How often to weigh?

How often should I weigh?  I usually weigh every morning upon arrising.  Is that too often?  Maybe once a week would be better?  I'm always confussed as to weight fluctuation of several pounds when habits are not changed (food, activity)...!?

Up to you really. If you're obsessed with weighing then you might want to try to limit it. I used to weigh myself every morning (haven't lately, not really cc-ing right now)...as long as you know your weight might fluctuate then I don't think it's a problem to weigh every day.

Dont weigh.... its not a good way of tracking progress.

Simply get a good full length mirror and look at yourself now and then. Track your calories in and exercises (so you know you are doing what you should be) and the weight will come off (or if you are building muscle, same thing, the muscle will grow if you are doing the steps you should be).

The mirror will tell a lot more than a scale ever could.

if you HAVE to weigh yourself...then maybe once every couple of weeks (to make sure you are on the right track or if you need to be more strict with your caloric watching / exercising).

It is confusing, you're right.   What you weigh from one day to the next has less to do with what you've eaten & drunk and how active you've been and more to do with how well your digestion is working and/or how well hydrated you are.   So people that weigh daily and then change their behaviour according to what they see on the dial are usually acting on poor information. 

IMHO weigh yourself once a week or once a fortnight and you see fewer of these daily fluctuations and the average trend becomes more apparent.  Then the information's at least useful.

I weigh every day, but I don't get discouraged if the scale is up a couple pounds.

Original Post by lilad:

I weigh every day, but I don't get discouraged if the scale is up a couple pounds.

 I weigh every day too....  Yeah if it goes up a couple pounds I don't freak, but I want to see it go down within 2 days or if it doesn't,  I know it is not going to. 

What if you weigh yourself once a week and the first week you are on the "light" side of yourself meaning the least you would weigh if you weighed every day.  Then a week later, you weigh and you've gained 2 pounds.  Not really, but you are retaining a couple pounds of water and this is your "heavy" side if you weighed daily.  WOW - I'd be upset after a week and all for NOTHING, since I didn't gain real weight.  When you weigh every day - you know when it is time to panic or NOT.

Apparently I'm the obsessive poster.

I weight myself everymorning to track my changes and make sure I'm on track.

I know it'll change a little based on water weight and that sort of thing.

I also weigh myself quite often at night to just to see if I've mainly stayed the same or eaten too much and need to take some extra flax seed or drink some extra water the next day.

but I don't change what I'm doing based on the scale. I still keep about my eating habits the same as I have been.

I weigh everyday, sometimes twice, but I only record my weight once a week.  I like to weigh in the morning and then weigh again just before bed to see how much I "gain" in the course of a day.  It doesn't mean anything but it's just kind of fun to know.  (I obviously need a hobby.)

i don't.  i'm not going to weigh myself until i see changes in my body.  i am also, however, needing to buy a measuring tape...

Every day.  First thing in the AM, after using the bathroom, right before I shower.   It's not at all "obsessive", merely practical.  I do it for the exact same reason as mewapiti.  If you don't know what is YOUR PERSONAL normal range of fluctuation right now, then you would have no real idea what your "once a week" weight means.

I record each day's weight, too, but I pay no attention to the day to day weight, only to a running 7 day average.  As long as that average is going down, all is well.  If it starts going up, then I know I need to sit down and re-assess my eating and exercise patterns.  Either I've slacked off without realizing it, or what used to work isn't working any more, and I need to adjust or shake things up.

That's why I like the trend line. I record my weight every day too, first thing in the morning.  I've learned not to obsess about a pound or two gain, as long as the trend line is still going in the right direction.

I'd say don't weigh more than once a week, but make sure that once is on the same day, at the same time of day, under the same circumstances. e.g. I weigh every Wednesday morning, after nursing my son, after going to the loo but before breakfast. I never wear more than bra & knickers on the scales. Daily weighing won't help; you'll just end up trying to undo a perceived gain which is actually just down to the fact that you had a glass of water right before you went to bed, or celebrating a loss which is because you had a drink the night before and are dehydrated...

WAAAAY too much. Did you know that your weight fluctuates 6 times a day? A personal trainer told me that you should only be wheighing yourself once a month for the simple fact that the results you see are much more acceptable after a month. Your confidence gets built up and it causes you to push yourself harder because you want to see those results everytime. However, you should be measuring youself every week. Inches are lost faster than weight.

 

Hope I helped! let me know =)

Arielle

I used to weigh myself every day at the gym but it would get me down if I gained even a half a pound so I decided to stop weighing myself except for once every month. I think its already making me feel better about things.

I have the same problem.  I decided that I would weigh myself once a week same day same time.  Peoples weight fluctuates about 2 pounds on average anyway.  So it is actually a better progress tracker.

I don't own a scale... I do work weekends in a group home though, and every other Friday at 3:00 I check the scale.  Course that's fully clothed without shoes but I just subtract a pound or two depending on what I'm wearing.  It gives me a good general idea on what's going on but I can't say I've even been tempted to go out and buy a scale.  I've got a belt for a reason.  If I have to tighten my belt I know I've done something right. :)

 

~Emily~