How often do you step on the scale?

[Shellbelle28]

Common advice in weight loss circles is "don't weigh yourself every day." I'm not sure of the basis* for the advice but wondered how many follow it?

 

For myself, I do weigh every day. It helps me respond to what's going on with my body before any gain gets a chance to become really big and demotivating! 

 

*I just read an article about ketogenic plans. If you have a splurge on carbs, a gain can look out of proportion on the scale because foods rich in carbohydrates trigger glycogen production. 3 to 4 grams of water bond to each gram of glycogen.This is why people lose significant weight quickly on carb-restricting diets, and by extension, glycogen. Once glycogen levels become depleted, there is less glycogen for the water to bond to. This is why you lose pounds very quickly: much of the initial weight loss is water and why people believe they’ve gained it all back after "cheating" on their diet. 

Edited November 2, 2018 by Shellbelle28

[pacruise804]

I tend to just weigh once per week - Thursday morning 😉- or if I have a doctor's appointment.  I've seen big fluctuations between time of day or scale used so I try to always use the same scale, similar time for the "official" reading.

 

The info from your article certainly makes sense (and might explain my gain this week), but I'll probably still stick to once a week and let weight be one measure of health but not my only measure.

[Go-Bucks!]

I had weight loss surgery 3 months ago and weigh myself first thing every morning, without clothes on.  I have a journal where I keep track of each day's weight.  This keeps me accountable and I can track all changes (up or down) and take any necessary steps, if needed.  In the nutrition classes I had to take, they recommend either daily weigh-ins or weekly....both are fine.  So far I've lost 61# and will hopefully reach my goal in the next 3 months or so.

 

The other thing that has helped alot is keeping track of all my food and drink intake....I use MyFitnessPal.  It helps to see what my daily calories, carbs, fats, and protein intake has been.

[FlatlandDave]

Have a floor scale at work, check myself every few days....

[gelli8112]

I don't really.  It's always been more about how I feel and how I look in the mirror. Right now, I look like a ball, not yet beach but basket is too small.  As four how I feel.  I feel great and after I eat these powdered donuts and drink this Mtn Dew Code Red, I'll feel even better.  I'll be back in the gym tomorrow.  Happy cruising.

[OCruisers]

My husband is always insisting I do because I need to GAIN to get over 100 lbs.  

Might seem like a good thing to some who need to lose ... but trying to gain is not so easy either.  

[gelli8112]

11 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

My husband is always insisting I do because I need to GAIN to get over 100 lbs.  

Might seem like a good thing to some who need to lose ... but trying to gain is not so easy either.  

I am sure it's frustrating also.  It's a problem, I've never had.  I have not been under 250 since the 10th grade.  

[OCruisers]

1 minute ago, gelli8112 said:

I am sure it's frustrating also.  It's a problem, I've never had.  I have not been under 250 since the 10th grade.  

 

Neither has my husband ... guess that's why he wants me to gain.  

[pacruise804]

12 hours ago, OCruisers said:

My husband is always insisting I do because I need to GAIN to get over 100 lbs.  

Might seem like a good thing to some who need to lose ... but trying to gain is not so easy either.  

 

I've known a few people who struggle to gain weight - either way the struggle is real.  Healthy gain might even be harder than healthy loss.  Best wishes in your health journey.

 

[Shellbelle28]

On 11/4/2018 at 8:09 PM, Go-Bucks! said:

I had weight loss surgery 3 months ago and weigh myself first thing every morning, without clothes on.  I have a journal where I keep track of each day's weight.  This keeps me accountable and I can track all changes (up or down) and take any necessary steps, if needed.  In the nutrition classes I had to take, they recommend either daily weigh-ins or weekly....both are fine.  So far I've lost 61# and will hopefully reach my goal in the next 3 months or so.

 

The other thing that has helped alot is keeping track of all my food and drink intake....I use MyFitnessPal.  It helps to see what my daily calories, carbs, fats, and protein intake has been.

