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I know conventional wisdom says once a week. However, I am afraid I am going to slack off and cheat if I only weigh myself once a week. However, I am afraid to weigh myself daily because I might get discouraged if I see fluctuations. Any advice? I really need to see that scale go down.
The Key here is perseverance. Make a plan and stick to it. Weighing yourself every day doesn't seem like the most appropriate way to loose weight.
I suggest just believe your gonna do it. Besides if weighing yourself helps you focus better then there is no harm doing it.
The Key here is perseverance. Make a plan and stick to it. Weighing yourself every day doesn't seem like the most appropriate way to loose weight.
I suggest just believe your gonna do it. Besides if weighing yourself helps you focus better then there is no harm doing it.
Well, I must admit I am dismayed at the fluctuations, but it's only a number and a learning experience that I did something wrong that needs to be corrected. The sooner I catch it, the sooner I can correct it.
One thing my Dr. told me that will prevent weight loss is not getting proper sleep. Well, here I am typing away at 3:45 when I should be sleeping. Also, stress is bad - raises cortisol levels which makes it harder to lose weight, as does improper sleep. So an example of what I should NOT be doing is what I'm doing tonight. Fell asleep can't remember what time - maybe 9 or 10? Woke up at 12:30. Went to Wal-mart. Came home. Put on some coffee. On CD in between cleaning knowing I can sleep whenever tomorrow. My sleep is so broken and I never sleep more than four hours at a time. Needless to say, throws me all off and I don't want to weigh myself as I'd have no idea what time to weigh myself today with all the coffee, so think I'll skip today.
Anyway, just rambling here. I'd best get to those dishes.
Location: Back in Melbourne.....home of road rage and aggression
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Ah the Battle of the Scale.
I must admit, I'm a daily weigher. Every morning, toilet, nightgown off, and onto the scale. That's the only time I do it though. I don't get on it again that day, because I know that everything I've ingested will produce a "gain". So I weight daily, but I only track my weight from Sunday to Sunday. Sunday is my Official Weigh In Day. And I do journal it.
Admittedly, this is a learned behavior that started decades ago. Unless I am thoroughly removed from the scale--as in on vacation, or at the home of someone who doesn't have one--if I can't get on the scale first thing, I'm completely preoccupied and self conscious for the rest of the day. I will wonder ceasely what the numbers might have been. I get anxious and when I'm anxious I'm edgy and touchy and just generally unpleasant. I don't know why, but I'm a slave to that device.
The daily fluctuations don't bother me; I understand about fluid retention and how what you ate on Monday can affect what you weigh on Tuesday.
I do find though, that if on Monday I'm actually up, I can go back and look at my food journal (I journal that too, but that is more about tracking what I eat for blood sugar readings) and see what might have done it, and make different choices and see what happens. In that regard, weighing every day (for me) is a good maintenance tool, one of many I use in my recovery plan. I buy my foods in bulk when they are on special and go ahead and weigh things out ahead of time, package it up so I can just grab and go if I'm a little short on time. The cabinets are pretty full of tupperware and the freezer is full of single serves of frozen meats in bags, but it gives me peace of mind and reduces my need to make too many choices. That can be a real bear for me, too many options
One day, I hope to be able to get up and just get going with my day and not think twice about that little platform with the digital dial, but for now, it's what I do.
I know conventional wisdom says once a week. However, I am afraid I am going to slack off and cheat if I only weigh myself once a week. However, I am afraid to weigh myself daily because I might get discouraged if I see fluctuations. Any advice? I really need to see that scale go down.
I take my weight daily and write it in my calendar / journal.
But I also have a Food Journal, Gym Journal, and Sleep Journal.
I pick Friday morning as my weekly cut off and figure out:
1. Weekly weight gain/loss
2. Weekly sleep hours, as well as Daily average sleep hours.
3. Weekly cardio minutes, and how I did cardio in that week.
4. How many times I did strength training.
Also, I like taking daily weight measurement especially to see how much I gained over the weekend social events (food), or when my weight maintains on rest days, or when my weight drops after a back to back cardio & strength training days.
