Weigh in question
 

I weighed myself on this past Sunday when I decided it was time for me to stop wanting to lose weight and actually do it. I've heard many times that you shouldn't weigh yourself once a day because things can just fluctuate too much in that short of a time and it could just discourage you. So I planned on just having Sunday be my weigh in day each week, but now I'm finding myself getting more and more curious if I've lost any weight this week. What do you all usually do as a weigh in routine? Do you weigh each morning? Once a week? Once a week with a peek here and there? Just curious :)

I used to weigh once a week, but part of that was because the scale I used wasn't in my own house and I was too lazy to get to it in the mornings any more often than that. Now I weigh myself every morning just because I like to have an idea of the fluctuations. In fact sometimes I weigh myself at night too, just out of simple curiosity. But you really have to take every up and down with a grain of salt, because SO many things affect weight. I mean just the humidity in the air can affect it. I say there really is no "right" way to weigh in, whatever you feel most comfortable doing is what you should do. But only if you know the ups and downs won't drive you batty. :dizzy:

I don't think it would drive me batty. I'm just one of *those* people. The kind that likes to know what presents I'm being given before I get them, who reads the last chapter of the book first. I'm a little impatient :D I'm going to stick it out this week, since Sunday is only tomorrow now. We shall see!

I think weighing every day is a wonderful tool.

For me, it's accountability.I know I'm stepping on that scale and facing the numbers, makes it much more likely to stick with my good eating habits.

You've just got to learn to not let those fluctuations discourage you.

If you are truly on plan, than there's nothing to fear or be discouraged about.

If you're the curious type, than why the heck not?

There really is no one *correct* way to do this. It's all up to you.

But, I would urge you to focus on the behaviors, not necessarily the numbers on the scale. Certainly use those numbers to asses how your plan is going, but focusing on the behaviors - getting the good eating habits down pat, getting your plan nailed down, learning coping skills for all situations, learning how to tell yourself no, staying on plan consistently - that's what's majorly important. And of course by doing that - the scale will have no choice but to head on down. :)

I switched from weighing once a week to weighing every day, and it has definitely taken somewhat of an emotional adjustment. But overall I like it; it definitely has a positive effect on my focus.

I weigh myself twice a week. Wednesday and Sunday mornings. I used to do it once a week, but doing it midweek keeps me motivated no matter what the scale says.

I just stopped weighing everyday, because it was motivating some days, but discouraging on others.. Plus, it's not as exciting as the loss you build over a week rather than a day. :)

Every morning, and I write the number in my calendar and track it at fatsecret. Although there are fluctuations, I enjoy seeing that line headed towards the goal.

All the best to you.

I weigh once a day: breakfast - bathroom - scales.

Some days it's annoying that it's a hold or a slight increase yet again; but, because I haven't cheated once in 110 days, I know I haven't done anything 'wrong', so I know they can't be fat increases, just temporary water. This is really, really helping me begin to understand the process of weightloss and to begin to lose some of the over-emotionality of it all.

I weigh daily, it helps keep me focused on what I need to do to 'maintain' my weight loss.

I never let the minor changes in my weight mess with my mind. The scale is a tool, nothing more than that.

I also track my progress at FatSecret. It's been interesting to see how I have done over the years.

Different things work for different people. I like weighing daily because then I see those fluctuations so they don't freak me out if my "official" weigh in day is a higher number than I think it should be, but I only record my weight once per week. If you're the sort who's going to get impatient if the scale doesn't go down every day, you may want to stick to once per week, but otherwise weighing daily can show you a lot about your weight loss and it can help you nip things in the bud sooner if you're slipping.

I weight every day. One, it keeps me accountable: avoiding the scale once a week is easier than avoiding it once a day, and then all the sudden you haven't weighed yourself in 2 months and have put on 10 lbs. More than that, however, I find weighing myself once a week to be the most discouraging. For one thing, your water weight can be up just that one day--so you really lost two pounds that week, but the day you weigh it shows half a pound. That sounds terrible. More importantly, however, is my own tendency to build up totally unrealistic expectations--if I weight once a week, that gives me a whole week to convince myself I've lost tons of weight, probably 3-4 lbs, this is amazing, wow--and then be crushed if I get on the scale and I've lost "only" 2 lbs. I need a daily reality check to keep my own imagination in line.

As far as daily fluctuations, I am used to those and so they don't discourage me.

I weigh every morning and record the number and any special circumstances (eating out or TOM) that affect my weight. I "officially" weigh on Tuesday nights at my TOPS meeting.

I weigh once a month and take a progress picture in the same bikini once per month. No sense in upsetting myself over TOM, salt, and other daily fluctuations.

I weigh daily, right after I get up and go to the bathroom. I'm new to this and am learning how my body works; daily weigh-ins are helping me to spot my trends and patterns. I've learned that the day after Zumba my weight goes up a bit, then tends to drop even lower. It's kind of nifty to watch. :)

That's just the thing - for those of us who weigh daily - we don't get upset by TOM, salt and other daily fluctuations, for the most part anyway ;). All the while using the daily weighing as a tool to keep the accountability going and remain focused.

