Weighing In Advice

  • I’m not too sure where this post should go, but I need advice on weighing in. How often is too often? Everyday? Every other day? Once or twice a week? I haven’t weighed myself since March (mostly because my scales are wacky and I need to buy a new set) but I just don’t know what’s a good time frame for this. I went to the doctor at the end of March and I’m going by what his scales say, so should I wait until I go back in June to see what my progress has been? Or is that just too long? Hmmm.... Any advice?
  • I weigh in twice a day. For me, it has helped me stay on track. I think a lot of others worry about it becoming an obsession. I think it is a better obsession though than eating all the Easter candy that was calling out to me Sunday or just bingeing on my junk food shelf.
  • It is a personal thing. If you weigh everyday then you will have to be able to handle the days that the scale either does not move or even goes up as your weight fluctuates. If you wait too long to weigh then you might not realize you need to change something in your diet or exercise routine. Once a week is a good way to know if you are on target for where you need to be.


    You can also tell how a diet is going by how your clothes are fitting. I am so happy today because a few weeks ago I bought an 1X Izod shirt. The first time I wore it over a month I go I realized I needed to lose weight. The shirt was very tight. Today it fits me very comfortably.

    So remember the scale is a good way to keep your weight loss plan on target but there are many other ways to judge if you are getting your body into shape.

    Lynn160
  • I weigh every day now that I'm maintaining. I weighed once per week when I was losing. Both methods have their pros and cons - I find with daily that I'm better able to understand the fluctuations and it keeps me from obsessively thinking about the scale all the time.
  • I weigh once a week on Saturday mornings. I personally can not handle the fluctuation and once a week is enough for me. I use it as a guide as to what my body can handle and what it can't. But just like everyone says don't just go by the number try to use other things to guage your weight loss. Clothing etc.
  • I weigh once a week on Sunday morning.
  • I weigh everyday, every morning when I get up after I have used the bathroom. I don't weigh after that because I know as soon as I drink something, eat something, the scale will so again, but its not real so why bother with it you can't gain a lb of fat in 1 day.
  • Well, I personally weigh a few times a day. Overdoing it can be bit unhealthy but I find that with just a few times a day, it helps keep me on track.

    I officially weigh in every Tuesday (like, marking my weight on a calender). This helps me to see my progress weekly... monthly... etc.
  • I weigh once a week on Friday morning. When I get to maintenance, (Hopefully by mid-Summer) I plan on weighing twice a week. I'm thinking Mondays and Fridays. I have been scale obsessed in the past and I don't want to go there again, so that's my story!
  • yeah i do 1-2 times a day too first thing in the morning after bathroom then right before bed sometimes. It also helps me to see what food makes me gain more lbs and what not. i know nutts are not well for my lbs lol...also evry morning weighting myself help me to see if i had enough water the previous day. On a days i dont drink a lot i stay the same. But every monday morning i actually record my weight on a calander.
  • I weigh most days, but not every day. I try to keep the time of day consistent, so if I have to get up really early or sleep in, I won't weigh.

    I write it down with a date on a little notepad in my bathroom. Once a week (tuesdays) on my completely arbitrary "official WI" I'll circle the number and compute lbs lost that week and lbs lost total. This helps me gauge how fast I'm moving (ie 1-2 lbs is supposedly a healthy weight) as opposed to the small daily losses (or gains). I try not to think too much about fluctuations.
  • First, weighing more than once per day is pointless. You naturally gain weight throughout the day as your body hydrates after your night-long dehydration and as you eat and add food/waste to your system. Why would you do something that gives you data that is unusable?

    Other than that ... there is no "should." I'm a not-very-frequent weigher myself because the natural fluctuations of daily weighings are more than I can handle sometimes. Here's the only rule you need to think about: Whatever schedule you choose, does it help you or does it get in the way? There is something to be said about daily weighings to stay "honest" so to speak. But, if the outcome is that you feel more discouraged than encouraged, daily weighings may not be the best thing for you, at least at this stage. If you can weigh daily and take in the info in a detached manner, then great. If not, try weekly. If that still causes emotional upheaval, then go to every two weeks. Etc. I went 6 months on my program initially before I knew my weight, I needed to concentrate on other things and not be distracted about how the scale made me feel.
  • I think for accuracy, for most women ideal would be monthly, after the weight fluctuation of time on month is done. So many people get upset about the TOM wt gains, even knowing that is what it is....
    but weekly is good to keep you on track, that said, i have been doing most days, to ensure I don't go up.
    According to Consumer reports, successful maintainers do weekly weigh ins and lose a couple of pounds before it becomes several pounds of gain....
  • My "official" weigh-ins are Sunday mornings right when I wake up. This is what I record to keep track of my weight loss. I also usually weight myself every morning as soon as I get up, but it's mostly out of curiosity than anything else.

    It's totally up to you how often you want to weigh yourself. It would depend, in part, whether you thought more frequent weigh-ins are motivating (because even a small increase you see will make you act) or demoralizing (because you will think small increases are signs of failure).
  • Thanks all for the great advice! I'm going to buy a set of scales tomorrow that actually work and try once a week for now and use all my feedback to find a schedule that works for me Thanks again!