How often do people think you should weigh? It is weekly at weight watchers but they said really it should be monthly! That's too long to stay motivated for me, but how often are people updating their stats?

Don't want to get into that obsessive weighing every day thing.


Wendy

Hi wendy,

I weigh myself just once a week as I think that gives a good indication of how things are going. I too wouldn't want to get obsessed by weighing myself every day and weight can go up and down quite a bit during a week.

Good luck.

Jo

I think it should be once a week - to keep you motivated. Weighing daily can lead to you feeling demotivated as you can vary from day to day. Its best to try and weigh in the same time each week and if possible to wear the same clothes (or not!!) to have some consitancy with you weighing in.

Good luck

Sam

I once followed a detox diet where you were encouraged to weigh yourself every day and chart it on a graph. I found I became absolutely obsessed with the weighing scales, and as it's true that weight can fluctuate daily and monthly - especially for women - it wasn't good for my mental wellbeing. If there were days that I worked from home and so didn't get the 20 minute walk to college I would freak about the extra pound that got added.

I've just bought some scales and am planning on weighing myself every week, but it is a real temptation not to get on them all the time. Despite my name I am a really impatient person and I know it takes time - and it's better to take time - but I always hope for magical instant results...

Thanks everyone, you've confirmed what I thought so I'll stick to weekly.

So when will it be? Monday morning might help keep me on track over the weekend?! Or Friday and then have Friday evening as one night a week off!

Wendy.

Monday mornings probably sensible but I'm sure a treat can be built in!
Lisa

If you weigh yourself Monday morning you may be heavier if like many of us you have eaten and drunk more over the weekend!

Out of habit at the gym I have weighed myself most days but it has never given me any hangups just interesting to see it go up a couple of pounds over 24 hours and just as easily go in the same time. The most was a 4lb loss in 24 hours for no obvious reason, eating and exercise was quite normal, it just dropped. Overall though there is a consistent average and you soon learn to know the parameters it will alwasy be falling in.

I found that when I went to the gym that after exercising I wanted to eat more, so therefore I felt better but didn't seem to lose any weight.

I also find tht I like to wiegh myself first thing Monday morning before any breakfast

I like to weigh myself monthly, as I try to lose weight primarily through exercising. The scales sometimes don't change on a weekly basis, but after I month they have changed a lot, and I can look in the mirror and see a big difference. This stops me from getting de-motivated.

Weighing weekly is ok too though, if you do it in the same conditions, as already said. I'd go for wednesday morning, naked, first thing, after a morning pee!

I had heard that weighing yourself first thing in the morning is best, but I just weigh myself if I'm at the gym..I'm a student with no scales so use the ones there and it is just a bit too tempting to see if I've lost anything.

I find weighing myself first thing in the morning, naked and after a pee seems to give the most consistent results too. also, daily weighing is not good - i did it and seemed to have gained 2lb over 2 days! so am feeling pretty gutted today!

on the weightwatchers group on this site several of us have got a thursday weigh day and we are all sending in our reslutsl. not actual weights, just the results of the week.

perhaps you may like to join us?

weekly weighing is ample, daily or mmore often is bordering on obsessive and will not do you any favours.

good luck

I weigh myself monthly, as i know that some weekends are worse than others, so I think that my weight evens itself out over a whole month.

I have to admit though that i find it really difficult to control the urge to measure my tummy, bums and thighs to see how much fat I've lost!

i am only being weighed every 3 months by the dietician, i am wary of other scales apart from hers

I just posted this on another thread. Think it's relevant here.

I weigh daily or at least 3 or 4 times a week, ALWAYS wearing the same (which is NOT a lot) after first convenience break but before breakfast. I only RECORD 1 weekly weight (Monday morning.)

However, like many people eating/drinking habits can be quite different at weekends so along with a thorough daily food/exercise diary I find this an invaluable resource to assess the affect different habits have.

That's so right!

I weigh myself everytime I go to the gym and once I got used to the fluctuations, I was ok. I actually only really take notice of the weigh in at the end of the week. That way I can have recovered from whatever excesses happened at the weekend and hopefully I will have been to the gym a few times!

I weigh everyday - it keeps me motivated without being obsessive

Once a week is recommended, at the same time on the same day eg always on a Monday. I log my weight once a week, but .... I must confess that over the Christmas and New Year season I was weighing myself every day.

I don't have scales at home, and weigh myself once a week (max, sometimes less often) at the gym. I can't personally see the point of weighing more often than that, as my weight fluctuates over a month.

I weigh myself first thing every morning. It helps me keep on track. helped by the fact that my scales are digital so it measures to the nearest tenth of a pound! If I've lost weight it motivates me to keep my weight loss programme going, if it's gone up I will try a but harder that day. It only takes a minute so it's not an obsessive thing I don't think, just the best motivator there is for me.

