Weighing yourself weekly or daily?

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  • Which do you do? I had been weighing myself weekely (Sunday's) up until this week. I refused to believe I didn't lose ANY weight from last week. So I weighted myself again yesterday and again this morning. And have now decided to just do it daily, but only record my weight on my official weigh in day.

    Any pros to weighing daily?
  • LOL good question. I weigh myself daily ONLY for kicks and giggles in the morning. My real weigh in that I 'count' is on tuesdays with my trainer. Everything else I don't give much creedance to since it can go up and down
  • I weigh every morning, but my "official" weight is on the first of the month.
  • I prefer daily weighing and there has been some research that suggests this is a better strategy for weight loss.

    Once you've been weighing daily you can appreciate the random fluctuations and it makes weighing in less frustrating when there isn't a loss (or little gain). Hypothetically, say you are a weekly weigher and the day you decide to weigh in there is no loss even though you've been "good" all week. If you weigh daily, it could have been a fact that the trend for the week was down and there was a loss the day before. It might be coincidence that the day of the week you weighed in was a random fluctuation due to water retention or other factors.

    Once again, to each his/ her own. Some people just get too upset and frustrated to see random weight fluctuations and they prefer to weigh weekly or even monthly. Try out different strategies and you will find something that works for you!
  • I weigh daily and record it on an Excel spreadsheet that shows my gains and losses. It's a great tool to track why I gain due to TOM, ovulation, or eating out. If I have a good loss I write down what I did to achieve that.

    I also weigh-in once a week at my TOPS meeting. I consider TOPS my official weigh-in and it's the one that I use for my tracker here on 3FC.
  • Hypothetically, say you are a weekly weigher and the day you decide to weigh in there is no loss even though you've been "good" all week. If you weigh daily, it could have been a fact that the trend for the week was down and there was a loss the day before. It might be coincidence that the day of the week you weighed in was a random fluctuation due to water retention or other factors.

    Thanks Matt. This explains how I feel about it as well. I weigh every day, and feel that I always will for the rest of my life. I only record my weight once a week on Mondays. I chose Monday so that I would need to be accountable and not pig down on weekends. It has worked for me, but also, to each his/her own.
  • I don't weigh in daily but a few times a week- Monday is the only day that counts for me in terms of writing it down though.
  • I weigh daily and record daily.

    It helps me see patterns and yes, it also helps on weeks where the net loss is zero to know if there were days when I did go lower. Given that I'm on plan, any rise by the end of the week cannot be fat.
  • Matt- I agree with your post. I weight daily. And I also keep it all wrote down. It moves all around. But when I look at the journal I keep I can see a downward spiral. I have learned it is normal to lose 1- gain 1- lose 2 and so on.
    But what Matt said about the research showing it is a better strategy for weight loss (weighing daily) that makes sense.
    Sometimes when I see the day's it shows gain I feel a little sad. I'm wondering if I should just weigh once a week to keep from feeling sad...
    It's a quandary!
  • Daily 'cuz of what Matt said.

    Once I started weighing daily the scale lost all its power.
  • I'm a daily weigher these days (since November 2010) and I love it because I can see what foods really cause me to gain (potatoes are a killer!) and it also helped me really realize that taking a break from strenuous exercise really causes a drop in weight. I like it and I agree with Matt...it's started to make a HUGE difference (positive) in my weight loss goal. But to each their own!
  • Daily for sure.
  • Weighing daily really helps me a lot.

    I really believe that how often you weigh yourself isn't nearly as important as how you're using the data. Is it helping you or hurting you (and not just for weight loss)?

    You know how they say that if you brush your teeth, it can help you fight the urge to snack so you don't "ruin" your fresh breath? Well, that doesn't work for me, but weighing myself sometimes does the same thing - especially in the evening (my worst snacking time).
  • I'm "maintaining" my weight loss so I weigh myself daily, first thing in the morning. This helps me stay in control and warns me of any little problems before they become BIG problems.

    But the scale is just one of many tools in this weight-loss business. If weighing yourself daily messes with your mind, don't do it!!
  • Quote: I weigh daily and record it on an Excel spreadsheet that shows my gains and losses. It's a great tool to track why I gain due to TOM, ovulation, or eating out. If I have a good loss I write down what I did to achieve that.

    I also weigh-in once a week at my TOPS meeting. I consider TOPS my official weigh-in and it's the one that I use for my tracker here on 3FC.
    Me too, except I weigh in at Weight Watchers and track my daily weight on the thread here in the 100lb club. So, weigh and record daily but only change my ticker for my Friday weigh in.