Weekly or Daily Weigh-ins?

[tractorlegs]

I'm interested in hearing how many people weigh weekly and and how many do it daily, and the reasons? Which method provides the greatest motivation?

[WendyB]

I do Weekly. Your weight fluctuates daily. I myself think I get a better picture.

[BWright1175]

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@WendyB wrote:

I do Weekly. Your weight fluctuates daily. I myself think I get a better picture.

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I do the same.  First thing every Sunday morning, underwear only, after a trip to the bathroom. 🙂

[tractorlegs]

Right now I'm weighing daily, but it seems like the experience would be less frustrating to do it weekly. When you weigh weekly, how do you enter the info into the Fitbit app:

• Do you type in the same weight 7 times, once each day?
• Do you just enter it once a week?

[WendyB]

I use the Aria Scale so it does it automatically.  Logs it once a week .

If I did Weigh daily I would log what ever weight it said. As its not the same daily.

[BWright1175]

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@tractorlegs wrote:

Right now I'm weighing daily, but it seems like the experience would be less frustrating to do it weekly. When you weigh weekly, how do you enter the info into the Fitbit app:

• Do you type in the same weight 7 times, once each day?
• Do you just enter it once a week?

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I only enter it for the day on which I weigh.

[JohnRi]

I weight myself roughly the same day everyday.  Right after getting up in the morning after going to the bathroom. 

However I pretty much ignore daily numbers, and I look at weekly averages. 

The reason is this, if you were to only tke your weight on Sunday, this can't be misleading.

For example. 

Sunday 155.5 - Average 156.2

Monday 156.4

Tuesday 155.9

Wednesday 154.3

Thursday 154.7

Friday 155.1

Saturday 154.9

Sunday 155.7

Weekly Average between Monday to Sunday 155.2.  If you were to only take your weight one day a week, you would think you gained.  But the Average shows a minor loss.

Since your body weight can change 2 or even 3 lbs due to water weight gain, a weekly Average is better tool than daily numbers.

The Firbit calculates averages from Sunday to Saturday.  So that's what I look at.

[OCDOC]

I'm measuring a ton of things eg water loss during 20 minutes HIIT, effect on body weight after a 4 hour binge, etc etc so I am charting weight a lot! eg I 'gained' 5 pounds after a 4 hour feast, but it dropped off over 5 days..all 'food and water' I presumed.

When I enter my weekly weight onto MFP or a challenge thread here I use the lowest obtained the previous 7 days. This number is usually a morning after a previous day workout with little fluids on board ie 'bone dry'. 

I would never assume that doing this for one week is meaningful. However, after 4 months, (with this 'dry weight' dropping every week), this it is now my 'weight of record'.

PS Agree that unless you want to lose your mind (or track variables like I do) that once a week is best.  R

[SunsetRunner]

I do it daily, first thing in the morning after going to the toilet but before eating anything, to make sure that weighin is right for the day

[Berripity]

I weigh daily and log it on Libra (Happy scale on iOS). It smooths trends over a 7 day rolling average and outputs some interesting statsitics (TDEE/deficit, time to goal weight, etc). 

[Ukase]

Studies have shown http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2016/01/03/weight-loss-scales-daily/77584478/

that weighing yourself daily has a benefit. 

Let me share part of my personal journey of weight loss. 

I was 270 pounds, at 5'10. I can carry 230-240 okay, people would consider me "big", but more likely stocky, than "fat". This is partially because of broad shoulders and a big chest. But, at 270, no getting around it, I'm a fat slob. 

Well, I wasn't getting any younger. So, I did some thinking and knew I could out exercise any crazy diet I could come up with and honestly thought I would just lift weights and gain a lot of muscle and let the muscles burn off all the nutella and peanutbutter I wanted to eat. 

When I put my thoughts to paper - I sadly learned that I would need to have 400 pounds of muscle to cook off the amount of food I wanted to eat in a day. 

Well - let's just say we had to find plan B pretty quickly. 

I'll fast forward through a lot of YouTube videos and consulting of my high school and current friend the fitness trainer (shameless plug for John Holley out of Nashville. Ladies - Google him, he's eye-candy, at least, that's what I've heard since I've known him for over 35 years).

