g'morning, all... Here's a question for you... How often do you tip toe onto your
scale? For the first four years or so, I weighed every morning and
lived my life accordingly. During that time, I could either count on a
consistent loss or to at least to maintain. There came a time when I stopped
my morning weigh-ins... not sure why. But I do know that I've gained weight
in the past year or so. Now that I'm being careful again...
I don't want to sabotage my efforts by being impatient & weighing too often, at the risk
of becoming discouraged. I rationally KNOW that weight loss is only one
of the outcomes I came here to find. Even with small losses, I am feeling 100%
stronger and clearer headed since the 5DPT. The "Protein First" rule has
been key. I understand that this is just another day in a lifetime of refining
my "life choices." So, how do you use the scale as a solace not a menace?
I'm listening!

Disclaimer: Never, ever, be a slave to the scale!

That said, my surgeon recommends weighing once a week, at the same time of the day. Do I follow his advice? Are you kidding????? I weigh myself every day but I do have to say that when the scale doesn't move, I just don't allow myself to get discouraged. I feel like if I wait a week, I won't know if I am gaining and I can't put an immediate stop to it.

QUOTE

Study Suggests Daily Self-Weighing Should Be Emphasized In Messages About Weight Control MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (Nov. 16 2005)--University of Minnesota researchers found that people who are either trying to lose weight or avoid gaining weight do better by weighing themselves daily. Study participants who weighed themselves daily or weekly had better weight outcomes than those who weighed themselves less frequently. Daily self-weighing should be emphasized in clinical and public health messages about weight control, according to the new study published in the December issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

"Our study showed that higher weighing frequency was associated with greater weight loss or less weight gain after 24 months," said lead researcher Jennifer Linde, assistant professor in the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health. "If people notice that their weight has increased, they may try to make that small correction rather than try to compensate after gaining a larger amount of weight."

I weigh myself daily, but only write the number down on Monday morning. Now, when I was gaining my weight back after my thighlift, I didn't step on that scale once for fear of what I'd see. What happened? A surprise 20 pounds after a very short period of time. Now, when I want to avoid the scale, I know THAT is the most important time to step on it!

When I was in the rapid weight loss phase of post wls, I weighed once a week. Now that I'm in maintenance, I weigh daily. I used to have issues with the scale, I've written long posts and blog entries about my issues, so I'll try to be brief here... Now I see the scale as a tool in this battle, and I see it as a true friend. It gives me one fact about where I am right now, with no judgment, no condemnation. Just the fact for the day. That's what a true friend does.

I know now that the way I took the fact in and spun it in my head was my issue, not the scale. Same with my friends. They can give me the facts. What I do with those facts is my issue.

WOW!

I do remember after wls surgery weighing every so many days till it got to the point where the numbers on the scale would depict how my attitude and day would go....NOT ANYMORE!!

I gave that up shortly after wls because it frustrated me so!!

I weight once a week and always have..most of the time on the same day of the week but occasionally it's a day or two before or after....

I feel like this has helped me stay CONCIOUS of where i'm at always. I did put on at the most 14 lbs but that didnt stay long....however the same 5-7 lbs had been there for the LONGEST!!

I have since ( in the past 2-3 months stuck to a plan (well, the best I could) and have dropped many more!

I always a work in progress.........but weighing weekly doesnt make me obsess over the numbers but it helps keep me on TRACK!!

GREAT QUESTION and info for the newbies and possibly some oldies! lol..

Julie aka: Sunshine

Thank you all SO much! No wonder I was able to let those lbs slip onto
this stubby little frame of mine. I obviously was becoming afraid of
what my poor food choices were doing to my progress and chose
to deny the scale my daily company. Patience, acceptence of a
lifetime commitment to good health and faith in the law of
"Garbage in? Garbage out!" Wonderful answers.
Thank you all so much for taking the time and care to answer!

I weigh myself every day... I get out of bed, use the restroom, take off all clothes, and get on the scale... it's been the same routine for many months... I made my goal in 8 mos, 1 week after my surgery, and if I find myself going up a few lbs, I know its about time for my period...

My old roommate gained 8 lbs during the Christmas holiday. He's had wls also. I asked "Don't you weigh yourself every day?" He said no, he had not weighed in awhile... I advised him to do that, as it helps to recognize any problems or trouble spots in case the eating habits tend to get lax...

I do this as well. Weighing every day seems to keep me more honest - and accountable to myself.

If you are actively exercising weighing yourself daily will not be a true gauge of weight gain/loss. Dependig on how long,what type ,intensity and your physiological response to exercise your weight can fluctuate by about 2-4lbs even overnight. If you dont properly hydrate you may show an artificial loss where as a very intense wight training session will cause muscle tissue to retain water as it repairs itself after being torn down.

If you rely on these readings it will drive you crazy 1 or 2 times a week the same times and days is the most consistant judge. Now I do use the scale when training or a big ride and will weigh myself prior to a training ride and after to determine sweat rate and how much fluid I need to intake on the ride.

