nicholelakey

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the fitday forums (I've been using fitday on and off for a few years, but have never been dedicated to losing weight before). I currently weigh in at 208 pounds and am in my mid-twenties. I have gained 70 pounds in the past 7 years through a combination of eating too much unhealthy food, drinking too much soda, and not exercising adequately. In high school, I weighed 140, which is in the healthy weight range for my height (5'3"), and that's my eventual goal. I'm considering getting pregnant in the next few years and want to reduce my risks of complications due to weight and to just have a health pregnancy in general. My question is, how often do you ladies weigh yourselves? I find myself wanting to weigh daily, but my weight appears to vary by several pounds depending on how much salt I had the previous day,and where I'm at in my cycle. I find it kind of discouraging. For example, Saturday morning I weighed in at 208, but this morning I weighed in at 209. I'm currently eating about 1,800 calories a day, but may reduce that if I'm not losing on it. Is weighing weekly enough? Biweekly? Should I avoid weighing the week before and the week of my period? What works for other women?

jjrudd

I usually weigh myself once a week. It is tempting to weigh more often but women's weight fluctuates so once a week is plenty. I wouldn't recommend weighing during menstrual cycle--water retention means you could be up 2-3 lbs. Always weigh in the morning at the same time.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
Jenn

bumblebeebee

If I am not trying to lose weight, I tend to weigh myself about once every two weeks or if I feel like I may have been gaining weight. When I am trying to lose weight, I weigh myself every morning, before eating and after using the restroom. I personally find it helpful to see weight fluctuations based on how well I did the previous day, but I make sure to keep in mind that a slight up in weight does not mean that I am failing at my goal! The days that I see a slight increase make me want to work harder, and the days where I see a slight decrease make me feel like it's paying off. That said, I choose one day a week where the weight "matters" to track the overall pattern of my weight. I don't hold myself as accountable as others if I don't weigh daily, but some people do just fine. Likewise, others tend to get obsessive if they weigh daily and for them it's better to space it out.

What has worked best for you so far? Maybe you could try experimenting with different frequencies of weighing to see what helps you best?

-beebee

Edit: I should also mention, I loosely keep track of my time of the month and *expect* to see a 3-5 pound gain in the days leading up to it, because from experience I know that this is what happens. It actually helps me to have this awareness because I can feel the extra water and if I don't pay attention it makes me want to eat more.

Robingen

I'm with beebee I find it helpful to weigh myself daily as a check-in while at the same time knowing that there will be normal fluctuations around my cycle. I find it helps me to be accountable. I also think this is a situation where each individual needs to determine what works best for them. I know that some programs recommend weighing once per week but I never could stick with that.

Robin

etlosenow

I weigh myself once a week to track my weight. For me it is discouraging to do it daily. I read elsewhere about weighing in on Monday as a way keep yourself "in check" over the weekend. That helped me..of course I sometimes weigh myself a couple of times a week but I only record my Monday weight as a measure of how I progressing.