How often to weigh myself?

bigpinkelephant

Hi,
How often should I weigh myself if I am trying to lose weight?
I find it can fluctuate during the day, eg I am heavier after my dinner etc.
At the moment I weigh myself first thing in the morning, (not every morning) when I won't have eaten in hours so hopefully the result will be best?

neuro-praxis

Weigh yourself at the same time on the same day, naked, once a week. You'll see a true result that way. There will be some fluctuations but over a long period of time it will all balance out nicely.

Studies have shown that people who weigh themselves everyday lose more weight.
I imagine it is because your more likely to stick to your plan with a daily check in.

So I say weigh everyday, record once a week.

EileenG

I weigh every day. I'm too paranoid not to. It can be interesting to see how eating bacon can result in a two pound gain, which has to be water from all the salt.

bigpinkelephant

EileenG wrote: »

I weigh every day. I'm too paranoid not to. It can be interesting to see how eating bacon can result in a two pound gain, which has to be water from all the salt.

Yeah, or the difference between before and after dinner also.

EileenG

Oh yes, if you have one of those bodyfat scales, just take a look at the difference in your bodyfat between night and morning. You can gain 3% bodyfat overnight it seems.

bigpinkelephant

Nah, I just have a regular digital scales. The day I started my diet, I went into Boots and went on the health check machine to get my body fat etc. I plan to do this every Monday morning.

I also measure myself daily. How many pounds do you have to lose before the inches start coming off?
How many inches, roughly, is a dress size, and how many pounds is it?

EileenG

That varies hugely. Sometimes the inches can come off before the pounds do. I think a rough guide is that for every stone you lose, you drop a dress size. If you are very petitie, it's probably more like 10lb.

bigpinkelephant

The scales is now indicating I am 6lb lighter than I was when I started my diet... I don't look or feel or measure any thinner... going to get my body fat measured today to see if I am losing any fat..I am hoping the 6lb isnt just water loss- I am hoping it isnt because I am actually consuming maybe 5-6 times as much water as I was before I started my diet..so if anything i would have thought i would be heavier from it.

jimmycrackcorm

It doesn't matter as long as you average it out. What you are looking for is a a trend either up or down. The good thing about doing a daily weigh is that if it looks bad the you can take immediate action to reduce the extra pound or two rather than wait and try to get rid of 5 or 6.

bigpinkelephant

Well I went into Boots today for my weekly body fat weigh in.
It says I have lost 4lb since last week and that my body fat mass has gone down from 25kg to 24kg (which is 6lb if I recall correctly, so how have I only lost 4lb overall?).

Is this good progress?

Random

Is it normal for the weight to fluctuate by a lot on a daily basis ?

Khannie

Random wrote: »

Is it normal for the weight to fluctuate by a lot on a daily basis ?

Yup. I'd vary by around a KG between morning and last thing at night. Up to 2.

menoscemo

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

Well I went into Boots today for my weekly body fat weigh in.
It says I have lost 4lb since last week and that my body fat mass has gone down from 25kg to 24kg (which is 6lb if I recall correctly, so how have I only lost 4lb overall?).

Is this good progress?

You have lost one Kilo of body fat. 1 kilo is 2.2lbs not 6lbs

bigpinkelephant

menoscemo wrote: »

You have lost one Kilo of body fat. 1 kilo is 2.2lbs not 6lbs

whoops! I was thinking of the way there is 6kg in a stone.
My weight only fluctuates by maybe a pound during the day.

How do those body fat scales relate to more accurate measurements.
My reading is simply scarey.

g'em

Moonbaby wrote: »

How do those body fat scales relate to more accurate measurements.
My reading is simply scarey.

Those body fat scales are notoriously inaccurate and your bodyfat will fluctuate on them on an hour by hour basis, never mind day by day. If you're really concerned with tracking bodyfat you're much better off buying yourself a good pair of calipers and doing it yourself - while this method isn't perfect either, you can still use the caliper measurements as a reliable scale: if the pinch numbers go down, you're on the right track!

bigpinkelephant

I'd probably be better off going by the weight and tape measure so, at least that's accurate. I have lost max 1cm off my hips, my waist is no smaller.