I said I would only weigh myself once a month so I weighed in on March 1st. For some dumb reason I weighed myself last week while it was TTOM knowing that I would be 5lbs heavier. To my surprise I still weighed that same as I did on the 1st so I figured this must mean i lost 5lbs... so i go today now that my cycle is over and i weigh more than i did on the first. Now I am all upset. The scale isnt going down and my measurments are the same even though when I look in the mirror i think i look smaller. Maybe I shouldnt weigh myself anymore but its hard.
Should I just stop weighing myself? Im getting upset
- Thread starter albernier
- Start date
If you're working out with weights, perhaps you are losing fat but gaining muscle mass, which weighs more. This would account for a slightly higher weight on the scales, even though you look smaller in the mirror. Start taking your measurements in inches instead of using the scale. Lots of people here do that, and I personally think it's more accurate for those of us who work out, especially with weights.
Kat2002
Cathlete
For me personally, the scale is an important guage. The last time I decided to ignore it, I slipped back into old eating habits and gained back the 20 lbs I had lost without hardly noticing. Don't let the scale impact your emotions!..it is only one of several tools to evaluate your progress. You say you're looking better in the mirror, that's excellent and you should be proud!
andtckrtoo
Cathlete
I'm with Kathleen. If I don't have the scale to keep me honest, I am really good at fooling myself. My dryer *shrinks* so many of my clothes.
I think it is a personal thing though. I do better when I weigh myself daily, but I've been doing this for a while, and I know my body's moods. I know not to step on the beast after Indian food - I have to give the spices a day to work their way through me and undo the bloat. I also found that I drop the weight gained from TTOM 2 to 3 days AFTER it stops. My body LOVES holding on to weight.
So, don't let one day ruin everything. You could simply be heavier because of something you ate yesterday. Indian food, as much as I love it, causes me to gain 3-5 pounds. It goes away the next day, but...
I think it is a personal thing though. I do better when I weigh myself daily, but I've been doing this for a while, and I know my body's moods. I know not to step on the beast after Indian food - I have to give the spices a day to work their way through me and undo the bloat. I also found that I drop the weight gained from TTOM 2 to 3 days AFTER it stops. My body LOVES holding on to weight.
So, don't let one day ruin everything. You could simply be heavier because of something you ate yesterday. Indian food, as much as I love it, causes me to gain 3-5 pounds. It goes away the next day, but...
Imafitnessfreak
Cathlete
I am with Christine 100%!
I think it also depends on what your personal goals are. If your goal is to lose a size or two (three, four...whatever), then judging by how your clothes fit is the logical measuring tool.
If your goal is to weigh "X", then a scale will be a neccessary part of your life. If your goal is to shed body fat...again, you need a scale and a body fat measuring tool.
I would say that a good 85% of the women here do not believe in the scale and they have pitched their scales. If it suits their goals...GREAT! I'm all for it.
A final thought...I have read so many times that the women who keep the weight of with greater success are those that weigh themselves on a regular basis. Getting to know how and when your body holds onto weight (water from food or PMS) would definately help alleviate some frustration.
I think it also depends on what your personal goals are. If your goal is to lose a size or two (three, four...whatever), then judging by how your clothes fit is the logical measuring tool.
If your goal is to weigh "X", then a scale will be a neccessary part of your life. If your goal is to shed body fat...again, you need a scale and a body fat measuring tool.
I would say that a good 85% of the women here do not believe in the scale and they have pitched their scales. If it suits their goals...GREAT! I'm all for it.
A final thought...I have read so many times that the women who keep the weight of with greater success are those that weigh themselves on a regular basis. Getting to know how and when your body holds onto weight (water from food or PMS) would definately help alleviate some frustration.
Thank God my scale broke,,, I was so obsesed with my weight, to the point of weighing every morning, I got sick of it and broke freeee,,, at last... what a liberation,,, I only try my clothes, if they are tight I know what that means... if they are ok,,, yeahhhh!!! if they are loose.. Way to go... that is all I do now. bye bye scale for ever.
I was just on the "Ask Cathe" and posted a question to here where this was one of the problems I asked her. She responed with this sort of answer. If I new how to post the link I would, but bare with me.
I am keeping a journal of weight loss since I just had my second son. I want to know how long it is going to take me to get back to where I was before. So I decided to keep an exercise/weight journal to chart my success and of course the fall backs.
