Kim, I agree with Ruth and the others...a once-a-day weigh-in is not a problem
unless you feel it is. If weighing in is of extreme importance to you...if you attach major emotions to what you weigh, or if you find that you'll give up things that matter to you in order to get to the scale and weigh, then it's becoming an addiction and you're right to worry about it.
I weigh once a day in the morning, but I know that if it's high or low, there are reasons for it other than what I've eaten and how much I've exercised...including how much I slept, what I drank, how much time I spent in the bathroom, where I am in my cycle, etc. I don't let it dictate what I'm doing that day (usually...though we all have those days when it's just too much for us, right?
). When I go on vacation, I don't weigh unless a scale is available (haven't had that happen much...) and I don't lose any sleep over it or over what I'll weigh when I get home. Some mornings I forget to weigh and I don't stress over that, either. That tells me it's not an addiction. Only you know if it's a problem for you.
If you find that it really is an addiction, get rid of your scale. Then spend some time thinking about why you're so addicted to it. What can you do to find healthier ways to deal with the emotions that drive you to weigh? Why are you fixated on those numbers? Learning more about why weighing is a very innaccurate measure of where you are might help. So many things influence your weight on the scale that it doesn't really tell you too much about what's actually happening to you (hence BB's experiences at WW...weight up when you don't expect it or down when you know you didn't earn it...etc.). Better measures are:
- how your clothes fit, especially in tight-fitting places, like your waist and hips, bust and arms
- fat percentage, measured preferably in several places with calipers by a well-trained professional (check at your gym...or your doctor's office)
- measuring your body with a tape measure (still not perfectly accurate unless you get a tatoo of where you're putting that tape measure each time... but it gives you a more accurate picture than the scale and tells you if you're building muscles! )
- stamina and strength in exercise (are you able to run an extra tenth of a mile before you 'hit the wall' or can you lift a heavier set of weights now?)
- ability to participate in daily activities (can you climb the stairs without getting winded? Do your thighs no longer chafe in a skirt? Are you able to go for walks without your hips and back hurting? Can you play with your kids without pain or fatigue?)
There are more ways, but think about these and see if any of them work for you, okay? Let's learn to use the scale as a tool to help us lose instead of a taskmaster that praises or belittles us, okay?