Congratulations on your success and new healthy lifestyle! 

[Shellbelle28]

On 11/5/2018 at 4:48 PM, OCruisers said:

My husband is always insisting I do because I need to GAIN to get over 100 lbs.  

Might seem like a good thing to some who need to lose ... but trying to gain is not so easy either.  

Definitely something I have a hard time getting my mind around 😁 , but I think weight is tied to so many different aspects (mental, physical, societal) that any change is hard! 

[lenquixote66]

On November 2, 2018 at 9:17 AM, Shellbelle28 said:

Common advice in weight loss circles is "don't weigh yourself every day." I'm not sure of the basis* for the advice but wondered how many follow it?

 

For myself, I do weigh every day. It helps me respond to what's going on with my body before any gain gets a chance to become really big and demotivating! 

 

*I just read an article about ketogenic plans. If you have a splurge on carbs, a gain can look out of proportion on the scale because foods rich in carbohydrates trigger glycogen production. 3 to 4 grams of water bond to each gram of glycogen.This is why people lose significant weight quickly on carb-restricting diets, and by extension, glycogen. Once glycogen levels become depleted, there is less glycogen for the water to bond to. This is why you lose pounds very quickly: much of the initial weight loss is water and why people believe they’ve gained it all back after "cheating" on their diet. 

Every day.I lost 56 pounds prior to my last cruise and although I gained on the cruise I am back to my altime adult low weight of 181.6 pounds.I am 6'5

[Jan_In_Maine]

I found that I was weighing myself every day and it was not a good thing!  I am better off if I weigh myself on Monday morning and on Thursday morning ...  (Friday night is date night and I have a "little" extra - but am better over the weekend) ... Thursday is weigh-in day.

 

I track my food and calories every day and look at websites for restaurants in town to see what I can eat that I will enjoy and not break the bank on calories.  I need to keep focused, because if I don't, I can gain all the weight back in a very short amount of time and then it becomes more and more difficult to stay the course of trying to be healthy.

 

I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every time I've tried to lose weight ... lost and then regained more.  Very frustrating, but I feel so much better when I have goals and and keep on track.  I have a plan to get to a certain point by the middle of April and then another goal for the end of September ... hopefully I will be where I want to be by then ... and then I really need to figure out how to maintain.  Jan

[angie7911922]

I weigh once or twice a week. It's not wrong to weigh every day, but you really don't lose or gain an entire lb in one day, so it is not necessary. Many times when your weight fluctuates like this from day to day it is water weight. If you stick to once a week, same time each week, with the same clothes on (or no clothes if you prefer) you can truly see if you have gained or lost weight during the past week. 

[Casino Player]

How often do I step on a scale?  As few times as possible.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Once a week--same day, same time--if I am trying to lose.  Otherwise I hardly ever weigh.  I generally have an idea how the weight is according to how I feel and how clothes fit.

 

Nothing wrong with weighing every day, but for me the normal daily fluctuations of weight can be discouraging.

[Go-Bucks!]

On 11/7/2018 at 9:06 AM, Shellbelle28 said:

Congratulations on your success and new healthy lifestyle! 

 

Thank you...it's now been 7 months post surgery and I've lost 84# so far.  I'm currently on a 6 month long world cruise which will be over in mid-July.  It's easy to eat very healthy foods on the ship.  I'm very close to my goal and getting lots of exercise, mostly walking and weight training, with having 81 ports!

 

Oh, and I brought my scale with me and continue to weigh daily.  I realize that the 1-2# fluctuations aren't fat weight (usually water) but seeing the trend keeps me on track. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by Go-Bucks!

[dajulieness]

I step on the scale twice a week. I had the sleeve done on 1/16. 

 

^^ Go Bucks I never thought to bring my scale with me. Did you pack it in your bags? Any issues with it? 

[Orionleah]

Every time before and after the gym.