I DO like the idea of that monthly bikini pic. Very interesting concept. Hmmm...

I'm going to do my weekly weigh in tomorrow morning and then weigh myself each day for the week following and see which i like better :) I'm taking pictures as well! I have faced a lot of resistance from family because of my desire to lose some weight, but the reality is they don't see me in a bra and panties like i do, they don't see how untoned my stomach is (my stomach is my biggest problem area), the rolls in the back, etc, because I'm always nicely dressed :) so the pictures are to remind me that even though they're saying "But you don't need to!", I will see a difference and it will be worth it to me to boost my self confidence.

Side questions - I've seen a lot of TOM mentions here. What happens to your weight during that time?! I guess I'm a little lost. I was on my period this past week, will that affect my weigh in tomorrow?

I heard the same thing, that you should only weigh yourself like once a week or less. I tried that, and I went nuts. I do better knowing exactly what I'm up against and what I have to work with. Just remember it's normal and healthy for that to occur (within reason).

I know I'll sound neurotic when I say this, but I actually started out weighing myself 3 times a day - morning, afternoon, evening. That way I could chart my fluctuations and track how much weight I was actually losing, what heavier/lighter days looked like, etc. But I used the morning weight as the official weight. I just needed to get a handle on it, and it gave me more control to really understand how my body gains/loses weight.

Once a day or even every other day is fine. However many times it takes for you to not feel crazy over it.

Good luck!

Many people find that TOM will cause some kind of gain - Some people more, some people less - Though usually I think that happens to people before TOM? I don't know, because I don't personally find that I have this issue, and for that I'm very happy!

I'm a daily weigher, and I'm very happy with that! I like knowing how things are going on all the time, so its easiest for me to check in every morning after I go to the bathroom, before I eat or get dressed. I track my daily weight over at skinnyr.com where it generates a like graph with the weigh ins you enter... my biggest concern is to see a downward trend. As long as I still have that, I don't let the fluctuations bother me *too* much most of the time. It's just what our bodies do, so I see no reason to avoid getting accustomed to it! Everyone is different though, and only you can really know what works best for you. I love your idea for testing them both out. :)

I always weigh every day. I actually have found the fluctuations interesting to watch, and have learned a lot about how they work, and what to expect at any given time. My TOM gain actually occurs about 4 days before I actually start, and I cant imagine my horror if that day happened to be my once a week weigh in if I only weighted once a week.
After a week of being good, and following plan, being as strict with myself as possible, and seeing a 5 pound gain? My scale would end up lodged in my toilet, and I'd have to call the plumber..it would be very very ugly.
Weighing every day, I can KNOW where any changes are coming from, and not get worked up about them.

once a week here, i would not do well weighing myself once a day, :)

for daily weighers, or people who weigh a few times a day, how much does the scale go up throughout the day? Is it normal for the scale to go up 2 pounds after a meal? It's hard for me to believe a healthy 400 calories meal can equal 2 pounds on the scale ...you know?

Yes, a 2 lb apparent gain after a meal is not unusual. Sometime I weigh right before I go to bed and then in the morning--the difference is usually 1 to 2 pounds.

FWIW, I am a daily weigher. I understand that there might be fluctuations and I'm pretty good about not getting too "up" or "down" based on an individual weigh-in. For my temperament, I feel that I'd be much more likely to get discouraged by a high weigh-in if it might be two full weeks until I got any positive feedback.

A gallon of water weighs over 8 lbs. If you are drinking 64 oz of water a day (8 glasses), that's over 4 lbs. If you are eating a lot of veggies, they also contain a great deal of water, which is heavy. This is what shows up on the scale before bed. It's not even what people mean by "water weight", which is water held in your tissues: this is just stuff in your stomach and intestines.

For me, I see no point to weigh more than once a day - after going to the bathroom, without clothing, before any food or drink.

Weighing more than that gives me no valuable information.

I agree--sometimes I'm just curious, though.

I'm a big advocator of the idea that whatever works for you is what you should do. I'm not one of those people who can weigh everyday and be fine with the fluctuations. In fact, that's part of the reason why I kept failing in the past: I'd weigh everyday and be encouraged for the first week or 2 when i was losing .5 to 1lb every time, but then as it slowed down I'd so SO incredibly discouraged. Idk why that is, I guess it's just how I am.

Now, I weigh "officially" once a week and use that as my official weight. However, sometimes I will weigh once in between the official weigh-ins, just to see how I'm doing. I can't weigh any more than that though, or I get obsessive and discouraged. The point is, though, that works for me, and I've been successful thus far with staying on program. If weighing everyday works awesomely for you, then go for it! and good luck!!!

Once a week weigher here! On Tuesdays.

But the point is really, just to weigh! I avoided the scale for years. I just didn't really want to know. I was in major denial. But I was only hurting myself.

I am currently weighing only once a week and I like it much better that way. It keeps me on my toes not knowing whether I'm losing or gaining until the one weigh in day.