Weighing in

How often are you suppose to weigh in anyways? I know some like to every week...i know some that do everyday!!! I don't want to become that obsessed!!! I know it may be different for everyone but what is a good time frame to wait? Questions, questions tonight I know!!

It is a person thing.  The book "Preparing for Weight Loss Surgery" by Robin Apple has a whole section on how bad it is to weigh your self everyday because it can cause emotional reactions. I do weigh myself every day because it helps me reflect on what has happened the previous few days to help decide what to do going forward. It's become a morning ritual. If I'm down, things are going well. If I'm up, I review the calorie totals for the previous few days, the likely accuracy of the numbers (ie did I eat in a restaurant where I really didn't know the calories?)., or did I eat anything really salty? After eating a big meal on each of 12/23, 12/24 & 12/25 I was so happy to be down two pounds on 12/26. 12/27 I was up 9 pounds.  Most of it was fluid, some if it wasn't.  It was good to deal with the realities right away and not get the mistaken impression I could keep eating like that and lose. Even though I do weigh myself every day, I only keep track of the numbers once/week.  I'm not sure what I'm going to say to Dr. Apple when I have my preop psych consult with her.  This is what works for me. tom

I'm not really sure- I know that WW has us weigh in ONCE every week. WW had me set up to WI every Monday because I joined on a Sunday eve- started that next Mon a.m.  But as I went forward over the next few months- I learned that I had a harder time drinking appropriately as well as with salt intake etc. I don't ADD salt to anything- but it's already IN some things that I seem to end up eating over the weekend. I was ALWAYS UP on Monday. It got really frustrating so I just changed my WI day on my own. I now WI on Wednesday mornings. I WI after I get up in the a.m. just before I get dressed... always butt naked- so I have no surprises with different clothing.

I weigh every day but I only write numbers down to keep track on Wed. mornings.  Unfortunately, it does cause some emotional reactions when I see the number go up a bit, but I guess it eventually pays off over time.  For my sanity, I probably should ONLY look at the scale once per week!

Oh you know i weigh like twice a week....sometimes only once. :) If I had the scale at my place i would weigh every day lol.

My opinion is weigh as often as it doesn't 'upset' you.  Before the death of my scale I weighed daily.  I still find myself stepping on the thing even though it's broke just to see. :)  I'm comfortable with weighing daily though. It doesn't bother me when the numbers fluctuate. It's neat to see the numbers go up, down, up down and then all of a sudden 2-3lbs drop. Helps me to realize what exercise does for me and just how many days it takes for it to 'sink in'.

I'm behind Chris on this one - Definitely don't weigh yourself to the point where it upsets you.  But sometimes, weighing yourself often can show you how exercise will make your body retain water, release water during other times - it's educating.

Okay....I HAVE to say that I am OBSESSED with weighing myself. I tend to do so 10-15 times a day just to see how much of a difference it makes when I eat something or after I exercise.  The results won't be immediate, I know, but every pound is an accomplishment for me, since I ended up gaining probably 120lbs from age 14-29.  That's a SIGNIFICANT amount of weight in 15 years.  This is why I had chosen to follow WW points (I'm not actually ON the program, just using their guidelines for points and things like that) to lose the weight. It seems to me that whatever works for you as long as it isn't discouraging.  Don't beat yourself up if you gain 1-2 pounds in a day...it's just your intake of food and it will fuel your body for the day and most of the night, depending on what kinds of foods you eat.

I would suggest that you could weigh yourself every day, but only record your weight every week...to see the significance instead of the smaller increments. But what do I know?  I just hope the pounds go down and not UP! ~Barbara~

Thank you for all the replies!!! Sounds like once a week is good..because I know for me I would get obsessed with it..and I would get upset about it. And I would probably get really discouraged! Thank you all for the posts!