I workout 6 days a week, Monday - Saturday. I try to do more cardio than weight training and some weeks do more weights then cardio. Weight training can make you add weight, but it isn't the BAD weight. Anyways, I only weigh myself on my day off, Sunday and record it in my journal. The rest of the week I stay off the scale. It is tempting to jump on just to check, but it only gets frustrating so I stay with just one day.
What Cathe responded with was it is ok to weight yourself once a week, but that is it! And if you are keeping a journal it isn't improtant to weight yourself every week, but from time to time.
The best time to weight yourself is first thing in the morning, wake up and jump on the scale. Your body fasts through the night and this is when your body makes those nice changes from your workout, when you start to see results is usual first thing in the morning.
So try to weight yourself on one day a week, first thing in the morning. And don't get upset if the scale hardly moves. Some weeks I lose only 1 pound maybe at the most I have lost 3. But many weeks I stay the same weight.
Good luck, and I hope this helps!
I am keeping a journal of weight loss since I just had my second son. I want to know how long it is going to take me to get back to where I was before. So I decided to keep an exercise/weight journal to chart my success and of course the fall backs.
I workout 6 days a week, Monday - Saturday. I try to do more cardio than weight training and some weeks do more weights then cardio. Weight training can make you add weight, but it isn't the BAD weight. Anyways, I only weigh myself on my day off, Sunday and record it in my journal. The rest of the week I stay off the scale. It is tempting to jump on just to check, but it only gets frustrating so I stay with just one day.
What Cathe responded with was it is ok to weight yourself once a week, but that is it! And if you are keeping a journal it isn't improtant to weight yourself every week, but from time to time.
The best time to weight yourself is first thing in the morning, wake up and jump on the scale. Your body fasts through the night and this is when your body makes those nice changes from your workout, when you start to see results is usual first thing in the morning.
So try to weight yourself on one day a week, first thing in the morning. And don't get upset if the scale hardly moves. Some weeks I lose only 1 pound maybe at the most I have lost 3. But many weeks I stay the same weight.
Good luck, and I hope this helps!
Bodyweight fluxuates a lot from day-to-day (up to 5 pounds) depending on what you ate the day before, how hydrated you are, where you are in your monthly cycle, etc. Also, the lower your bodyfat, the less your scale weight matters. I weigh myself everyday and write it in my food journal. It goes up and down and it doesn't stress me out because I know why. As long as there's a gradual downward trend, I'm happy. Since I'm such a geek, I figure out the moving average and track it on a graph.
Kristy
I solemnly swear that I am up to no good
Kristy
I solemnly swear that I am up to no good
toastythemosty
Cathlete
I think to think of the scale and my body fat analyzer as both a challenge like my workouts. If the scale and omron are up one day then I got to keep better track of what I am eating and how often alittle better. I would never stop weighing myself as I need to be in control. I would feel completely out of control if I stopped weighing myself. This way I get to stay focused and disclipine. Last year, both scale and omron would always stay the same, this year is different though.x(
Charlotte~~
Charlotte~~
meatlessinca
Cathlete
RE: Should I just stop weighing myself? Im getting ups...
Please don’t get discouraged! A couple of weeks ago, you were my big inspiration to “take the bull by the horns” and get going. I took photos & measurements, and have been very committed to my workout and eating schedule. I also stand on the digital scale every dang day and I have fluctuated up and down like the stock market. I agree that some fluctuation is caused by what we eat and fluid retention. I don’t get too freaked out anymore about it but if it helps, try to just weigh one day a week. I also will not take the measurements again until the next photo day marked on the calendar for April 5th. This way I can be working for a nice “surprise”. Hang in there, and stay committed. The results will just start happening before you know it!! ;-)
Thomasina
Please don’t get discouraged! A couple of weeks ago, you were my big inspiration to “take the bull by the horns” and get going. I took photos & measurements, and have been very committed to my workout and eating schedule. I also stand on the digital scale every dang day and I have fluctuated up and down like the stock market. I agree that some fluctuation is caused by what we eat and fluid retention. I don’t get too freaked out anymore about it but if it helps, try to just weigh one day a week. I also will not take the measurements again until the next photo day marked on the calendar for April 5th. This way I can be working for a nice “surprise”. Hang in there, and stay committed. The results will just start happening before you know it!! ;-)
Thomasina
RE: Should I just stop weighing myself? Im getting ups...
