Hopefully I put this in the right forum.

When is a good time to weigh yourself? Like, how long after eating? I weighed myself last night, and the scale said about 225. I tried again today, after I'd just eaten, and it was 228. Was the before more accurate, or the one I did today?

I weigh of the morning before eating, after going to the bathroom and without clothes on. This is more what I think of as my true weight.

What is really important for tracking purposes is that you weigh yourself at the same time every day. That way, you'll get an accurate picture of your weight changing over time, more so than you would be able to get if you weighed at different times every day.

The lowest numbers you are going to see are usually right when you get up. After that, your weight will fluctuate somewhat based on how much you eat/drink, whether you are retaining any water, etc.

My scale can fluctuate 5-10 pounds within a single day - remember, every 2 cups of water you drink adds a pound, plus all of the food you eat, etc, so I've found that weighing at the same time every day gives me a rough basis on which to track.

If you are going to weigh every day, though, be prepared for fluctuations...my morning scale weights fluctuate within a 2-3 lb range regularly, so don't take those as real "gains" - its impossible to gain 2-3 pounds of fat overnight, so it stands to reason its just water.

I weigh daily as soon as I get up. I record my weight daily.

I've seen a lot of musings about the best way to record weight. Some say a weekly weighing is better than daily, and I never thought that would be true for me. So I took all my logs and put them on a spread sheet. Then I made a second page with my weights every 7 days. All in all, over the course of the past 10 or 11 months, I have managed to lose at least a half pound a week almost every week. Sure there were a couple of weeks where I gained, but overall, it was pretty consistent. I was actually amazed. All summer long, I was convinced that I was at a plateau. But when I looked at the weekly weights, I was losing (albeit very slowly--but losing all the same).

I still feel that it is important for me to weigh daily. It gives me motivation. If the scale goes down, I try harder to make it go down more. If it goes up, I try harder to make it go back down. I know, that sounds weird, but it works for me. I think that if I were to only weigh weekly and if I saw that the scale had gone up a pound or more that I would get very discouraged.

I weigh every morning because it seems to be the time with the least variation in what's happened in the previous 12 hours (I don't usually eat anything after 6 or 6:30 PM, but if you eat later, I think it would still be ok). Eating, exercise, and clothing will all affect the reading on the scale.

I notice that I am reliably 0.4-0.6 pounds lighter after I exercise in the late morning (4 days per week), even though I've eaten breakfast after my early morning AM weigh-in but before working out. That is most likely due to water loss.

So, your weigh-in time should be at a time that has the least variation. If you work out the same every day and eat exactly the same every day, then you could probably choose anytime. However, since my days are a little different, I find weighing in after I wake up the most accurate.

I weigh every Sunday, right when I get up (strip/go to the bathroom/weigh).

My official weight is in my gym clothes at the gym, after breakfast, before working out, no shoes. I don't take seriously any other times that I weigh. It doesn't really matter what you choose, just as long as you're consistent.

I belong in the don't weight too often camp, but I think this is a very individual thing.

Now I know why most people hate scales. Yesterday it said 220, and I was SOO happy. Today, 224. I'm going to go with yesterday's instead. Since I doubt I could have gained 4 pounds in less than 24 hours. Could be wrong, but I doubt that's possible.

You might have gained 4 pounds. But there is no way you gained 4 pounds of body fat in 24 hrs. Those kinds of fluctuations are water weight changes for one reason or another. Weight varies by several pounds (for most people) through the course of a single day, as you are finding out.

This is why the scale is an imperfect tool for assessing changes in body composition. Other tools you can use to check progress are body fat monitors ($$) or a simple tape measure ($).

Anne

Yah, I meant body fat. Should have specified that I guess. Heh. Maybe I should take a water pill. I wouldn't be surprised if I do retain water.

No need to take a water pill. You'll lose it. It's not how much you weigh every day, but how much you weigh at the same time next month.

That said, I weigh myself every day, before breakfast, in my birthday suit!
i like to do it every day because I seem to be more in tune with my monthy cycle. There are times when i can gain/lose 3-4 lb in one day depending on where I am in my cycle.
It actually has been a learning experince for me.
I never knew how much my cycle could influence my weight.
I swear when I was weighing only once a week I was always hitting that high day!! lol! Ok, well it seemed that way!