[basictek]

When I was obese for 20+ years I rarely stepped on a scale. In a lot of cases the scales wouldn't go high enough anyway (325 - 350). I failed to lose and sustain weight loss many times before finally getting it right. From 2017 - 2018 lost 130 and checked the scale not quite daily, but on average 5 times a week. Learned a lot of lessons...

 

#1 daily scale readings can easily fluctuate over 5lbs & it's not due to actually gaining/losing weight

#2 about 10% - 15% of your body weight is a fluid #. This is why fad diets and such can always promise quick weight loss, but real weight loss takes time and consistency. Most heavy people can easily lose a lot of weight in short amount of time by restricting intake in any fashion, but this will often result a rubber band effect where you plateau as you reach the end of the band then shoot back often gaining more than you lost (I've experienced this many times). 

#3 The most important thing in picking a new lifestyle, eating plan, diet is the ability to sustain it long term then probably implementing it gradually over time rather than all at once. 

 

There's no wrong answer to how often to step on a scale but I would say if using a scale, understand what you are looking at. If you weigh daily, your weight will bounce around (up 2, down 1, up 1 down 3, etc). When using a scale daily I focused on hitting a new low each week. This way I kept the arrow pointing in the right direction, and if I went in the wrong direction for a week (failed to hit a new low) I needed to look more closely at what I did and make adjustments. 

 

I know many others that lost substantial amounts of weight did not weigh daily or found it discouraging. I really liked the instant feedback but it certainly not mandatory.

 

Now I step on a scale once or twice a week in maintenance, because former obese people can never let their guard down, and have to make sure things don't start creeping back to where they were. Now I generally try to stay within 192-198 and if I get out of that range i need to make adjustments. If you aren't obese or former obese this is probably overkill

 

My last cruise I weighed in at 194 before went for 7 days and came home at an astonishing 206 (12 lbs higher in 1 week) I attribute that mostly to the huge amounts of free coffee and extra food that I normally wouldn't eat at home. I got back to my normal plan and saw the 12 lbs drop off in 2 weeks, half of it was gone in a few days because it wasn't real (that 10 -15%).

 

Anyway I expect to be on vacation when I'm on a cruise and not watching my weight. I have 46 weeks a year where I can do that. I just need to be willing to get back to consistent eating when the cruise or trip is over (at least that worked the last time... ) That's my .02

[GUEST71919]

I think it totally depends on the person (as a mental health professional I am certain that people vary greatly on what is “best” for them as individuals ☺️). When I was on a major weight loss journey, I would weigh 1-2x daily and found it motivating (and educational - the scale is constantly moving, sometimes for seemingly no reason).  But I am not the obsessive type, someone who is Iand would obsess over that constantly fluctuation) might be best to weigh weekly. This piece of info might be helpful to some  - the single long-term and very large study on people who have lost 30lb or more and kept it off for 2 years or more has shown that most of the people who keep off weigh daily. Good luck to everyone on their journey! 🙂

Edited June 30, 2019 by 2Beeze

[TX Cruise Girl]

I get on the scale every Thursday.  I used to do it more often but it was too stressful.

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

Interesting thread!

I step on the scale every Thursday to weigh in for Belle's thread but when I was doing my Wii Fit I got weighed every day. It was weird to see the day to day changes like up 2/10 lb or down 4/10 & often I'd think I'd be down & I'd be up!

 

Ocruisers ~ my DH had the same problem when I met him over 50 years ago.. He was 6'1" & only weighed 145 lbs. He went to the doctor who gave him a needle every week & had him eat fattening things like cream, beer etc, things with a lot of calories & he got up to 185. He now likes to be 175. I'm almost at his weight & MUCH shorter.

Some people eat to live, others live to eat. Guess which I am, lol?!

 

~ Jo ~ 😊

 

[Belle]

At home i weigh mostly everyday.    On cruises I  never weigh

Edited July 11, 2019 by Belle

[Jasonmom]

Pretty much every day since I started trying to loose weight.