how often do you weigh yourself?

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:36 pm

As a scale abuser, I'd like to know how often the average successful person on No S hops on the scale. Please let me know!

noni · Post by **noni** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:57 pm

I have done the opposite in that for years I rarely weighed myself hoping my weight would become less of an issue. But I steadily gained about 30 pounds doing that or should I say not doing that. It really is an individual thing I think. I weigh myself every Friday morning after I get up and visit the "powder room." This works best for me and I am losing weight on No S a little bit each week.

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:58 pm

Yeah, I am also trying to make Fridays my official weigh in day.
But I have been checking, on other days too, stupidly..
LOL

Debs

marleah · Post by **marleah** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:16 pm

I weigh myself every time I do the Wii Fit, which is usually 2-3 times per week. It has you do a body test which gives you your weight/BMI and has you do a balance test too, and then I do either the aerobic or strength exercises on it. I don't beat myself up over tiny changes though, but it is nice to see that line graph going down ...

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:21 pm

It changed often but now I step on the scale every 3 or 4 days usually.

When I started training I was only doing it once a month, then I went to once every 2 weeks, once a week, once a day, once every 2 days ... I think once every 3 to 4 days is the best system for me. I like to have some control but I am not obsessed with the scale either stepping on it all the time.

Marc

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:44 pm

Never -- and I'm supposed to weigh daily for health issues!

vmelo · Post by **vmelo** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:31 am

Another "never"---I find it self-defeating: If I lose, I tend to have the mindset "Well, I can eat a little more as a reward." If I gain, I oftentimes get discouraged and throw in the towel. It's very weak-willed of me, but I just can't face the scale because it puts me on a emotional rollercoaster and seems to have little, if any, positive effect.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:18 am

vmelo wrote:Another "never"---I find it self-defeating: If I lose, I tend to have the mindset "Well, I can eat a little more as a reward." If I gain, I oftentimes get discouraged and throw in the towel.

I am the same way, especially the first part!! I am considering not weighing myself very often anymore. I used to go on every day, but lately it's only been about twice a week, and eventually I'd like to do it once a month to see what happens from a psychological point of view.

ThomsonsPier · Post by **ThomsonsPier** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:36 am

I don't own any scales.

The Wii Fit does insist on telling me how much I weigh when I play on it (which is quite rarely at the moment), and I'll weigh myself for the novelty if I visit someone with scales. That's about it.

apomerantz · Post by **apomerantz** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:08 pm

Against Reinhard's advice (sorry . . .), I do weigh daily. You can see a recent chart on my daily check in.

I have found that my weight varies soooo much on a day to day basis that by weighing each day and charting it, I can see the downward trend - - and I find that very comforting. I'm afraid that if I just stepped on the scale on some random day every few weeks, I could EASILY find my weight even or up - - and that would lead me to the conclusion that what I was doing (no S) wasn't working.

Now I know that it is working. Slowly. But nonetheless, totally working.

apomerantz · Post by **apomerantz** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:08 pm

Against Reinhard's advice (sorry . . .), I do weigh daily. You can see a recent chart on my daily check in.

I have found that my weight varies soooo much on a day to day basis that by weighing each day and charting it, I can see the downward trend - - and I find that very comforting. I'm afraid that if I just stepped on the scale on some random day every few weeks, I could EASILY find my weight even or up - - and that would lead me to the conclusion that what I was doing (no S) wasn't working.

Now I know that it is working. Slowly. But nonetheless, totally working.

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:17 pm

Alright, first of all... I'm shocked to hear that so many of you never weigh!!! No kidin', I step on almost every time I use the can when I'm dieting. And I'm at home most of the time. It's not that I expect a big loss, I don't know why. When I went to weight watchers for years (lost a ton, but learned to think MORE about food) we weighed once a week at the same time and that was good, but I still weighed at home all of the time. I am a bit compulsive I think. I am going to TRY to only weigh once a week on Friday mornings because I am at my lowest then. My scale died in the fall when I started no S and I bought a new one. I couldn't get myself to get a digital one because they all had 'memory' and I don't want my family all checking on me. Short of throwing my scale across the yard, any hints of how to break my habit?

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:46 pm

I think a lot of the people who don't weigh, are not as overweight as you or I Rene.. When I finally get to my goal weight, I doubt I will check that often myself, as I'm very certain that NoS is an excellent maintenance way of eating..
Nichole is about 140 I think, and not sure about the others who said they don't weigh.. I'm not sure..
But I am 250..
If I wasn't so large, I wouldn't be so concerned to weigh, but I'm already in a pretty dangerous zone and need to keep track of reality because, as I said, I simply can't afford to get out of touch with seeing if I am gaining.
If I only had to worry about going up or down five or ten pounds, I really wouldn't concern myself I guess.
Who knows.. Maybe there are 130 lb people who weigh every day..
Not sure.
This is just a guess.
At this point, I think it's important that I weigh at least weekly or bi weekly.

