SkiAdcock

I've done both. Weigh in weekly & weigh in daily.

When I did weigh in only weekly I picked the middle of the week, as I figured that was more indicative of everyday eating/drinking.

There was some study done a few years back that showed people that weighed in daily lost or maintained weight more than folk who didn't.

Like koko said, it's the overall trend you want to watch, not the daily.

And as aztimm said, workouts can make a difference. I'm always lighter before a workout than after. I read somewhere that workouts can temporarily add weight due to muscle output; something like that. It's been a while since I read the article.

My bottom line is if daily works for you, do daily. If weekly does, then do weekly. Whatever you do, be consistant.

Cheers.

kipper

I think I've decided to weigh myself every day, and report the number online in WW on Sundays.

I think watching the number drop is going to be important to me, so I'm going to do it every day, realizing that yes, some days, it may go up temporarily.

kokonutz

Just be sure to keep your main focus on the trend line, not on any given number. Otherwise, despite best intentions, it can be quite de-motivating to see one number when you were hoping for a lower one. So long as the trend line looks good, you're good. @:-)

JY1024

At my old gym, there was a scale right next to the water cooler and one in the locker room, so I weighed myself daily. Sure there were daily fluctuations, but I really enjoyed seeing the "slow and steady" decline over the span of a year.

I don't belong to a gym now, but I still weigh myself whenever I can. (It's more to affirm that my current lifestyle can keep me at a stable mass, and a few "high" readings usually kicks me into gear to not slack off.)

kipper

WW gives me a graph with a trend line, so the beauty in only reporting it once a week to them is that as long as that number is lower, I get to see the trend line going in the proper direction, even if I had a bad day.
I'm hoping that a day's high reading will kick me back into doing more.

whlinder

Generally daily at home on the same scale, and then 1-3 times per week at the gym on their scale.

NC_Girl

For people actively trying to lose weight I think weighing yourself once a week is a really bad idea. People's weights fluctuate too much with no rhyme or reason and that whole week of anticipating a drop and then weighing on an "up" day may be enough to make some give up.

Lets say that week one you did good and lost 2 pounds. The next week you did good but not so great on your diet but weighted on a "down" day and actually lost 3 pounds, Yippee! The next week you got back some motivation and tried really hard but actually gained a pound! You can't believe it! You worked so hard all week and for what? To gain a pound??? For many people, this would be just enough to give up.

Now, lets say that you weighed everyday over the same 3 weeks. You would see a gradual decline (of 4 pounds!!) and acknowledge that your weight fluctuates a little bit daily but as long as you see the number gradually going down your motivation keeps up.

SkiAdcock

Your analysis is off IMO. Why is it that only the weekly people will be discouraged if they're up/down & go 'off the wagon'. Daily folk can do that too. Just sayin...

I think people need to do what works for them best.

If it's weekly then that's fine. If it's daily that's fine. Each person is different on their motivation & methods.

Whether daily or weekly, over several weeks the 'trend' will be noticed.

I also think too much attention is being paid to the pounds & not the overall picture. You can weigh more due to muscle but be a smaller size in terms of clothes & body shape. That's very common.

Cheers.

aztimm

Do people really get that excited over 2-3 pounds?

As I said earlier, my weight can vary 8-10 pounds over the course of a week. Heck, before/after a long run in summer can be about that. As long as the overall trend is around the same to lower, I'm not too concerned.

Not to take this thread too far off topic, but I dare you to weigh yourself before/after a bowel movement.

SkiAdcock

aztimm, with all due respect you do a lot of exercise (can't remember if it's running or biking) so 8-10 for you might not be unusual. for most it would be.

for some who are struggling w/ weight, yes 2-3 lbs can make a difference, especially when docs recommend 1-2lb weight loss/week.

but again, the bottom line is do what's good for you individually. if it's daily, go for it. if it's weekly go for it. and truly don't pay that much attention to the pounds, but how you feel & how the clothes fit.

cheers.

obscure2k

aztimm, thanks for a good reality check. I recently had back surgery and was on pain meds for about 2 weeks. If anyone here has ever been on prescription pain meds, you will understand that they slow down the bowel. Thus, I was happy that I knew this, as I would have been quite discouraged, given that I have weighed myself first thing in the AM for most of my adult life. For 2 weeks, even though I had little appetite, I lost no weight. After I was off the Percodan, I got "regular" and lost about 6 lbs in a couple of days.

kipper

LOL, I can't believe we're discussing this!

kokonutz

Yeah, that's my take as well. I like having little victories and defeats every day. Both keep me motivated: if I'm down I think: keep going! If I am up I think: ok, make up for it by having a really good day! Having only one victory or defeat a week would be very demotivational for me personally.

But it does make for a very spiky graph :

kipper

I'm down 2.4 pounds from last week.

It'sHip2B^2

Fantastic!