I know there are a lot of different schools of thought on how often you should weigh yourself when losing and different things work for different people. But how about maintenance? Do you weigh more/less frequently than you did during your weight loss? Also, do you have a trigger weight that means to you that you need to go back to loss mode, even if it's just for a few pounds? I know people fluctuate, so getting used to those rhythms is part of it, but what number means to you that it's not just a water/natural fluctuation but that you're starting to gain?

Hi Rachael!

There have been some studies showing that regular weighing -- either daily or weekly -- is a positive behavior associated with successful maintenance. Personally, I'm a daily weigher, just as I was when I was losing. I understand my body and how it reacts to different foods and exercise, so there aren't any surprises. I can usually predict my weight within .2 pounds every morning.

When I talk to people who have regained, frequently they stopped weighing themselves regularly and when they finally caught themselves, the scale had gone up significantly. We all know how discouraging it can be to be dealing with 25 pounds to lose, for example, instead of three or five. So to me, it's far better to catch any regain as soon as it happens, and deal with it while it's manageable.

We've talked a lot about red lines and where we draw them. Most of us seem to have a five or maybe ten pound maintenance zone that we fluctuate in. I think we all have to figure out what's normal fluctuation and when a few pounds signals something more serious. And then we need to have a plan in place to deal with any regain!

How about you? What have you discovered about weighing yourself? Do you have a red line that you won't cross?

I mainly go by the fit of my pants. When my favorite jeans get snug, time to go into weight loss mode until they feel comfy again (generally takes 1-2 weeks).

I'm a daily weigher. I'm still losing, but now that I'm in the last 20 pounds and it is slowing, the fluctuations are showing more. For example, I was up 3 pounds on Monday, but I'm already back down two. I had a salty weekend though. I definitely plan to weigh daily forever.

I am a daily weigher.

My plan is to be a daily weigher for life. Even while losing there have been a few days, like after Thanksgiving, where I do not want to get on the scale. I have the thought that I'll do it tomorrow. But I get on anyway because THAT is exactly why I'm certain daily weighing will be key to maintenance for me. I know I would collect way too many "I don't want to" days.

I'm currently still in losing mode (having about another 5lbs or so to go to where I think I want to be) and am a daily weigher for now. However I'm afraid the number on the scale sets my mood for the day on a lot of occasions which I'm not happy about, even though I know how my body works and the fluctuations. So I THINK when I hit goal I'm going to go back to weighing weekly on a Friday like I did for the first half of my weight loss journey.
With regard to red lines etc, my plan is that my goal will be 135lbs approx, and the absolute red line will be 140lbs, at which point I will go back into loss mode til I'm back down to 135lbs. Ideally I want to keep my weight under 140lbs, no matter what, but I know that during a week away, even being sensible, I can gain 7lbs in water weight unfortunately.

The isle of denial is not for me. There are many forms denial so to minimize that place, I do as I did when losing- weigh daily when in town. If I do not want to get on the scale, that is a sure indication I had better.

I also have a great scale, quick, accurate, repeatable. I weigh daily, in the AM. I am still looking for trends with my cal/carb counts. I need months of data to determine causality. I also have narrowed my maintanence range as well. Much lower than I ever would have thought just a short year ago.

I weigh every day,
enter it into my computer food journal, and watch my Trend.
I've been Maintaining at or around my goal weight for nearly 5 years.

My signature contains a graphic that shows my Maintenance plan.
I have frequent large bounces due to water/salt/waste, which can easily be from 5 to 8 pounds
so I use a larger Maintenance area than some people.

If I am in the "Blue area", I work to stay inside it.
Sometimes that involves dropping several pounds in anticipation of a special eating event.
I think I've been inside my "Green area" for two days of the entire 5 year period,
and that was due to an unusually large water/salt/waste loss during illness.

If I am in the top "Red area" or...God-Forbid...the "Black area",
I work to stay in weight-loss mode just like when dieting-to-goal the first time.
I've never been in the bottom "Red or Black area",
so I've never had to deal with deliberately trying to gain weight.

I weigh daily and mark it on my calendar so I can see any change at a glance.

Exactly the same for me! The scale sets my mood for the day, sadly. However, I have always been (and I will always be) a daily weigher.

Though, on the mornings after a poor eating day, I sometimes don't weigh because it could potentially set me into a downward spiral of eating poorly. So, depending upon my mental state I may just accept that it's higher (w/o knowing the exact number) and just work on doing better that day. Besides, I can tell my weight based upon how my body feels (my thighs feel fuller when I'm up a few pounds) and by eyeballing my stomach (it looks a certain way at 160 versus 164).

I will NOT be one of the people who ignores the scale for months and gains weight while eating with reckless abandon. I need to be aware of my weight at all times.

I exercise daily, but weigh weekly.

Weighing myself more frequently is one of the signs that I'm re-entering eating disorder territory, a place where I don't want to be. At that sad, dark time in my life, I weighed three times a day and was very self-lacerating about even the slightest gain.

In many ways, I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I'm successfully resisting that of the daily weigh-in.

I weigh daily still....except for this weekend when I knew I had a couple of splurge days. I waited until Monday morning to see the damage LOL But there wasn't any thank God!

I would like to get to the point of weighing less often, even if it's just every other day. But I've only been in maintenance for about a month so I'm still trying to decide what calorie level I want to stay at. I think once I feel "safe" at a certain calorie level, then I will start weighing less often.

I'm 10lbs away from maintenance, but weighing everyday works for me. If I'm tempted to overeat, I remember what the scale will say tomorrow. It'll be mad! When I first started losing weight I did it once a week and that worked well too. Maybe in maintenance I'll aim for at least once a week, but not necessarily every single day.