Great question...for me I think I have always had a love/hate relationship with the scale. Love to hate it....but post wls I can remember being VERY excited to weigh each week and see how much the scale would go down each time...after losing the majority of the 225+ I initially lost I became lazy and not so regimented. I HAD been weighing myself weekly, with eager anticipation. At about the 2 1/2 yr post wls mark I had some surgeries and difficulties getting back on track and then @ the end of 2006-fall 2007 I was basically bed-riden due to having Chronic Epstein-Barr virus as well as Lyme Disease...needless to say it was a VERY tough year for me physically and to be honest at the time I had no control over anything but food and I made some really bad choices...choices that caused me to regain 30+lbs and I never got as small as I had wanted to get....I should have kept weighing even though I was kidding myself! UUUURRRGH!

Now my romance with my scale has begun anew....not really loving it, but wanting to and wanting to not "fear" the unknown any more. Like Sandi said it's just a tool and it tells me the truth about today(week/whatever)...I accept the number and move on. I try and make the best possible choices I can make for that day. That's all I can do...(have to tell myself this so I don't freak out and HATE the scale again! LOL!!!)...all this to say, I have begun to weigh myslf weekly again...

Blessings To All!

Before I started the weight loss journey, I hardly ever weighed myself... maybe once every few months... I was just too big and didn't want to feel depressed. Which, really didn't work because obesity itself caused me to be depressed but guess I didn't want the extra burden of knowing how much I was.... I knew that I knew when I reached my highest of 251 that I had gone over 250... I always knew that if I ever hit that, it meant it was time to do something.... my frame is small so 251 was too much... my bones hurt all the time, I could hardly move around comfortably....

I used to worry when the scales showed 3 lbs higher, but once I recognized "that time of month", I just use it as informational, process it accordingly, and get on with the day.... Now the fear of food and gaining weight is still there, dont get me wrong... but my new lifestyle is in place so I rely on what I know and do it so as to maintain.

For the first 10 years after WLS surgery I was on the scale every day. I learned a 5 lb shift was just water weight when it happend overnight. Then under pressure to stop this anoying habit I quit stepping on the scale every day and gained 30 lb. Well I lost that weight and kept it off for a couple of years. Stopped weighing again and eventually put back on most of the weight I had origianlly lost after WLS. Now that I'm back on plan I weigh at least every other day. During active loss it takes about 2-3 days to loose a pound.

I weigh myself everyday. I always have always under the same conditions (after bathroom, naked, before eating or drinking) I used to record the number in fitday. I loved to have the little charts and graphs and would never "claim" a gain or loss until it was there for more than 2 days. I was able to learn a lot about my body's patterns by doing this. About 4 days before my cycle I usually drop a few lbs but they come right back on in water weight and then will leave again when everything is done. I know if I have a workout where I get sore I can almost always count on a 1-2 gain until the soreness goes away. I have never seen a loss after incorporating a new workout plan. It usually takes me about 2-3 weeks to see the benefits on the scale. I do know that if I am not getting my butt on the scale it is because I have gotten lax with my eating. I just use it to be aware. When in weightloss mode I recorded everyday but used 1 day of the week as my day to own a loss or a gain. Never actually got to maintenance so I am not sure what I would change if anything.

On the way up, you bet your bunny I am on that thing daily even if it is just to reaffirm that yes I am retaining a ton of water today and there it is on the scale. It time to work more water in or lower sodium ect.

smooches xx

I never used to weight myself before surgery, only at doctor's visits. I took the advice here and weigh myself once a week, make it a particular day and time and WRITE IT DOWN. This helps to keep you accountable. I still don't necessarily like weighing myself, but the scale is like Lady Justice, totally blind and just recording the facts. IT is not some horrible little monster out to get me.

I have went thru life avoiding scales, thinking if I didn't know the number than it didn't exist. Talk about fooling myself. So I know I must weigh everyday, if I don't I will suddenly wake up a year later and realize I haven't weighed myself nor have I been in control of my eating. The two things together end up with huge weight gains for me. I am looking for a scale that is compact and won't break the first time I use it. There needs to one that say "Hoorah!" when you lose a pound.

im just like everyone else i weigh my self everyday im always 1-2 lbs heavier in the pm but i do weigh and make that reading count the sametime every mornign naked of course. this makes me stick what im doing and gives me a kick the hind end. i never used to weigh myself before and now i find myself flocking to the scale. i did just buy a scale that measures my body fat and hydration level which i love so even though the scale didnt budge and my body fat goes down im doing something right and loosing fat is what matters!

I weigh every morning. I don't beat myself up if my weight's up, but I do try to be a little more strict in my eating for a few days until it goes back down. I find that it just keeps me in better control. I try to keep my weight under 180. When it reaches 180, that's a gentle reminder and when it goes over, that's a major red flag.

Vivian