I got on the scale after day 1.

I'd lost 2.2 pounds in a day!  I knew that had to be water weight, because I was only at a caloric deficit of   1642. I didn't even realize that I could have and should have eaten more. 

Day 2-  I got such good results on Day 1 - I decided to eat the same thing. No exercise either day. At 270, jogging can put on some stress on the joints - and so can walking. I figured I would lose a bit more before I tried to push things. 

So - let me fast forward a bit. 

Day 3 to Day 6, the scale didn't move, despite the caloric deficit. 

And this is where I answer your question - weighing yourself daily is only a good motivator if you understand that the scale doesn't move every day, even if the math suggests you should have lost weight. 

If I had given up on Day 4 - I'd still be 266 pounds, or whatever it was. Heck, if I'd given up, I'd be 300 or more! 

Recognize that struggling with weight loss is good. Struggling suggests that you haven't given up. Take pride in that. 

If your focus is weak - way yourself weekly. 

[tractorlegs]

So right now 4 responders weigh daily, 3 weekly, all have excellent thoughts.

I'm thinking that a person who weighs daily needs to have a more intimate understanding of how the process works, so that they do not get discouraged when they see plateaus and gains from day to day. Obviously, the end result of either method is the same if we are diligent to keep up the "work". 

[Dominique]

I’m doing it daily, for two reasons: 1) I have a Fitbit Aria (have had it for almost three years), which makes the process so dead easy, 2) I don’t count my intake, so I want the scale to hold me accountable.

Yes, there are daily fluctuations for a number of reasons, but I’ve found (only very recently) TrendWeight is very good at eliminating the "noise" and evening out these fluctuations. It even extrapolates missing days, for instance when you’re away for a few days on a business trip or a vacation and have no access to your Aria.

[A_Lurker]

I weigh weekly, on a scale in our plant (part of a challenge).  If I put on the same outfit (without shoes) it matches at home what I get a few minutes later at work (this weight includes shoes).  Once the challenge is over in a few weeks I may go back to daily, which I have done before.  Or I may not.  Both have their good and bad points.  No matter which method you use it's important to understand the fluctuations.  If your mood for the day is going to be based on that number on the scale, don't weigh yourself daily.  I've seen people use that daily number to beat themselves up, or use it as an excuse to eat something extra.

I'm not currently practice what I preach, but also consider taking body measurements.  I know when I was doing weight lifting and lots of walking I saw way more change in body composition.  The scale maybe wasn't moving as much as I would have liked it, but I was very fit, dropping clothing sizes, even though I was still firmly in the very obese categories. People I knew assumed I had lost way more weight than I actually had.

[JohnRi]

Ok, I'm going to through my last 3-4 weeks of my weight data.  And I'm going to use Thursday as my weigh in day. 

Keep the following in mind.  I've been quite ill for about the last 8 weeks.  Strep Throat, the Flu, a cold, broncitis, and now an lower respitory infection.  And I strained my right calf muscles with a Type 1 strain on April 26.  So my weight loss has been all over the place the last two months.  Add that I've only been able to ride my exercise bike and now my real bike for the last 10 days.  And yesterday was my first short slow walk since I injured my calf....  I also drink 2000+ ML of water a day, and I'm on two meds that make me constipated.  So my daily numbers jump a lot.... 

Week Apr 10-16 Average weight 230.2 lbs.

4/14 - 228.9

Week Apr 17-23 Average weight 227.2 lbs

4/21 - 226.5

Week Apr 24-30 Average weight 224.1 lbs

4/28 - 223

Week May 1-7 Average weight 223.9 lbs

5/5 - 225.1

Week May 6-13 Average Weight 223.4 lbs

5/12 - 224.9

If you look at the Weekly averages, you see that with exercise I was losing 2-3 lbs a week.  Once I got hurt, I continue to lose weight, but at a much slower pace of less than 1/2 a lbs a week.

But if you look at the Thursday numbers you see roughy the same numbers, however last week it would have appeared that I gained a couple of pounds.  Only to lose .2 lbs this week.  But if you compare the average weight numbers for the last three weeks, you clearly see I did lose weight each week.

