The Great Scale Debate
When it comes to how often you should or shouldn’t step on the scale, there are a lot of differing opinions. Some say every day so you can map out your body’s natural weight fluctuations. Some say every week to keep in touch and help deter yourself from bad eating during the week. Some say every month and some say never.
Check every day, every week, every month, or never? It can be hard to decide.
I used to weigh myself every day when I started on the journey to get fit. It took a while, but eventually I would forget a day here and there and it would be a little niggling stress that I really didn’t need. However, I did learn more about my natural weight fluctuations.
After that, I took to weighing myself once a week, and that worked out well. Knowing I had that Monday weigh-in coming meant that I would keep to staying away from more of the bad weekend foods than I normally would.
However, even weighing myself once a week became too much. The numbers never failed to depress me and I was becoming more focused on what the scale said than how I was feeling. So I took a break off from the scale – and stuck to my diet – for the month of June and it felt great to not be so focused on numbers.
However, without that reminder there, it has been harder than usual to keep sticking to my diet. Weighing in was kind of my weekly alarm clock, so to say, that kept me on track. And for now, because of other health issues, I’m stuck in a bit of a state of flux until I see the doctor in a couple weeks.
Overall, I’m undecided. I think you need to do what’s right for you as long as it doesn’t consume you.
How often (if ever) do you weigh yourself? Would you recommend other people do the same as you?
July 10th, 2008 at 7:58 am
You’re right; it’s perplexing. You don’t want to be obsessed, but you do want to be aware. (It’s a fine line for folks like me. LOL)
I weigh Monday, Wednesday, & Friday when I do my strength training. Monday is the Official Weigh-in. Wednesday is the Follow-up Weigh-in, and Friday is the Sneak Peek. I could actually drop the Wednesday weigh-in, because it’s totally unnecessary, but it’s kind of a habit. I love the Sneak Peek, because it either gives me a boost to keep up the good work on the weekend (if the scale is down), or to focus and stay on plan so that I can get back to neutral. It seems to work for me, and I’ve learned how much weight can fluctuate over the course of a few days.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Daily weigh-ins made me crazy and discouraged. I now do it every 10 days and that has worked out pretty well. It was hard at first to not weigh-in everyday, but once I put the scale into the cabinet, it quickly ceased to be a daily habit.
July 11th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
While actively dieting I weighed in every day but only counted Monday’s weight. It was how I learned that my water intake really mattered as did bad food choices.
Even now being pregnant I weigh a few times a week and count Monday still. though I’m not actively losing weight, I like to make sure I’m keeping myself accountable with my food choices.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Thank you all for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.