When I am following my nutrition and exercise plan, I don't obsess about the scales... but when I am rationalizing, cheating and generally slacking off, I tend to weigh, weigh, weigh... and then beat myself up.
I'd love to hear from long timers and big "losers:" how often do you weigh? How did you decide that was the right frequency for you? What is your self-talk? Does it vary according to whether your weight went up or down?
Thanks!

I admit, I'm a masochist... I weigh myself every day, even though I know I shouldn't!

Sherry

Um day and night... Ack. I shouldn't - but I do. But I only officially "record" it once a week.

i am VERY good about only weighing once a week, on wednesday. occasionally, i will double check the numbers on thursday, too. but i try not to.

I'm not a successful long-time loser (yet), but I HATE the scale. I let it determine how I feel about myself. When I am OP and doing everything right and the scale doesn't show it, I go berserk, binge, trash myself and various other self destructive behaviors. On the other hand, if I've been doing everything wrong and it shows a loss, then I think "why the heck do I even bother trying, if I do everything wrong & lose". When I went to weight watchers, they let me get on the scale backwards and never told me my weight. I would look at it once a month, and that's about how ofter I get weighed now. I would do it even less, but that's probably not enough accountablility.

I weigh once a week.

I'm still weighing myself once a day, first thing in the morning. I know I shouldn't, but I still do.

Just like Beth Anne, it is only "official" on Sunday mornings. Since I know that weight can fluctuate dramatically from day to day (just by changes in water weight and other factors) I don't get excited about big losses in a day or stressed out about large gains in a day.

Soon, I will try to weigh myself every other day, and then every 3rd day etc. Maybe I can work my way up to doing it just a week at a time. I'm still rationalizing that the scale is relatively new and I like the motivation that seeing frequent losses has for keeping me on track. Weighing myself certainly is a quicker measure than waiting till I can fit into a smaller pants size!

Up until I started lifting weights, I weighed once a week. But then I discovered the scale at the gym, and if there's nobody around, I do sneak a peek on the days I lift. I'm trying to break myself of that habit, but it's difficult.

I also have a bad habit of weighing myself daily. But when I got weighed last night at Weight Watchers it was different than my scale said yesterday morning....almost 9 pounds more. So I am going to try my hardest to wait until next Tuesday and hopefully be pleassantly surprised at Weight Watchers.

I weigh one or twice a week. Monday is weigh-in "officially" and then I sneak a peek Thursday or Friday to motivate me to do good on the weekend. My scale is downstairs, so that's how I manage to keep from it. If it were upstairs, i'd weigh every day, I'm sure.

When I am not doing good, I have no problem staying away from the scale all together.

I am obsessive...the better I do with my eating and exercise, the worse I am about stepping on that scale. Ladies, no lie, I step on the scale anywhere from 5 to 7 times a day and that is with me working a full 8 hour day

When I do poorly with my routine, I don't weigh, I don't want to see what I am doing to myself.

I think it all stems from my anorexic past...I still carry the tendancies. When I diet, I find that I stop eating all together. I force myself to eat many days because I know how dangerous that way of thinking could be to myself...now that I am a mommy, I cannot take that risk again.

I threw out my scale a few years ago, but there are two here at work and I weigh myself (if I'm having a good week) about half way through the week to see what's up/down. Then on weigh-in day, I'm a complete screwball and weigh myself about 10 times--5 times each on the 2 different scales. Maybe not healthy, but I really like to have rituals--must be all of those years in Catholic school!

I weigh daily and weekly and record both on graphs so I can visually see the weight going down (or up ).

Beverly

Like some of the others, I weigh at least once a day if not more. I think it's a bad habit but I cannot stop doing it. If it shows a loss, Im in a great mood..if it is up at all, I am either discouraged, disappointed or MAD! And all this no matter how I've done eating and exercise wise. I keep telling myself that the scale is not my judge, that if Ive done well the way I know I should have, then it doesnt matter what the scale says. BUT those emotions still show up depending on what the scale tells me.

Miki

I had a shock when I weighed this morning. (I weigh daily, once only, and take an average from tuesday to tuesday).... It's a doctor's office kind of scale, and I realized I was moving the little balance thingy WAY to the left. I was really excited until I realized that the cleaning lady had dusted it and moved it WAY to the right. I was down, but only a teeny fraction. The joy I felt when I thought I'd lost 5 pounds over night makes me realize how MUCH this means to me.