For those that weigh every day, what kind of weightloss do you see? I know that the healthy way of losing weight is losing around 1-2lbs a week. Do you see a constant weight loss of like .2lbs or whatever? I'm asking because it seems for the past week i've been going up and down about a half pound or so. Yesterday i was 174.4lbs...today when i weight i was 174.8. I've been staying around 1500 calories the whole week except for yesterday i was only around 1100. I know that was bad on my part. Was that .4lb weight gain because i didn't eat enough calories? I only walked about 2 miles yesterday today. I REALLY want to start weighing only once a week but i'm one of those people that can't wait for anything so i don't know how that will work out.
I used to weigh everyday, but I stopped because of frustration. On average, I would see anywhere from .2-.7 pounds of weight loss a day. Sometimes, I would see a drop of over a pound though. However, just as often I would see a GAIN of that much even when I had stuck to plan religiously.
I weight every day and it fluctuates depending on what I have eaten and what I Have done. I tend to notice increases if I had anything salty, or did not do moderate cardio. Here is the thin if slight weight gains are bothering you then I think weighing daily might not be the best option.
However for me I like weighing daily its helped me detach from the numbers somewhat and instead of obsessing about that days number (i do a LITTLE) I tend to look more at what weight I am trending, as in am I more often than not below 320. What it does for me is it keeps me in check, but it also keeps me from freaking out. Days where I lose I am motivated to stick with things because I want to see more results like that, and days where i "gain" I am more motivated to eat clean or excercise because i don't want to see that again the next day. I know literature discourages weighing daily because most people are hard on themselves when they do that because they take the NORMAL fluctuations in weight to heart. Then there are people like me who like to see the patterns make connections, see the consequences of their actions immediately. Oh I ate a salty supper and now I'm retaining a lot of water? Okay...that just supports what I already know that I need to stay away from salt.
I don't think you get to see a steady 0.2 lbs ever day every single day he human body (or at least mine) doesn't work like that. I have to look at the overall trend in body weight reduction. I haven't been doing it lately but graphing really made it work for me too. I still have an "official" weigh in day where I use that day to update my tricker and my profile but I step on the scale MOST days, its just how I roll. I can't stay away I've learned not to freak out over the 'temporary' gains. I only start to worry when the gain seems to be sticking even after i 'fix' whatever I did wrong the day before (like too much salt, or forgetting to take my BP meds which is a diuretic, or skipping a workout) etc.
I think you really have to figure out what is going to stress you out the least psychologically. For me daily weigh ins are FAR less stressful than if I waited a whole week to see if I was losing.
I wouldn't be so bothered if i kept on losing...even if it was .2lbs a day or whatever. As long as the scale was constantly going down...but it doesn't. And that is what is so frustrating! And then i sit there wondering "i know i didn't cheat on what i ate today but maybe if i would have walked farther or exercised harder i would have lost more".
I would check out some of the daily weigh-in threads to get a feel for it...you'll notice it depends on the person (some have gains and then big losses and end up jumping around the scale a bit, whereas others seem to keep a downward trend that is a bit slower) and it also depends a lot if your scale is to the pound or measures tenths of pounds (I have a scale that only measures to the pound, so I don't notice things like if I go up .3 from one day to the next).
Mostly, I think it just depends on your personality...if you're someone who is going to get discouraged by seeing up numbers or no change during stalls, then don't go daily. But if you like the routine and accountability of daily weighing, then I say go for it. But understand things like the .4 increase you experienced could be due to a lot of things...salty foods the night before, time of the month, water weight hanging on, etc.
I need to understand that there will be weight fluctuations and just take that into account. I can't obsess over it cause its just not healthy. I think i'm gonna do what you do silentarctic and use that day's weigh in to motivate me if it is down and fix it if it is up. I honestly don't think i can go a week without weighing in.
I weigh daily, and some weeks I see incremental losses while other weeks I see stalls, gains and whooshes. For me the pattern tends to be mostly related to hormones (before and during TOM I stall, gain and whoosh, whereas most of the rest of my cycle I see incremental losses), though occasionally I see stalls and gains due to exercise (such as doing something new that causes my body to retain water) or excess sodium consumption.
While it does sometimes irritate me a little to see the scale go up or stall, weighing daily has helped me to identify the patterns, and I know that it's just about waiting out the gain/stall. I KNOW that I've been on plan diet-wise (I've never had a day without a calorie deficit since I began in January), and so I know I am losing regardless of what the scale says. Yesterday I was up 0.2 lbs from the day before, but TOM was starting and therefore I knew I might have to wait a while to see the scale drop back down. When I woke this morning with bad cramps I was expecting the number on the scale to be even higher than yesterday - and then was happily surprised to see a 1.5 lb whoosh. It could just have easily gone the other way though, and extra exercise or greater calorie restriction wouldn't have made a difference in the number I saw today.
If seeing small gains and stalls frustrates you a good deal, then weighing weekly might work better for you. Keep in mind though that you will see fluctuations in the amount you lose even with weekly weigh-ins; my weekly losses have ranged from 0.7 lbs to 5.9 lbs. But if you can accept that you will sometimes see some daily gains or stalls despite being on plan - and that it's both normal and expected - then weigh daily and enjoy figuring out the patterns and seeing the results of your hard work when the scale does go down.
I weigh everyday and since, I lowered my calorie intake and kept it steady, the only thing I'm seeing is my weight staying the same for a day or two then go down. I found the right amount of calories for me to consistantly lose 2 pounds a week and that makes me happy. I also, log down my daily calorie intake and my weight and exercise minutes.
I am finally able to weigh daily and I find that I need that information as a tool to see the trends. I know it will fluctuate and it will show stalls, but I need to know when to change up what I am doing or when to ride the wave of a stall.
I agree with others, it really depends on personality and expectations, it is not worth doing if it causes distress or frustrations. Weight is only one part of the whole equation. Giving it too much status lessens the focus on all the rest that goes into a weightloss process.
Everyone has a differet weight loss rhythm. Mine seems to be: Lose two or three overnight, gain one or two back the next day, the next few days entail losing one about every other day until I see that original low-then there is the time between this, which is usually 2-7 days. Then it starts again. It's pretty dependable, though sometimes there are stalls.
I weigh everyday. Everyday is different and if you are going to weigh everyday you have to be able to tell yourself that you did everything right and not flip out everytime the scale goes up. Of course it is frustrating... this week I thought I did great and I ended up with a 1.5 pound gain (no reason... stuck to my plan all week.) the week before I had a 5 pound loss...
I don't think one day of 1100 calories would make you gain... "starvation mode" doesn't work that way. To send your body into starvation mode it would have to be an ongoing shortage of calories.
I guess maybe i'm obsessed... I weigh everyday, multiple times a day. The only one that really counts though is the first one of the day. I consistantly use that number to judge my progress, and I see usually .2-.3 loss a day. The weighing multiple times through out the day keeps me conscious of my decisions when it comes to food and is a huge motivator for me NOT to eat everything I want and to stick to plan.
Try graphing the number. Over time, it's easy to see the downward trend among all of the fluctuations.
For me, the daily fluctuations have little to do with calories eaten or expended (although the overall downward trend definitely does). Day to day variations are usually responding to water retention or lack thereof and to bathroom issues.
I am on one of the daily threads, and I weigh almost everyday. However, I only record my weight 1x per week--on Fridays! This is my set weigh in day! It doesn't matter if I am up 0.2 on a Wednesday, then down 2 lbs on Saturday. Whatever I weigh on Fridays is my weight for that week--despite the fluctuations!
Weighing every day
