Question About Daily Weighing In
 

Hi,
I have written before that I have a bad habit of getting on the scale each morning. What does the number really reflect? Is it the result of yesterday's calorie intake alone or is it the overall result of the past few days? Is it realistic to expect to see a loss almost every day when I have been on plan without slips for at least a week?
Have ya'll experienced little losses each day or does the weight drop in intermittent periods?
Thank you for your advice. I am quite confused right now.

Pennie

Pennie,

I am struggling with the same thing. At first, I attributed my weight loss to weighing in frequently, so I bought a digital scale and put it next to my bed. Well, since I have done that, I have been bouncing back and forth in the same 10 pound range. So, last night, I came to the conclusion that I need to balance my diet out and eat within my caloric range and "hide" the scale. So, my son has taken it away-- not sure where he took it to. I am going to work with this for awhile--- instead of letting the scale dictate my day and mood. I wish you luck in this..... and if you have a revelation that works for you let me know.

Pennie -- The scale is what you weigh on a given day, all of you. It reflects your fat, water, muscles, skin bone, etc. So it reflects everything your body is doing. And our bodies fluctuate in weight every day. You want to measure FAT, but the scale measures ALL of you.

So, I would say that NO, you will not "see" the fat loss every day, because the scale measures so much more!

See this great sticky on scale fluctuations:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...er-weight.html

But there are other factors at work. There are a lot of metabolic processes that help create and get rid of fat. Let's say you have a 500 calorie deficit on day 1. If you hop on the scale the next morning, you won't see a 1/7 pound deficit. It can take a while for all the processes to work (not to mention the other issues that affect the scale).

I don't think daily weighing is a problem, unless you can't deal with the fluctuations!

I know it's hard to refrain(I slip up a lot myself) but you really should limit yourself to one weigh in per week. My weight fluctuates like crazy during the week and causes me a lot of unnecessary stress when I weigh daily.

It is perfectly normal for weight to fluctuate. I used to be one that weighed , not every day but several times a day, this is guarenteed to drive you crazy. I locked my scale in the trunk of my car and started weighng only once a week that way I did not see the fluctuations and I was much happier.

I use to jump on the scale all the time..sometimes 10 times a day, until i finally decided enough was enough... i was determained to get on it only on mondays, plus i went and bought a seamstress measuring tape, and every monday, would take my chest, arm, waist, hip and thigh measurment and mark it directly on the tape, this way i could see the inches melting away.

ang

I'm a daily weigher. It keeps me accountable - if I don't weigh, or find myself avoiding the scale each morning it usually is because I have something to hide or be afraid of. This is what has worked for me for almost 2 years and closing in on 90 lbs gone. I came to accept the fluctuations and so long as they simply are that and not related to some poor choice I made it has been a great tool for me.

I used to be a daily weigh-in person, but I've recently gone back to a weekly weigh-in person. When you start your weight loss journey it's not unusual to see a change each day. I remember, it can be a fantastic motivator. However, that eventually stops. Back when I was weighing daily there were so many things that affected it (workouts, bowel movements, etc.). When I was on a semi-regular schedule it wasn't too bad, but when my schedule changed (including sleep/wake times) it got to the point where it really wasn't giving me any real information. Now I do it once a week, and I might see a point where I go down to once a month. We'll see. :)

I weigh daily but always take it with a grain of salt. I only officially record the weight once a week and as long as that is on the downtrend that's all that matters. You absolutely should not expect it to be down daily even in your 100 percent on program. There are just too many variations going on in our bodies with water weight/hydration, weight of the food in our system, monthly cycles and so on.

All you can really do is stay on program. The scale will follow eventually.

If seeing the daily ups and downs is too upsetting I'd only step on the scale once a week max.

I'm guessing my response will probably make a few heads explode, but I started this plan in April and my first weigh in was July 3. My next one will be labor day weekend. I figure the mental effort it's taking to keep myself off the scale distracts me nicely from obsessiong about eating too much of something I should be staying away from.

Bonus is I don't see any of the fluctations that are crazy-making!

Obviously everyone has to do what's best for her or him. But, every piece of research I've read about weighing has agreed that people who are successful at losing and maintaining weigh at least weekly.

I weigh daily, and I still struggle with fluctuations, even though I KNOW that my weight fluctuates about 5-10 (yes, 5 to 10) pounds with TOM or other water gain. And I remind myself all the time of Heather's point: the work you do now will NOT show up tomorrow, but in a week or two or even longer.

BUT... if I lose track of my number, I lose track of my plan. So I keep weighing to keep myself motivated. When I fluctuate up, I tell myself that's a reminder to STAY ON PLAN. When I fluctuate down, I tell myself that's progress, but I don't think of it as "real" loss until the number stays there for, say, a week.

I'm starting to weigh myself every few days...you know just to see how food effects my body really. I mean I do obsess, so giving myself a break from the scale seems to do good.

I weigh in daily, because I figure if I had been weighing daily for years I would never have gotten to this weight. For me it's about awareness.

I used to get very frustrated with fluctuations until I invested in a good quality physicians' balance beam scale. It's a big hunk of scale sitting right out in plain sight where I can't ignore it. With other scales, the bigger you are, the less accurate they are, so a lot of the fluctuation is the scale. With this scale, I still see my fluctuations, but I can weigh ten times in a row right now and weigh the same thing every time.

It was a really good investment, easily paid off by lack of trips through the drivethru :)