>Bodyweight fluxuates a lot from day-to-day (up to 5 pounds)
>depending on what you ate the day before, how hydrated you
>are, where you are in your monthly cycle, etc. Also, the
>lower your bodyfat, the less your scale weight matters. >Kristy
What Kristy said is exactly what I want to say. Scale doesn't really tell you anything. Every time I weight myself, I weigh differently, which frustrated me so much, so I also stopped weighing myself. I also know that when I lose fat and gain muscle, I weigh more. Therefore I am thinking to get a scale that tells you your body fat %. I wonder how accurate it can be...?
>Bodyweight fluxuates a lot from day-to-day (up to 5 pounds)
>depending on what you ate the day before, how hydrated you
>are, where you are in your monthly cycle, etc. Also, the
>lower your bodyfat, the less your scale weight matters. >Kristy
What Kristy said is exactly what I want to say. Scale doesn't really tell you anything. Every time I weight myself, I weigh differently, which frustrated me so much, so I also stopped weighing myself. I also know that when I lose fat and gain muscle, I weigh more. Therefore I am thinking to get a scale that tells you your body fat %. I wonder how accurate it can be...?
RE: Should I just stop weighing myself? Im getting ups...
thanks, you are right. Im not gettng back on the scale until April 5th, at that time I will update pics and measurements. I will try not to get discouraged. Is there a chance that I am not eating enough calories to go along with working out 6x a week? I am eating about 1500
thanks, you are right. Im not gettng back on the scale until April 5th, at that time I will update pics and measurements. I will try not to get discouraged. Is there a chance that I am not eating enough calories to go along with working out 6x a week? I am eating about 1500
meatlessinca
Cathlete
RE: Should I just stop weighing myself? Im getting ups...
As far as the calories go, I’m sure there are the others on this board who are really good at it and can offer some really good advice. I think Sarah (Ima) is good with this…. Anyhoo, for me, I try to worry more about what I’m eating instead of the calories so much. I do check calories, but I’m more concerned with eating clean. Lots of veggies (raw in salads and stir-fry), fruits, whole grains (serving of brown rice, steel cut oats, and if I eat bread, I use Alvarado sprouted whole wheat) and for proteins I use tofu, beans, veggie burgers, etc., and once in a while I’ll use reduced fat cheese. Homemade soups are the bomb! I like to drink aquafina sparkling water, tea and have recently limited my coffee. I love red wine }( and again, have recently limited intake on that too…If I adhere to these guidelines and resist overdoing the wine and treats, and keep up with the exercise consistently, then the weight comes off. Ok, I better shush now so someone can give you some good info on the daily calorie need etc. I’m thinking some of that would depend on how many calories you are using for exercising, etc. Good luck and don’t give up because I’ll be wondering if you are doing your pics too on April 5, when I’m doing mine! WE can do this !!!
Oh, by the way, if it were me, I would still weigh, but only once a week if it is too frustrating to do daily. I would wait April 5 for the measurements. I’m only doing measurements on picture days too.
Thomasina
As far as the calories go, I’m sure there are the others on this board who are really good at it and can offer some really good advice. I think Sarah (Ima) is good with this…. Anyhoo, for me, I try to worry more about what I’m eating instead of the calories so much. I do check calories, but I’m more concerned with eating clean. Lots of veggies (raw in salads and stir-fry), fruits, whole grains (serving of brown rice, steel cut oats, and if I eat bread, I use Alvarado sprouted whole wheat) and for proteins I use tofu, beans, veggie burgers, etc., and once in a while I’ll use reduced fat cheese. Homemade soups are the bomb! I like to drink aquafina sparkling water, tea and have recently limited my coffee. I love red wine }( and again, have recently limited intake on that too…If I adhere to these guidelines and resist overdoing the wine and treats, and keep up with the exercise consistently, then the weight comes off. Ok, I better shush now so someone can give you some good info on the daily calorie need etc. I’m thinking some of that would depend on how many calories you are using for exercising, etc. Good luck and don’t give up because I’ll be wondering if you are doing your pics too on April 5, when I’m doing mine! WE can do this !!!
Oh, by the way, if it were me, I would still weigh, but only once a week if it is too frustrating to do daily. I would wait April 5 for the measurements. I’m only doing measurements on picture days too.
Thomasina