I'm a daily weigher-er but it's more of a compunction than anything else...most of the time after I weigh, I feel more depressed and more likely to 'give up' a little instead of work harder. BUT, I'm afraid if I weighed weekly, I'd wind up gaining an insane amount of weight without realizing it til I was a week into it. So, catch 22...
On another note...I know I need more sleep too...wonder what would happen if I got 8 hours every night for weeks??!! Hmm, going to bed now (instead of 2 hours ago when I should have!) Good luck misty, and great job so far
Earlier this year, when my goal was to lose 30lbs, I weighed myself every morning right after I woke up, and after I'd been to the bathroom.
That way, my numbers didn't reflect extra water weight, digested food weight, etc., and my numbers could be properly compared from one day to the next.
When you weigh yourself at different times each day, you could be carrying an extra pound or two of water and food weight from food you recently ate, so your day to day comparisons would not be accurate.
I also kept a daily journal of all the foods I ate, showing total calories, total fat, total protein and total carbs, as well as my daily weight.
Now that I lost all 30lbs, and then some, I no longer keep the daily journal, but I do weigh myself nearly every morning to make sure I'm staying close to my desired weight.
Earlier this year, when my goal was to lose 30lbs, I weighed myself every morning right after I woke up, and after I'd been to the bathroom.
That way, my numbers didn't reflect extra water weight, digested food weight, etc., and my numbers could be properly compared from one day to the next.
When you weigh yourself at different times each day, you could be carrying an extra pound or two of water and food weight from food you recently ate, so your day to day comparisons would not be accurate.
I also kept a daily journal of all the foods I ate, showing total calories, total fat, total protein and total carbs, as well as my daily weight.
Now that I lost all 30lbs, and then some, I no longer keep the daily journal, but I do weigh myself nearly every morning to make sure I'm staying close to my desired weight.
First, congrats on your weight loss! I skipped two days of weighing myself and I gained two lbs. So I guess I am going to stick with the weighing myself each day going forward. It is too easy to let things get out of control if I don't. Things would not have gotten out of control had I made it a point to weigh myself along the way.
People, unless you guys are fighters trying to make weight for a multi-million dollar fight I say IGNORE the scale. TOTALLY IGNORE IT!!!
Instead you should just LOOK at yourself in the mirror. AND (most importantly) focus on RESULTS in your training/exercise. If you notice your clothes getting a little baggy (if you are a woman) then you are doing great. If you notice your shirts are getting tight around the shoulders/arms (if you are a man) then you are doing great.
People, unless you guys are fighters trying to make weight for a multi-million dollar fight I say IGNORE the scale. TOTALLY IGNORE IT!!!
Instead you should just LOOK at yourself in the mirror. AND (most importantly) focus on RESULTS in your training/exercise. If you notice your clothes getting a little baggy (if you are a woman) then you are doing great. If you notice your shirts are getting tight around the shoulders/arms (if you are a man) then you are doing great.
My body is going through a slow, gradual metamorphosis. I know I need to lose weight, but my goal is fitness. One of the results of fitness, will be weight loss. That's why I check in at the scale on training day. It is one of several measures of my progress.
It is also how I get a general (meaning, not truly accurate) measure of body fat loss. That hand-held little machine thingie is definitely not an accurate measure of body fat, however it does give some idea. But you do need to know how much you weigh, to use it. And I use it once a month, on training day. That, plus a tape-measurement of upper arms, shoulders, chest, waist, hips, thigh, and neck, combine to give me a pretty good summary of how I'm doing.
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So I guess I am going to stick with the weighing myself each day going forward. It is too easy to let things get out of control if I don't. Things would not have gotten out of control had I made it a point to weigh myself along the way.