Debs

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:48 pm

Actually, sorry, I just re read through this thread..
I see that plenty of people do indeed weigh, semi regularly..
Rene, you aren't alone! LOL

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:07 pm

gratefuldeb67 wrote: Nichole is about 140 I think, and not sure about the others who said they don't weigh.. I'm not sure..

Lol, I worded my post badly. I agreed with him on the fact that if I do weigh, I get down if it's up, and I go back to bad habits if it's "good", but I do weigh! And I'm not 140, but you were close! (150).

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:18 pm

Sorry Nichole, I am having an off morning.. I totally didn't read the posts carefully enough.. Then I was too lazy to edit my first rambling post.
No disrespect of course.. God I pray for the day I can say I'm around the same weight you are. Last time I was, I was about 15 years old!
Consider yourself very healthy and blessed!
Love,

Debs

apomerantz · Post by **apomerantz** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:27 pm

lol . . .well, I'm 127 on average, and I weigh every day. I find that with daily weighing, I don't have that shock factor either way. If I don't weigh daily, and I get on the scale, and I'm down - - then I'm like "yee haa where's the chocolate???!!!!". And if I'm up, then I'm like "oh let's just chuck the whole thing and eat whatever, whenever." But with daily weighing, the increments are so small that I don't freak out . . .

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:50 pm

NO, it's cool Debs. I guess I'm healthy, I'm really just too hard on myself because I secretly wish I was 140, but I'm never at that weight for very long when I get to it. And yet I still wish for it! lol! I know it seems so silly ...

janmarie · Post by **janmarie** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:45 am

Getting my eating under control has helped me get my weighing under control. I am only weighing on the first of each month.

Daisy73 · Post by **Daisy73** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:59 pm

I go in spurts. I weigh daily sometimes, weekly sometimes, etc. I like weighing daily when I'm committed to losing weight. If the scale is down or up, it gives me ideas on what I need to adjust. If I gain 2lbs in a day but know I ate high salt the day before, I don't freak out.

I weighed this morning since this is my first day on No-S, however, I'm coming off of Atkins Induction so I fully expect to be heavier tomorrow. However, I know I shouldn't gain for more than a day or two and if I do, then I need to adjust my portions/what I'm eating.

WouldYouEva · Post by **WouldYouEva** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:18 am

I weigh on Tuesdays and Fridays, and keep a spreadsheet & graph on it at work. The line's going up and down, slowly, but drawing a trend line shows me that only a few of my data points are below the line but the line keeps going down eventually. I also keep track of how many ounces I've lost because I'm thinking an ounce a day is do-able, and that even on the days when my weight is up, I'm still making progress toward my goal of losing 10% my weight every year.

guadopt1997 · Post by **guadopt1997** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 4:56 pm

My sister is 122 (short) and weighs every day. Has for years. She adjusts her eating accordingly.

I try to weigh no more than once a week at this stage, because I'm losing (at least so far). Once I get closer to where I want to be I will probably weigh more often.

During the periods (hopefully in the past for good) that I have not been focusing on making good food choices (which means I'm gaining!), sometimes for months at a time, I hardly ever weighed myself!

guadopt1997 · Post by **guadopt1997** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:00 pm

apomerantz wrote:I have found that my weight varies soooo much on a day to day basis that by weighing each day and charting it, I can see the downward trend - - and I find that very comforting. I'm afraid that if I just stepped on the scale on some random day every few weeks, I could EASILY find my weight even or up - - and that would lead me to the conclusion that what I was doing (no S) wasn't working.

I hadn't thought of that, but it's a good point. I guess when I get closer to goal and start losing more slowly, that might be the way to go...

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:16 pm

guadopt1997 wrote:
apomerantz wrote:I have found that my weight varies soooo much on a day to day basis that by weighing each day and charting it, I can see the downward trend - - and I find that very comforting. I'm afraid that if I just stepped on the scale on some random day every few weeks, I could EASILY find my weight even or up - - and that would lead me to the conclusion that what I was doing (no S) wasn't working.

I hadn't thought of that, but it's a good point. I guess when I get closer to goal and start losing more slowly, that might be the way to go...

I find it to be just the opposite. The less often I weigh myself, the easier it is to see the trends. Of course, since I rarely weigh...