Saturday Morning before breakfast - if going to plan I can have cake and a few beers as a treat that evening.

[Will probably have them anyhow but feel VERY guilty]

I weigh myself every Sunday morning, partly because I have more time then and also because it shows the effect of my Saturday cycle ride.

I have also, though, been monitoring my weight every day, just to see how it goes. The answer is that it remains almost constant throughout the week and only falls as a result of my long Saturday cycle ride!

I could look at that as bad news - I only lose weight with a massive amount of exercise, and I won't lose anything unless I do marathon cycle rides. However, and this is what I prefer to believe, it is said that you gain the benefit of exercise not while you're doing the exercise but during the rest period afterwards. So, according to this theory, I could be building up muscle during the week (which cancels out any weight loss through dieting) and only really bringing the weight down as I burn fat off during the exercise.

If I didn't exercise quite so hard I'd have less muscle development going on and I'd probably lose weight throughout the week.

Does this make any sense?

Hi Ron,

As you say it sounds as though you're building up muscle through your cycling, and we're always being told that muscle weighs more than fat, so your theory could be correct. But i wonder how many weeks your theory is based on and whether it would be the same over a longer period of time?

You should expect to see the inches fall off perhaps quicker than the lbs? So maybe you should try measuring yourself every day to see what happens?

I'm interested to know how far your marathon cycle rides are?

Hiya
I know everyone is different, so this is just my personal experience:

I used to weigh myself everyday, without doing anything other than worrying about calories, and watching the odd pound creep on each month (over a few years that's a lot of damage!)

About a year and a half ago a got a personal trainer who persuaded me not to weigh more than once every 6 weeks or so, for all the right reasons. I have been training 5 times a weeks since then but I have continued to put on weight, and, although, overall, my training results have been fantastic (and some of my continued weight gain is definitely muscle, and my physical measurements are much better) I continued to put on weight and I could not understand why. It was demotivating to say the least!

In November weighed myself and was heavier than ever and decided I need to get a grip! I now weigh myself everyday and for the first time in 7 years I now have a consistent weight. I'm currently a few pounds lighter than my heaviest point but the consistent rise and rise is gone.

By weighing everyday and noting it down I was able to see where I was going wrong (for me it was dinners out with clients) - I could pinpoint the issues. Of course you have to recognise the ups and downs over a few days, but once you realise this is normal you can really get the fine tuning sorted - for me, I was losing weight and working hard all week to find that I put it all on again (and perhaps extra) in one sitting. Proving this to myself helped me to change it and I'm seeing the positive results.

It may seem small beer to have my weight stay the same but to me it is a really big step in the right direction, and I feel I have the facts to help me start to lose slowly now too. I know I'm still getting fitter and building muscle so the weight loss will be slow, but if I can see this week on week, month on month I'm happy.

Also I use my daily weigh in to focus my mind on my goals for the day - training, eating, alcohol consumption etc, not in an OCD, Bridget Jones way, just a daily reminder

It works for me - just a thought!

It's already very noticeable that my waist is shrinking. Trousers that were a comfortable fit three weeks ago are now very loose to the point that the next size down is called for!

The last three Saturdays I've cycled 63, 70, and 104 miles respectively. I've tried to keep my calorie intake on these days down to around 3000 (but concentrating on hi-carb foods), while expending up to 8700 calories on the ride. It's a very effective - if extreme - way of shifting the pounds!

I like weighing and measuring my waist daily I have an accurate scale that goes to 100grams so its nice to see it go down even when its only 0.1kgs its gives me the motivational boost I need and when its goes up I know why because I can look at the daily intake the day before. But everyone is different and I would never do it if my scale was not to the 100gram as to see it on the same weight for a week would be demotivating

Glad to see I am not alone as a totally non obsessive daily weigher. After years and years of yo yo dieting this daily weighing habit now takes the sting and risk out of weight control for me.

I totally accept a fluctuation of between 4-5 lbs on a weekly basis but when that becomes an upward trend over a few weeks (not accounted for by holidays) the alarm bells start ringing big time and I know it is time to start keeping a food diary and really monitoring what I am eating and exercise calories.

I really feel in control of my weight now and have done for three years now. 'One size does not fit all' in this and it does annoy me that so many people are so ready to tell others what to do.

All adults are responsible for their own eating and weighing patterns and should be allowed to do as they wish

I weigh myself first thing every morning. Then, to smooth out short-term fluctuations, I calculate a 7-day moving average -- that's the average of the weights over the last seven days. I find this a useful motivator.

Good idea Nick but my maths is so dreadful I think it would have to be a weekly avearage in my case!

I think the answer must be what suits you . If I weigh myself every day I keep control of my weight , watch the rise and do something about it.. It is when I stop doing this for any reason that I put on weight.
Now I weigh and log in daily and that is working for me..if I did it once a week or worse still once a month I would have no motivation at all ....