Now lets look at my daily numbers

Readings this week

Today 221.7

Thu 224.9

Wed 224.2

Tues 223.5

Mon 223.5

Sun 222.6

Reading last week

Sat 222.6

Fri 223.6

Thu 225.1

Wed 224.6

Tues 224.6

Mon 223.3

Sun 223.3

Reading two weeks ago

Sat 224

Fri 223.5

Thu 223

Wed 224

Tues 224

Mon 225.4

Sun 224.6

So if you look at Thursday my "weight in day".  On two of these days, I hit the heaviest day of the week, and on one week it was the lowest.

In my opinion looking at daily numbers is insane to look at.  Looking at one day a week is also poor as you can catch a high day, a low day, or something in the middle.

Looking at weekly averages gives you a clearer idea of how you are doing.

That being said, even if you only did weigh you self once a week.  If you looked at monthly averages, and not week to week, then you'd probably have a similar result. 

But your Fitbit does all the work for you on weekly averages.  Just enter your numbers daily.and try to ignore them.  Then on Saturday look at the average.

I won't lie, when I saw 221.7 this morning, I was very happy.  And when I saw 224.9 yesterday I wasn't happy.  It's a evil thing the scale. 

I have a Aria scale, and the one thing I look at more than the weight is the fat %.  When I got my Aria back in Febuary, my fat % was around 35%.  Today it was just 29.8%.  I've watch my fat % drop as I've lost weight.  This I find much more satisifying than my actual weight!  But again the Aria can be misleading.  It is giving you a number based on a table of people that weighed this much, and has this bioimpedence, have this fat %.  Step on the scale 5 times in a row, and you'll get 5 different fat % readings. Usually they will be within 1% of each other.  However, if you look at the average daily fat % over time, and you can see that coming down, going up, or staying the same. 

Yet another reason to look at averages, and not daily numbers.

Most mornings I just hop on the scale at 7:00 AM, without my glasses on so I can't even read the scale...  Then I'll look at it later on in my fitbit app.

Another reason I was happy about the 221.7 reading...  At 221.0 I will have lost 60 lbs.  Once I get under 220, I'll be "overweight" and no longer obese.  So for the first time in over 24 years, I will be just overweight soon.  So the numbers have a little more meaning to me at the moment.  Once I get under 220, I won't care again, until I get under 183 (When I reach normal weight)....My fat % just under 30% indicates I'm just overweight.  I want to get it under 19%....

So I'm getting there... 

I look at this way, statistically the more data points you have, the more accurate your readings will be.  Averages over time show you trends.  Daily numbers will drive you insane.  So glance at them if you want, but ignore them.  Compare week to week, month to month, and you will see the real trends.

[SunsetRunner]

@dom might get one to play with, a computer geek at heart and love stats

as for letting the scale hold me accountable, no way! if I don't keep track of the calories, I'd have nothing to look at and end up eating none stop, which got me here in the first place, constantly snacking

hmz... interesting site

saying that the myfitnesspal app has the same function, I doubt as much, but for what I need to satisfy my data/stat hunger is enough.... for now....

[KidsDogsBooks]

I weigh in daily.  I use an app called Happy Scale to track my daily weight.  While I know my weight fluctuates day-to-day, it helps me stay on track.

[emili]

daily. helps me to understand what works and what doesn't. how much sodium I consumed the day before. I don't do it to motivate or demotivate myself, it doesn't change enough for that- but it helps me with repeatable behaviors and adjustments I need to make to keep me where I am happy. When I was losing, I did it everyday too for same reasons. All the scale does is assign a number to what you did or didn't do. If I don't know, I can't adjust.

[momurray]

I weigh muself weekly but the scale my not be the best reflection of weightloss.Did you take measurements before you started?  Some times we lose inches befor the scale rewards us. Are your clothes fitting better? Do you have more energy?

[pcobb8]

i used to weigh in weekly, now daily.  I find that it helps me keep in tune with my body.   I understand better how certain foods are effectingly my daily weight.  So I know when I am weight high( maybe a little toomuch salt) or what is my true weight