This would be me. I find it very helpful to weigh each day and see the natural fluctuations in weight. Of course, I'm interested in the overall trend, but weighing crazes me much less now since I just see the scale as telling me what my weight is this morning.

This is where I am, too. I am very rarely surprised by a scale reading and it's just data with no emotional tie.

When I was losing, I weighed daily also. Not sure if that was the best approach as in moments of weakness, I would get impatient and angry/upset if I didn't lose TWO WHOLE POUNDS OVERNIGHT.

If I were to consciously try to lose weight again, I would probably try to weigh less frequently.

i understand some of the posts here saying weight is not tied to self esteem,etc.
Unfortunately for me it is and I am new to tackling the compulsive eating as opposed to the weight. every day weighing will not work for me at where I am mentally. my weight is something that has been a lifelong struggle and I still associate many negative things with it.
So this is why i was asking.

Anyways, I basically decided to not even have a set number but ive been checking progress every so often because I do want to be losing for health reasons. Its a fine line I guess and different for everyone.
thanks for replies.

Weight is only ever tied to worth or self esteem, because someone or many someones tied it there. Our culture ties a large percentage of a woman's worth to appearance. If a woman isn't thin and beautiful, no matter what else she has accomplished, she'll never feel "good enough" if she accepts the culturally sanctioned ties between beauty/weight and worth for women.

You may not have (at least not on your own) tied your self-esteem to your weight, but you are responsible for holding all the strings now. You can choose to let go of them whenever you choose to.

The choice isn't easy, but it can be done. How often you do or do not weigh (or look in the mirror, or wear makeup or do anything else you've tied to wort, or whether you ever do any of the things you feel less worthy for) - All of it is only as important as you choose it to be.

You get to decide what builds up, and what tears down your self esteem. You're the only one who can.

If you want to make your value to yourself about the number on the scale, that's a choice you're free to make, but no one else makes that choice for you. If you want to measure your worth in some other way, you (and only you) have the power to do it.

After I had heart surgery in 2008 I had to weigh myself every day because gaining 3 or more pounds in one day meant fluid retention, which meant something is wrong....call the doctor. I got a little notebook and started tracking my weight, blood pressure, blood glucose, food and exercise every day. Once I started that I continued for about a year until the novelty wore off.

I still like to weigh every day because it's better to find out that you went up a pound or two than to wait until it's 5 or 10. Having said that, I have a tendancy not to weight except when I think I've had a loss. There are times that I just don't think I can handle seeing a gain.

In another thread (can't remember which one), Arcticmama mentioned different approaches to weighing during periods of attempted weight loss and weighing during maintenance. I think it's an important distinction because, IMHO, getting that daily number is important only if you are going to "do" something based on the data you collect.

For example, if you have a health condition and your weight is up by a few pounds suddenly, that may indicate water retention, and you can take appropriate steps.

If you are in maintenance, then daily weighing can reveal an upward trend and prompt you to decide to scale back on your eating for awhile (perhaps returning to your original weight loss plan for a few days or weeks).

But if you are actively trying to lose weight – getting on a scale frequently can be tricky, as Arcticmama pointed out. If you are working hard (staying on plan, exercising, etc) and the scale doesn't budge or even goes upward, that can be upsetting. On the other hand, if you are working hard and the scale IS trending downward, you may feel like you have some leeway to "play" with and unconsciously (or even consciously) loosen up your weight loss plan, which for some can lead to complete derailment.

And for what it's worth, although I agree with Kaplods that there is a lot of societal pressure to lose weight and that may be the factor that pushes many of us into doing it (or trying to), I do not believe that the emotion triggered when the scale goes UP during a dieting phase is necessarily "shame." I think it's simple disappointment, sometimes BIG disappointment. If I work hard at something and don't see the results I want, that's upsetting. And if I am literally going HUNGRY to get a particular result and that result is not forthcoming - well, that's REALLY disappointing and may quickly lead to a "what the ****" binge effect.

The bottom line is that our body weights ARE largely under our control, but only in the LONG TERM. Daily or weekly fluctuations, sometimes inexplicable ones, do occur, and those can be distressing and or even "triggering," in the sense that adhering to a weight-loss plan can seem pointless.

I am struggling with the scale issue right now as I am up a few pounds and trying to get back into "losing" mode for awhile. I've decided that as long as I am making good choices about not overeating (I follow IE), I will NOT weigh myself frequently (or at all). Once I am back in maintenance, I will probably weigh every day. I will ALSO weigh every day if I fall into "binge mode," as I find that if I don't "check out" from seeing that scale number during a period in which I KNOW I’m eating way too much, the binge usually trails off much more quickly.

Anyway, good luck to everyone in making the right personal choice regarding this issue!

I think you are misunderstanding. Society and culture has nothing to do with my self esteem issues. I can see by your writing that you are in a place of peace about your body but I am not so to flip a switch and suddenly feel good at this size is impossible for me. The weight will have to come off for me to feel better, unfortunately thats the way it is for me.

I have a lifelong affair with the scale. When I don't want to know, it sits unused in the corner of the bathroom. Then, when I decide to jump back into trying to shed some pounds, I weigh twice a day. I get mad when I don't see the number match what I think it should, but I know from many, many, many attempts before this that the number goes down eventually if you keep at it. I can tell before I weigh if I lost or not. Seeing it just makes it a visual thing. I am inspired, though. I think I am going to weigh on Mondays for a few weeks and see how that makes me feel. Maybe it will be a lesson in self control. It might make the reward bigger if I only get it once a week. And the small disappointments that I endure wouldn't be so often. Sounds good, right? Something to look forward to, less disappointment, and compounded enjoyment at seeing some success. Okay, I have convinced myself. Tomorrow is the weekly weigh in, and no more for the week. Then I can focus on getting down to business with conquering the food addiction and keeping my exercise on track. I am sure none of this helped the OP, but I think I learned something. So thank you , Davina, and I think the answer is there is no wrong answer, just the solution that works best for you. And after 20 plus years of attempted weight loss, I guess I don't even know what that is for me, as evidenced by the fact that I just changed it up after reading your post!

thanks for all the replies.

well apparently I am still ver much struggling with the diet and weight mentality.
I weighed myself today and got frustrated as I feel the weight is coming off too slowly and havent had any loss in days.
This is so irritating since I have a lot of weight to lose & considering how much I weighed, how much I used to eat and how I eat now, plus removed wheat I feel I should be losing much more.
I know its not only about weight but I am starting to wonder if Im doing something wrong, like maybe too much sodium? i eat a lot of hot sauce as a condiment ..
I dont know :/ I really can't even last 2 weeks without weighing..

I can't weigh myself more than once per week. It drives me mad if I think I will be less and then I'm not. It often triggers binges. I typically weigh in on Saturday mornings. I picked that day a long time ago, I think to keep me in check Friday nights. Then I could loosen up and enjoy Saturday night out.

Now I'm trying to be much more relaxed. I want to stay away from the scale for a bit since I'm trying to reduce binging primarily. I plan to step on the scale once I feel I have lost a significant amount: for me this point is less than 180. I have been battling to get under 180 since last summer. I have a pair of jeans that are too tight but will fit at about 175 so once I can fit into them I will weigh myself. From there..well I want to remain relaxed and not too rigid. Once again I think it will be whenever I feel I've lost enough that I will be pleased with the result. For maintenance (a whole 'nother battle) I would probably weigh in more often to keep in check. Weekly for sure, maybe more often. It's such a mental game with the dang scale LOL. My favorite points in life where I've lost weight have never involved regular weigh-ins.