Hello everyone!

I'm writing this to see if it's that I'm a little too needy right now or not. I've finally decided to lay off the soda FOR GOOD because I've reached my all-time highest weight of 301 lbs. It was at this point that I looked in the mirror, tried on clothes, and shopped for clothing I used to fit into (that completely stopped fitting me) is when I started getting really concerned.

I've been off regular soda for a week now and that's a lot of temptation going on for me. I sometimes smell the syrup from coca cola around my boyfriend and I'm so tempted to have a sip but I know a sip means I'm giving in a little bit so I don't do it. I've been drinking diet coke (I know, it's still bad but not as bad as regular coke) and slowly in-betweening some water bottles until I completely go for just water. I'm actually proud of myself I've lasted this long lol.

My problem is: I keep constantly stalking my weight on that scale. For some reason I'm hoping for weight to go down so fast that I find myself checking more than twice a day hoping for a difference and sometimes find I've gained weight! So it does discourage me a little bit but I'm trying to hang in there as best as I can.

Now: I just started a pretty exhausting but very active and physical job in third shift at Walmart and I've been keeping up well so far and still staying off the soda, etc. I've been taking advantage of most physical work I am able to do, get the sweating going on a LOT (almost all shift) so I'm trying to be active.

I guess my question(s):
- Is it bad that I keep weighing myself like this?
- Did this happen to any of you as well?
- How long did it take for you to find a significant difference?
- How did you cope with it?
- How often do you weigh yourself? (Better yet, the healthiest time gap to be weighing yourself?)

I always lose weight fast, it's just that I think I expect too much I suppose. I know it takes time but I guess I need the reassurance.

Thanks in advance!

This happened to me when I was loosing weight the last time. I weighed myself WAY too often, like you. I think more than once a day is purely illogical; every day is OK if you can take the numbers bouncing up and down a bit. I have read experts say once a week is good - but even then those of us who have a mestrual cycle should remember that it's normal for the weight to go up around the beginning of the period.

What has helped me is monitoring my body in other ways too. I am on a medication that can elevate blood pressure, so I've been talking my blood pressure and noticed significan changes after starting to eat better and exercising regularly. I'm not out of breath as usually as I used to be. My skin looks better. I have more energy.

I congratulate you for doing great work with the fizzy drinks! Those things can get you hooked so bad. I used to be hooked on Mountain Dew. It wasn't easy to drop that one, but at some point I started to realize how _good_ a glass of water tastes when you need it.

Good luck!!!

Weighing any other time of the day than the morning after you pee pretty much is an inaccurate weight for the day. You WILL gain weight throughout the day. You eat. You drink. You hold water, etc. And then, of course, there are day to day variations which are normal. But, you will start to see changes - slowly.

And of course, cutting out soda won't make you lose weigh at all if you are making up for those calories elsewhere. So a 200 snack bag of chips instead of a bottle of soda will even itself out in calories in and calories out.

But, it's a step in the right direction.

Weighing yourself multiple times a day is way too much and it won't make the weight come off faster. I usually weigh myself daily but really measure the loss per week.

I would just weigh yourself once a day. It would probably be better for you to do every other day. The longer you space out your weigh ins the more significant losses you will see.

I think its great you're giving up soda! It so bad for you and you are doing a great thing for your body!

I love soda and still drink it, but cut back on how much and what kind I drink. I did switch to diet ...I count calories to lose weight and my soda has zero calories ....no nutritional value either, but no calories. I also drink 8 glasses of water with lemon each day, so more water less room for soda. I'm still losing weight.

Yes, weighing yourself this much is bad in so many ways. Firstly, it keeps you from living your life. And you need your body and mind focused on living. For work, for pleasure, for sex, for sleep, these are the things your body needs to do to stay alive. Getting on the scale all day long is an exercise in self abuse. It keeps you focused on stalling. It's also so de motivating to go up and down in numbers especially since you KNOW that the numbers will fluctuate. Plus, have you ever waited for a pot of water to boil? It takes forever if you watch.

Weightloss will happen. It takes time and you can't speed up that time. It's also such a bore to keep track of it on most days and there are so many other ways to keep track of progress. Clothes are an even better indicator of progress, how you feel being a close second.

In terms of soda... I don't know, I'm not a big proponent of avoiding anything I like to eat so I don't diet. But a long time ago I did quit drinking diet soda and I found it to be one of the most beneficial things in my life. Artificial sweeteners may reduce your overall caloric intake but they cause so many other problems. For me they made me crave sugar, gave me headaches, and foggy brain. Gosh it's just not worth it to quit sugary soda and get addicted to diet soda. For my own goals diet soda is not a step in the right direction if health is any concern.

