How often are you suppose to weigh yourself?

I was wondering how often you are suppose to weigh your self. At the moment I don't even have a scale in my house ( I didn't want to be a slave to the scale). But I want to track my progress. Should I do it weekly or daily in the morning? with clothes on or off? Anyone know ?

Hello fly-girl

This is what I do. I own a scale and I weigh myself 1 time per week, first thing in the morning after my bladder is empty and I do it naked. I do this on Wednesday morning. Mid week for me because I do allow myself a "free meal" on the weekend, so I don't want to do it Monday morning because just coming off the weekend. Whatever you decide is best for you, my suggestion is to keep it close to the same day/time and attire and possible to get an accurate reading. Good luck!
Natasha

Hi
I weigh once a day only because I keep a calorie journal. I agree once a week is a good idea or maybe even every two weeks. In my journal my weight can go up a pound or down a pound now and then which can make you discouraged but I do see a downward loss from the first day until today. I started 11 days ago at the weight of 143. I am now down to 140 which is good. I say whatever makes you comfortable is the way to go.

I only weigh in at my doctors visits. Fully clothed, heavy shoes, cell phone, keys etc. My wife has recorded my original measurements but we haven't remeasured.

I weigh in once a day and record it, not because I believe in being a slave to the scale, but I can track things like this such as how much on average I gain during a monthly cycle etc. and that helps me in knowing more what an accurate weight is for me. I only allow myself to stand on the scale one time a day, first thing in the morning with as little clothing on as possible.

If you weigh in with tons of clothes on or stuff in your pockets there is no way to know what your 'true' weight is. I think accuracy is best for women anyway, when "averaged" out over the course of a week simply because we do tend to fluctuate so much more.

I agree with that last reply because womens weight does tend to go up and down with our cycles. I dont really think its weight gain but water weight gain durning those times. Dont ya think?

totally and I know personally I hold a lot of water during those times, sometimes I go up by as much as four or five pounds and then relose it during the course of a cycle so yes, definitely water weight/bloat that kind of thing. If I only stood on the scale a couple of times a month and saw that I might get discouraged ;).

I think that's why averaging works better for women to know their accurate weight.

I like your thinking on the weighing average thing.

yay! found a thread I could ask in instead of making a new on he he..

I was wondering about how often one should weigh themselves and so went searching on Google last night.

EVERYWHERE stated that I should only weigh in once a week MAX! that anything over this is "BAD" for you.

My question. Why? Why is this bad for you?

I weigh myself 3 times a day! In the morning after peeing with no clothes, when I get home from work and before bed.

I vary during the day by 3 pounds! Which I am comfortable with.

but again, why is it bad to do this?

I was thinking maybe it had to do with eating disorders and becoming obsessed, which I am. I do not have an eating disorder I am only obsessed with changing my eating patters and seeing the changes in me and my weight change during the day.

hmm when did all this get so complicated as to how often you should be stepping on a scale!

I wiegh myself once a day, in the evening right before supper

i do it at the end of the week just after i finished my workout. No set day because it depends if any little kids are hanging round the scales at the gym

I weigh myself every morning, because I set a weekly goal for myself. I am one of those people that have to do "baby steps" I can't set a goal like "I want to lose 3 pounds by the end of the month" ....I have to have fast results. So if I have a goal weight each WEEK, then I am MUCH more likely to stick to my diet because in just a few days I have a goal to meet. :)

Here is a link to the National Institute of Health website discussing the findings of a Duke/Brown study.  Take note of the fact that the success of weighing yourself daily was based on those who have lost substantial amounts of weight, and their success in keeping the wieght off (the study does not address those currently losing weight).

http://www.nih.gov/nihrecord/04_21_2006/story 03.htm

I weigh myself every morning after I pee.  I am not obsessed with it but I too what to track my progress and it motivates me to stay on track.

my suggestion is to not purchase a scale but to purchase a measureing tape.  I think that we are all caught up in the lbs thing.  And as well all know clothes are not made based on lbs but inches.  So track that instead.  Also as you start to loss and build muscle things are going to get a little mixed up with the scale - you know the whole muscles has more mass than fat thing.  I suggest tracking inches and not pounds.

Anyone else agree with me on this?

darkenedvelvet - you are exactly right.  its not bad for your health so much but your mental health.  There are a lot people that  get very obsessed with things and it can really turn into an eating disorder.

I have weighed myself in the morning and at the end of the day and it changed by about 5 pounds.  I will never do that again.  I am sticking to inches and recording that.  maybe I will get on the scale every now and then.  I also gain a lot of weight 3-4 lbs during "that time of the month".

Morning weigher here.  Buck naked and after morning pee.  right before I jump in the shower.  Last night I weighed myself right before bed because I was curious about what the difference would be and  this morning and I was 3 lbs lighter.  I like morning weigh in much better. 

I weigh every day (except when I travel - which is a lot). The reason is that I keep a daily food log, and am wanting to see how the foods I eat affect my weight. I want to make sure that I am going DOWN. Only by looking at this over a period of time wwill I be able to see if I am eating correctly for me.

Ok, this is going to sound silly.  I weigh myself everyday.  Couple times even on some days.  Every morning right before my shower is always in my habit now.   Then many nights right before bed I'll weigh myself again, this time with cloths on.  So the morning and night weigh ins really can't be compared, but keeps me happy.  Then 3 days a week I have an 'official' weigh in (I joined LA Weight Loss in January, so it's part of their program) and so they track that.  I try to keep my clothes and shoes consistant for those trips.  Sometimes I'll remember what the numbers said in the morning and the nite before just to see the difference in the scales themselves.  (my home scale is more polite).  Of all those scale stepping events, I maybe only write down my weight for my own record once a week.  Usually the best weight from LA since that's usually in the middle of the day wearing comfy clothes. 

I'm really not obsesed with the scale, but I know there's always going to be natural fluxuations and so I kinda keep all the numbers in the back of my head and just get a feeling of where i'm at rather than being fixated on one number... 

Yes, I'm a freak.

general consensus is:

Weigh once a week, unless you are comfortable watching fluctuations.  If you are, you can weigh more often than that.  I have a problem when I see weight changing, so I only get on once a week.  WAY in awe of people who can watch their weight fluctuate during the day and not get upset.... I need to get to that point but until then, it's once a week for me!

It doesn't really matter when you weigh, but you'll weigh the least in the morning, naked, after you use the bathroom but not after you shower.  Whenever and however you weigh, do it CONSISTENTLY.  Same time of day, same clothes, etc.  You want to reduce the variables as much as possible.