WHy I Weigh Myself Each Morning

I know some have said to me that it's bad to weigh daily.   Rather they say once a week is good enough so that there is not discouragment if the needle on the scale does not move.    I say that's crazy!

I know that on a safe plan I can't expect the needle to move every single day. I know that sometime the needle moves up temporarily on occasion due to temporary water retention and the like.   But I also know that each morning when I step on the scale I recommit to my reaching my goals.  SO if I do backslide I am resolved to get back into the battle.  

I know that waiting a week to weigh is giving me time to imagine I'm okay just slacking a tiny bit.  During the period of time between weekly weighs I can deceive myself with promises to myself that I got plenty of time to make it up.  

So I' don't want to fall into that trap.    I believe that one "Cannot expect what they don't inspect".     And a daily check is a great reminder of the mission I'm on.  It motivates me to keep going.   I think it keeps me determined to persevere.  I believe it stops a back slide from going into a total downward spiral crash landing in despair and a self abusive funk. 

Anyone else think that way or am I the lone crazy person around here?

THANK GOD!!!! I'm not the only one lol!!!

I weigh myself every day after the shower...

I feel the exact same way as you do.  I need the daily encouragement of a daily weigh in.  I could definitely see myself getting really out of control if I went an entire week without weighing myself.  like "yeah, i'll eat badly today.. but it won't be a problem because i have 5 more days until I have to get back on the scale, so no worries.  i'll clean up my act tomorrow."  but that perpetual 'tomorrow' would so easily put me back a month, or 2.  Since I weigh everyday, I know that I have to eat sensibly everyday and exercise and drink water and keep my sodium intake down and keep my fiber intake up and... that's a lot to remember, but if i'm in the habit of remembering them everyday, that's better.

I also weigh myself every day.  It keeps me on track, and reminds me of my commitment to a healthier me.

Your not crazy at all!!!  I've debated going to a weekly weigh in and decided not to for many of the same reasons...  I did go 4 days last week without weighing in and guess what ... The scale jumped over 6 lbs (Yeah Yeah, I realize alot of that is water retention etc) but I learned a valuable lesson.

Oh no..I am EXACTLY the same way.  It helps keepme on track and keep me making better choices on a more consistent basis. I couldn't do it once a week...I'd fall off so fast and get discouraged.

I was actually beating myself up today for the same thing, i totally agree with you, I also believe that it makes you work harder towar your goal, if you see the needle moving up in a habitual way you know you are slacking and to pick up the pace.  I am sooooo glad to find others who do the same thing PHEW....

Exactly!

I do it every morning after I pee!

I get so excited when I see it's less

And if it's more I just convince myself that I need to exercise instead of just dieting because I'd be healthier and it will help me get to my goal!

I agree 100%.  Every morning  that little thing on the bathroom floor just stares at me and i can't not get on it.  It keeps me balanced.  If it's up, i am more focused on my food choices for the day and it motivates me to work out if i'm not up to it. If it's down...great, it still keeps me in check and re-assures me that i am on the right track.  I find it to be a great motivating tool for myself either way....up or down!

Dietcoke92, your little puppy is darn cute.  I just had to comment!

I weigh every day, and enter it on my spreadsheet.  I have found that there are a few days throughout the month that I am ALWAYS heavier.  If I didn't weigh in so often, and just happened to weigh on one of those days, I could feel very discouraged.

Weiging every day is fine, as long as you are strong enough not to live and die by the number.  Everyone goes up and down, so use it as a guide, not a hard rule.  I use my 1st of the month weights for logging.

I am also getting good at judging what each meal I eat will do to the scale in the morining.  It helps me decide if that food is worth it.

You're not crazy - everyone has to do what's right for them, but I'm at the other end of the spectrum!  I'll admit that I'm aided by being away from home Monday to Friday, so can't weigh on my own scales!

I record a weekly weight, but have to say that if I'm at home for any reason I step on the scales a bit more often than that!  I've found though, that I'm better off seeing the scales move gradually week by week, rather than seeing the little ups and downs that each day brings. 

But that's just me!

Absolutely everyday!  Several reasons. 

First and foremost, accountability.  Like others have mentioned, knowing I'm going to get on the scale when I get up in the morning keeps me from pigging out on the day before. 

Second, motivation.  It took me about 2 weeks to realize that my daily weight is like a kid walking downhill while playing with a yo-yo.  At various points in time the yo-yo is higher or lower, but the overall trend is downward.  Once I got that figured out, I was able to deal with the "trauma" of seeing an upward change from one day to the next because I knew from my faithful measurements that the overall trend was in the down direction (see my profile picture).   And keeping an eye on and seeing that downward trend on a daily basis is what has kept me working on my fitness plan. 