Great job in starting to cut down on your soda intake (it took me a year into my journey to stop drinking regular soda). To answer your questions:
--I think you should weigh yourself once a day, at most. Your weight is going to go up and down throughout the day...
--I weighed myself twice a day during the middle of my journey.For me, it was not healthy cause I was getting obsessed and hated seeing a higher number at the end of the day. So, I stopped the 2x a day thing.
--the first 8 months, I lost 25 pounds, I was losing about 1 pound a week...and people noticed the weight loss before I did
--I stopped doing it by just reminding myself weight fluctuates and that weighing myself more than once could lead me to unhealthy behavior
--I weigh myself once a day, in the morning, right after I use the restroom. If I see the scale is effecting my mood, I have my hubby hide it and lay off it for a week.

My advice is, don't expect so much! You will lose weight if you have a plan of some sort. It may stall. You may plateau. Or you may lose big. Just make sure you keep going because if you let negativity (ie weighing 2x a day and being mad you didn't lose anything) in, it could discourage you and cause you to quit. Good luck!

Diet soda is worse than regular soda.

I used to weigh myself every single day. I obsessively weighed myself and it's not good for your mental health at all I've found out.
I usually like to weigh myself about 3-4 times each week, that way I know that I'm losing weight. The reason I do this is because you can sometimes put on water weight that makes your weight fluctuate.

@kisskiss I had to ask my hubby to hide my scale too! I did really well for a long time only weighing about once a month but I notice that at stressful times I weigh myself more. In that case weighing does not become a tool, it becomes an OCD behavior that causes anxiety rather than being a useful way to keep track. Recently I was weighing daily and I finally told hubby to hide it and not let me have it until the start of September! I instantly felt at ease not weighing myself.

I don't keep charts and graphs but if I were to the charts would show that the times I weigh myself the most I weigh more. The less I weigh myself the more I lose. Go figure.

I think weighing so often could really lead to frustration. Losing a lot of weight just takes time and unfortunately isn't always linear. Don't let the everyday fluctuations drive you crazy; you really are just looking for an overall downward trend.

First of all, congrats on starting to make changes. Many people have lost some weight just from cutting back on sugary drinks alone.

About the frequent weighing, I don't think it's bad. Unless it upsets you or messes with your head, and then I don't think you should do it. Changes in weight throughout the day are basically 100% water weight fluctuations, which is normal and should happen. Same with day-to-day weights. It's only the overall TREND of weight loss that includes fat loss. Otherwise, if you're 301 one day, 298 the next, and then 300, it's all water fluctuations. So I wouldn't freak out about it too much.

When I first started losing weight, I weighted myself 3x a day and averaged them out to get my 'day's weight'. It didn't both me - I was too excited. Now I just do daily to keep on track, and try to just log it and move on with my day.

Remember that it will take a lot of time to lose the weight you want to lose. It won't be a week or a month for all the weight to come off. That's completely normal and healthy. Settle in for the ride. Weight loss can become strangely fun when you hit a groove.

1. I'd say as long as you have regular negative feelings about it then yes, it is bad.
2. I think it could have happened to me in the beginning, but I didn't have a scale until three months after my journey started. The only scale I had access to was the one at work, and only in the bathroom and only if I had time to step on it. So that helped... There where times in the beginning where I would go on every day, but then I started making a game out of if. How long can I go without? Three days? Five? A week?
3.Personally, it took me like five months to notice. I live in my body everyday, even my husband had a hard time recognizing any changes. Other people noticed for sure though. I just had the strange phenomena of thinking everyone around me looked slightly bigger rather than me looking smaller XD That's been changing though, mostly with the help of photos.
4. I coped with it by asking for support in here when I needed it, and support from my husband. I also just believed the scale... Even if it didn't feel like I was twenty pounds lighter the scale couldn't be lying that much. I also focused on just enjoying foods... How do I like my veggies? What kind of new fruits should I try? Fancy teas and new manatee tea strainers were fun. I really enjoy food more now, even if I eat less junk I'm pickier. I make sure my food tastes good to me I also just ignore weights that go up and only record a loss when I've gone down there pounds from my last weight. I treat every pound like three, so 175 is also 174 and 176. Makes the fluctuations from normal daily activity not matter.
5. In the beginning, I weighed on average once a week, with a few spells of weighing every day for a few days. After three months, I got my own scale and started weighing every other day or every three days. A month after that and I weigh every day now It works for me, but I definitely needed to start with bigger gaps before I went to weighing every day.

Thanks so much!! I agree with the water part. I've heard people tell me,"Water doesn't have a taste." when I take a nice cold refreshing drink and say,"Mmm that's good!" But I have to disagree with them, it feels like it cleans out your system very nicely.

I've actually been taking my eating habits up pretty hard lol. I've been eating salads, and much much smaller portions of food than I used to eat before.

I actually figured out that salad is my favorite food! xD