how often do you weigh yourself?

[sammy79]

Hi! I got my fitbit for Xmas and love it! Just wondering how often you weigh in? I have been weighing every day but this morning I saw a 2.25lb gain...in a day? How is this possible, or is it normal? Ate my allowed calories yesterday..in fact was a few under budget.
Help!

[Dominique]

@Sweetgimmo: TrendWeight doesn’t work as an app, it’s web-based. It works well on my iPad, but not so much on my Android smartphone, even though I’m using the same browser (Chrome) on both. Don’t know if it’s the size/resolution of the display or the OS. If you are using it on a computer, it should work fine.

[Esya]

@Sweetgimmo

No, it is a website, but you can also view it in the browser of your phone. Just click the link and it will take you there.

I wish I could delete posts. I had not seen @Dominique's reply yet. Oh well, better double than not at all 🙂 .

[Esya]

@modelinafatgirl

Sounds to me like you might want to post in this Weekly Weigh In post. People are posting their weight there for the exact reasons you just mentioned.

[Sweetgimmo]

@Dominique

Thanks so much for your feedback....I will definitely try it

Michele

[Sweetgimmo]

@Esya

Thank you, I just registered with it on my computer 🙂

Michele

[modelinafatgirl]

@Esya That sounds awesome, thank you!

[scogem]

I weigh myself every morning. This can be a little frustrating but so can weighing yourself every week.

I seem to get crazy fluctuations with my body fat percentage that go up and down for no particular reason. My nutrition and training is fairly consistent.

[Esya]

@scogem

Fat% measurements using bioelectrical impedance tend to do that. That is why I use https://trendweight.com/ to see my trends. It is easier to ignore the fluctuations. You can simply login with your FitBit account.

[Dominique]

@scogem: in order to minimize fluctuations, it’s important to weigh at the same time of the day (what you are doing: in the morning) and in the same conditions (before eating, after trip to bathroom). As a woman, your hormonal cycle is going to impact estimation of BF% because of water retention (the method used by the scale – bioelectrical impedance analysis – is highly sensitive to your body’s hydration level). As a male, I don’t have this issue and BF% estimates are very consistent from one day to the next, as you can see for the past two weeks: 

 

The table is from TrendWeight, the service mentioned by @Esya. Grey values are from the scale, bold ones are a result of the regression analysis performed by TrendWeight.

[Esya]

@Dominique

For women they are all over the place 😉 . I can clearly point out my PMS and start of period.

[scogem]

Not logged into TrendWeight in a while. BF% trend has been climbing a lot recently. Very disappointing. I had one trial week where I did only Weight training but aside from that my workouts have been fairly regular..

[scogem]

I am a man and i do weigh myself in the morning before meals and after going to bathroom.

Additionally, I recalibrated the scale recently.

[Esya]

@scogem

Do you have a heart rate enabled tracker? If so, do you see any change there as well?

[Dominique]

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@Esya wrote:

@modelinafatgirl

Sounds to me like you might want to post in this Weekly Weigh In post. People are posting their weight there for the exact reasons you just mentioned.

---

Yes, it works more or less like Weight Watchers, except it’s free . As @Move.It.Move.It puts it in this post (from the topic mentioned by @Esya😞

Throwing in my penny on the Weight Watchers debate - it’s a good program but it is expensive especially now that you can get so many great tools for free online. Two of the best things about Weight Watchers for me was the accountability of the weekly weigh in and the support network of other people on the same journey. We have replicated that here with this thread. It’s my weekly meeting. Once a week I read everyone's posts, get inspired and learn new things.

[Dominique]

Sorry, @scogem, I still can’t get used to the new generic profile icons! The one for males looks so asexual to me I usually think it’s for females .

[Dominique]

@scogem: in the four years I’ve had my Aria, I’ve never experienced fluctuations of that magnitude (4 percentage points) in such a short period (two weeks). It’s usually less than 1 percentage point within any given month. I also have two other similar scales (from Withings) that give values that are very close (within 0.5-1.0%), and always in the same direction (lower).

I don’t think the type of workouts would have a large impact, the food you ate the previous day probably matters a lot more.

[scogem]

@Esya No, sorry. I lost my Fitbit Charge HR and I felt at the time I didnt need the device any longer as I had a good idea of what the readings would be each day. I have considered buying a replacement on a few occasions. I got a good deal when I bought it at the time and I dont want to pay way more for a replacement. Not seen any good deals.

@Dominique No worries. I should upload an avatar.

I really like my Aria even though I know I am a bit too obsessed with it. It used to be so reliable but recently it has started fluctuating. I should add I have been on a Keto high fat diet but I have never really reached deep ketosis according to those unreliable keto sticks. The scales were reliable for the first couple of months of Keto.

[Esya]

@scogem

Maybe the scale is reliable still and something is going on in your body. Not saying you are gaining and losing fat that fast, but might be water retention causing the fluctuations.

Just because data does not look the way we expect it does it mean it is not reliable. My advice would be to get it double checked.

[Dominique]

I can’t comment on keto / low-carb diets, as I’m more of a high-carb proponent and my carbs tend to be pretty constant, but I could imagine a low-carb intake could affect the way the Aria "sees" you (because of the impact on hydration). Although this wouldn’t explain why it worked fine for the first two months (except if you have had days with carb "refeeds" thereafter). Maybe other low-carbers that are using the Aria (or other similar scales) will chime in and tell about their experience.

[EmjayH]

I weigh every morning. I dont always like the results lol but I understand that fluctuation is normal. I find I'm more mindful of what I eat if I have a better idea of how it effects my weight