Third, weighing everyday helped me very quickly correlate my eating and exercise habits to results on the scale.  Now I can predict with a fairly high degree of accuracy what my weight is going to do based on my current daily eating and exercise activities.  I know this because I can look back and say, "Every time I eat this and do that exercise, my weight changes by this amount". 

I'm an engineer by trade and there is an engineering rule of thumb that says only things that get measured get fixed.  Laymen know this as "it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease."  I want my scale to squeak at me everyday so that I'm always applying the right amount of grease.

I also weigh daily. Actually I weigh a couple times per day, in the morning and in the evening.

I actually think the fluctuations help me. I like seeing that I can eat healthy all day and the scale goes up a pound or so in the evening. To me, this keeps things in perspective. I know I don't eat 3500 calories over in a day to gain that pound then burn an extra 3500 calories overnight to lose it. Which reinforces to me that our bodies weigh differently thoughout the day and that little fluctuations are normal. I'm a lot less worried about the actual number on the scale than i am about the general downward trend over time.

i actually have my scale in the kitchen. i have to step over it to get into the kitchen. Sometimes i step on it if i'm going for a snack. It helps remind me that I probably don't need the snack and I have some water instead.

I know not all things work for all people. This is just what has been working for me. I've lost 31 pounds since the end of January by eating healthy and trying for more exercise. I love caloriecount!

Congratulations faieriesunshine,

Thats a great accomplishment and only proves what works for some of us does not always work for others.  31 lbs in 3 months.....WOW.  I've done that in the past.  Lost 27 in 4 months.  It takes a commitment from ourselves and the support of others to aid us along our journey to healthier lives.

Weighing in on the scale daily is key for me!

 

I'm with ya.......I strip down to the nude every morning and weigh myself.  I like to know what I'm starting my day out as.  your message is exactly how i feel about it.

I'm guilty as well, I did the once a week thing in the beginning and I could hardly stand it. I just like to watch the scale, I'm glad to know that I'm not really as OCD as I thought. I weigh every morning in the nude after I pee, I also weigh every evening in the nude after I workout before I get in the shower. OK maybe I'm a little OCD. But hey, it seems to be working for me since I'm down about 20 pounds since Feb. 18.

I weigh twice a week, Monday and Fridays.

 

 

You post made me really happy...........I am not the only one

Every morning I look at scale and is compelled to weigh myself. Once I even decided to weigh just once a week but could only hold to that decision for more than 2 weeks and on 15th day i was back to weighing myself daily.

Honestly at times its really frustrating specially when scale goes up due to avrious reasons.

 

 

 

I have weighed myself daily for years now.  I have an analytical mind, and graphing my daily weight is soothing.  I can track how my life has gone by my weight charts!  Whenever things go really badly, I lose weight fast; when things are stressful but not TOO bad, I gain weight fast, and when things are going well, I maintain. :) 

Weighing every day actually helps me keep on track, and keeps me from flying completely off the handle, no matter how things are going.  And, weighing every day lets me plan my day since I weigh first thing in the morning.  I don't strictly calorie count, but if the weight is creeping up for 2-3 days in a row, it's time to make an adjustment in either eating or exercise.  I can also track the monthly fluctuations, which I find comforting.  It keeps me much more in tune with my body.

When I do gain, at least I do it consciously (as in "I really don't care what I weigh, I'm eating the darn entire box of chocolate because it's making me feel better - no matter how emotionally screwed up that makes me!")  But that's only happened twice in those 20 years, and I've never allowed myself to gain more than 10 lbs each time (usually on vacation - hehe), so i guess it's OK.

I also weigh myself daily. At the same time, I have "weekly" and "monthly" weigh ins, as well.

When people ask me why I weigh myself so often, I tell them that it's my way of keeping track of how I'm doing day-to-day. It gives me time to reflect the food choices I made on a daily basis. The weekly weigh ins are to see how well I'm doing over all (scale might not have budged from the day before, but a week ago, I weighed *this much* more), and the monthly weigh-ins are to keep track of how I'm doing when it comes to my goals.

I save the measuring tape for the weekly weigh-ins, too. Just in case the scale doesn't move at all during the week, to make sure that things are still going okay even though the scale isn't budging. lol It keeps me motivated to do these things so often; if I don't, I'll probably procrastinate. Which is never a good thing.