost). To keep track, I write the pound lost, and my weight at that pound. For example, since I started at 394, my first box would have read 393 in one corner, and 1 lb in another, the second 392 and 2. After each row, I'd write down a small reward (usually something cheap or free), and I couldn't get it until I completed the row. The rewards for the last row on the page (20 lbs per page), is usually a bit bigger.

I have stopped using the sticker charts, and I think it's played a partial role in my current struggles, so I'm reviving it. My next reward is a book (Couture Crochet, I'll buy it used online) at 314 lbs (it will be 80 lbs lost).

I have similar bingo charts for exercise and working on my novel (though the stickers are the only rewards for those).

You have to decide whether your behavior is helping you reach your goals or not. If weighing daily helps than do it. If weighing makes you crazy, you can try to change your interpretation of weighing, and I do suggest trying that before deciding you can't weigh daily or at all. If you can make the scale (and the number you see) no more important than a tooth brush and brushing your teeth, I think you can master the scale and not let the scale be your master. You're not an evil person if you forget or choose not to brush your teeth, you just will just have to face the consequences of having dirty teeth, and probably will want to brush them soon.

Being overweight is the same. It isn't that you have to hate yourself for the number, in fact if you do, you may find it harder to stay in control than if you look at the scale as you would a toothbrush, a tool to assist you in meeting a goal.

Ija · 08-05-2009, 11:03 AM

I weigh every few weeks out of curiosity, but otherwise I let the scale be. I used to weigh every day, but then I realized two things: 1) Fat loss and weight loss aren't the same thing, and 2) What I really want is to have a fit, healthy, and lean body rather than merely weigh a certain number of pounds. So, the scale has been down-graded in favor of keeping tabs on my body composition.

Rebound · 08-05-2009, 11:16 AM

Some people can weigh every day and not get freaked out. Some people can't. I weight every morning (naked, before eating or drinking anything, after peeing, before exercising so that I don't count evaporated sweat as a loss) but my "official" weight is whatever I weight on Friday morning. I try to be smart Thursday night and not eat a lot of sodium or eat a big meal really late or anything.

Anyway, my daily weight goes up and down like crazy, but it keeps trending down, so my "official" weight keeps going down. I'll attach my two graphs. One shows the daily variation, and one shows my weekly "official" losses. (The horizontal lines in the daily graph are weeks where for some reason I don't have any daily data.)