BrightAngel · Post by **BrightAngel** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:43 pm

I weigh myself the first thing every morning,
and the last thing every night.
This has helped me maintain a large weight loss for more than 3 years.
FOR ME, choosing not to weigh, is a form of Denial usually resulting in a large weight gain.
I keep a notebook beside the scale and record the numbers.
When I have time I put these numbers into the computer.
I watch a weight-graph,
and the weekly-monthly Trend is far more important to me than a single day's number.

apomerantz · Post by **apomerantz** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:12 pm

I'm with you BrightAngel on the weighing - - completely. If you care about scale weight, which some people don't, then I think you can soooo easily delude yourself by not weighing yourself consistently.

Yesterday I weighed 125 (last day of a string of N days). This is the lowest I've weighed since starting No S.

Today I weighed 127.8.

Because I weigh myself every day, I know exactly what is going on. 125 is artificially low. 127.8 is artificially high (from eating too much on an S day including more sweets than is necessary).

But if I just picked two random days to decide to hop on the scale, I'd have come to the conclusion - - totally incorrectly - - that I was GAINING weight. When in fact, I'm not.

There's just a lot of aberration so without knowing your scale and your body, I think it is hard to say that two random weigh ins that are weeks apart have much meaning unless you drop a LARGE amount - - like 10 lbs. Or every single random weigh in is showing a decline in weight. This might happen if you have a lot to lose, but if you are within 10-15 lbs of goal, I don't think random weigh ins are going to be very helpful.

apomerantz · Post by **apomerantz** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:15 pm

I'm with you BrightAngel on the weighing - - completely. If you care about scale weight, which some people don't, then I think you can soooo easily delude yourself by not weighing yourself consistently.

Yesterday I weighed 125 (last day of a string of N days). This is the lowest I've weighed since starting No S.

Today I weighed 127.8.

Because I weigh myself every day, I know exactly what is going on. 125 is artificially low. 127.8 is artificially high (from eating too much on an S day including more sweets than is necessary).

But if I just picked two random days to decide to hop on the scale, I'd have come to the conclusion - - totally incorrectly - - that I was GAINING weight. When in fact, I'm not.

There's just a lot of aberration so without knowing your scale and your body, I think it is hard to say that two random weigh ins that are weeks apart have much meaning unless you drop a LARGE amount - - like 10 lbs. Or every single random weigh in is showing a decline in weight. This might happen if you have a lot to lose, but if you are within 10-15 lbs of goal, I don't think random weigh ins are going to be very helpful.

dockanz · Post by **dockanz** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:18 pm

I weigh once a week, which allows me to move outside of a "diet" mentality yet still see how I am doing. One of the things I brought from Weight Watchers was not seeing my current eating as a diet, but rather as something I am willing to do long term. If you are weighing everytime you go to the bathroom while you are "dieting" I believe you are setting yourself up for failure when you lose your weight because then you are no longer "dieting."

I guess the real question is, are you planning to eat this way long term? If you are not, find something else that you are willing to do long term because this is the wrong program for you. Any approach to eating that you cannot see doing for the rest of your life is a diet, not a lifestyle, and will be very difficult to maintain.

khristal23 · Post by **khristal23** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:40 pm

I was weighing myself every day, but was driving myself crazy in the process. I found I would get so bent out of shape over a 2 lb gain in one day (which was likely just water gain), so now I weigh every Tuesday. I've been a lot happier doing it that way!

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:23 pm

I've seen two basic approaches on this board, completely opposite to one another. Either can work, depending on personality.

1) Weigh infrequently, so losses show up clearly.
2) Weight very frequently, but track trend lines or develop a mental mindset such that daily fluctuations are not distracting.

Reinhard does #1. If you do a search for the user name "Rose," you'll see her versions of #2 that she generously shared with the group.

Either way, it's important to get past over-reacting to small variations.

Good luck!

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:30 pm

Just an update since I started this... I tried to weigh once a week and while not watching, my weight went up and up... so, I guess I'll weigh once daily and only track it on Friday mornings. I know my 'during the week rollercoaster trend' and will keep that in mind. Thanks for all the input!!!

StrawberryRoan · Post by **StrawberryRoan** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:55 pm

I have weighed daily for all of my adult life. I am on another fitness board that graphs the weight and it is very motivational (actually that site recommended this book so I found you guys through About.com)

I will continue to weigh daily, but ignore and fluctuations that don't make sense. I know that 3500 calories equate to a pound so unless I eat over ten thousand calories, I probably didn't ACTUALLY gain three pounds over night.