im starting to do that now, and just focus on my eating and being on plan and exercising. the scale just fluctuates too much for me. then my emotions is all over the place. in 8 weeks i have lost 12 pounds. sounds great right? and it is great except for the fact that i lost 9 pounds my 1st week and the scale has been playing with me ever scene. but 12 pounds in 8 weeks is still great!

anyways if i just focus on what im doing and not weigh in day,, then i know i will do alot better. im just not a strong enough person to hop on that scale all the time. sooooo im gonna stick with my plan and calories all through the month then weigh in on the 1st of every month. anyone else do this? i sure could use the support!
it also seems if i so much as look at salt i bloat, and im getting my water in so i think this is the best for me to do, although i know this 1st month is not going to be easy cause im gonna want to hop on that scale, but i will do it!

Yes - I do! And I take a picture in the same bikini to compare. I have done it for 4 months now. The pictures don't lie - if I am not losing due to poor eating habits, it certainly shows!

Unfortunately, I can't do the once a month weighing. I have let myself gain 10 lbs. in a month before, so this time I am being much more vigilant. By weighing every day I can keep myself on plan. I don't worry about small fluctuations as I understand that sodium can cause bloat, etc. I wish you the best. I think when each person weighs is a very individual discipline.

If you have the self control to stick completely to plan without checking your weight for an entire month more power to you. I check my weight at least once a day. XD

sacha~ yay! im so excited im not the only one doing this, if you dont mind me asking why did you decide to do it monthly, and how has your results been on average?

milmin~ the problem with me is i can eat right and be op for the whole week and i get on the scale and i have gained a pound. i honestly am doing everything right so i know the weight will come off but i let the fluctuation of the scale get to me and then im upset, and i really don't need that. its not helping me, so where you have to weigh yourself daily to stay on track im gonna have to stay away from the scale and focus more on what im doing.. then of course monitor weight loss once a month.

lol nia, its funny i have more willpower when im not on the scale (as long as im on a mission) then on it, cause if i get upset then i want to give up. although i wont and haven't cause i am in this for the long haul, but at least this way my emotions wont be on any more of a roller coaster ride then what they already are from just making this lifestyle change and dealing with the every day battles!

I haven't weighed myself in months. I'm seriously scared to do it. I've been getting out more these days, so I hope I've been losing some weight. But I might change that soon, since I'm going to try the starwarsdiet (well it's a workout). Just need to get money for p90x and some star wars soundtracks and I'm ready to go.

nicole-I understand exactly what you are saying. I give you a lot of credit if you can just stick to your plan and weigh once a month.

I used to be discouraged when I would weigh every day or every week and either see no loss or stay the same. What the heck? How can this be? I've been so good. Then I joined 3FC and I have a totally different take on things now, although it has taken some time.

Like you said, I am in this for the long haul, no matter what, no turning back. I don't ever want to be unhealthy and obese again, NEVER. I will do what it takes for the rest of my life to get this weight off and be healthy. Already with a 60 lb. weight loss, the differences in the ways I think and feel are practically immeasurable. When I truly determined that I would follow my new healthy eating and moving plan for the rest of my life, that's when things started clicking. It may seem like I'm obsessed with weighing myself every day, but it's really just the opposite. For me, it's just another tool in my arsenal, like drinking all of my water or exercising every day.

However, by all means, if you are feeling down about weighing every day, then do what works for you. I'm right here with you and totally get it.

Best wishes!!

Because I am very close to goal and seeing daily or weekly weight loss on a consistent basis is not very reliable. You may only lose 2-3lbs a month at my size and 2-3lbs can also be water weight.

So, I go by pictures and double check with the scale.

My results are slowing down quite a bit but that's natural at my stage.

I've thought about doing it so I can focus more on the process instead of the numbers, but short of having my husband hide the scale from me, I don't think I could stay off of it. =) I only weigh once a week now.

I should say though - I still go primarily by pictures.

Here's July, Aug, Sept, Oct - and 7lbs difference.

7lbs sounds like nothing in 4 months. However, in pictures, it's quite a difference. That's how I judge my success. I can also see that the last month, which I didn't exercise or eat that great, is no change! Yet the scale is the same... funny eh?

mil, 60 pounds! that's great!!
you have obviously worked very hard and really are in tune with what works for you. i originally lost 50lbs and got to 166, and stopped eating the right way and didn't focus no more and gained 20 of those 50 pounds back, this time im really really trying to not focus on the weight as much as the change in my lifestyle, and im feeling that will truly make a difference and the weight will follow. i know alot of women on here weigh themselves daily and they take the fluctuations with a grain of salt....i guess they just know their body..like you. i think that is awesome!! you will be at your goal before you know it, and the fact that this way of life seems to have become second nature to you will make it easier for you as far as maintaining goes. consider me your cheerleader over her in the corner, and ill be right behind you!
sacha, your pics look great, you can really tell a difference. i think i might give it a try as well.
toomany, its by sheer determination. i know what i need to do, i know how to do it, and i know if i do the weight will come off. this month will be hard but i know i will be happier in the long run if i do it this way, you could start by going from every 7 to 10? i mean if that truly is something you want to do
bremaine~ you can do it!!!

I weigh monthly, and I find it very liberating. Of course we are kinda on 2 different journeys with our starting weights. When I stay on plan, I can expect to lose a pretty good number -- it's been averaging about 10 lbs a month. With the amount I have to lose, it was really obvious for me from the start that my personal frame of mind cannot tolerate the daily ups and downs. It made me kind of a crazy person -- oooh, was that really a 1/2 pound loss -- guess not, because it's a 1/2 lb gain the next day. I just couldn't live like that for 200 lbs. Yay, 0.5 down, 199.5 to go!!! I know if I gave it time, I would probably become accustomed to it and start to see the patterns. I just don't have the patience for it. I haven't weighed since Sept 28th, when I hit my first goal, and since then I can literally FEEL some of my rolls shrinking. I love feeling and seeing the changes before I worry about what the scale says. In fact, I'm enjoying it so much I decided to skip this month's and wait till November's weigh in.

I have made a strict rule with myself that if I start to go off plan even a little, I have lost the privilege of monthly (or bi-monthly) weighing. And I also may consider going to weekly as I get closer to goal so that I can tweak things if needed. But I LOVE it! And BTW, I have a pretty regular monthly cycle, so I weigh right after it's done each month.

Good luck!!

Hey, if it works for you, go for it. I think it's great to try new approaches to one's plan, and I also advocate trying an approach for several months before deciding whether it's working or not. Weighing once a month is something you'd almost have to keep at for a couple of months to make a decision about!

For me, weighing once a month would be a recipe for disaster. I have to have laser-like focus on the present moment, with immediate consequences, or else I procrastinate. If I weighed once a month, it would turn the week after my weigh-in into a free-for-all, as my brain relaxed thinking "I have time to make it up later." I do this with EVERYTHING, there's no reason I wouldn't do it with weight loss too. No good for me.

I haven't weighed myself since early September and I don't intend on weighing myself again until the end of November. At first it was unintentional- I went to weigh myself come October and found my scale had run out of batteries- but I'm finding that, now that I'm trying to lose a little more(after a while of successful maintenance) it's really liberating to not get on the thing all the time.
Last time I was actively losing I remember I got on the scale nearly every day and eventually got pretty obsessive about it. Not only that but my efforts all went to changing the number instead of what really matters- how I feel and look.
I've been on-plan with calories and exercise for the losing phase again for over a week and I already can feel and see a difference. This is what I'm going to be focusing on instead of that pesky number on the scale.