"Do I even own a scale..??...Let me look"

[alligatorpie]

Remember the days? Did you ever in your life think you could get into a stringent routine of weighing yourself everyday, at the same time, under the same circumstances as if it were ridiculous not to??

Do you see a day when you won't be weighing yourself everyday?....

Have you always been a weigher??...daily, weekly, every now and then?....before going low carb that is.

There have been many "how often do you weigh?" or "scale" threads....this is more a look into how the scale habits have changed, and if they will ever revert back to "normalcy"....thx.

I will likely weigh myself everyday from now on.

edit: obviously, this question may not be pertinent to those who don't weigh very often, stay off the scale, or just weigh once a year at the doctors' office.....LJ

[TamTam34]

I will definitely weight myself everyday. I did low carb as a "diet" back in 2003, once I hit goal, I stopped weighing. The pounds snuck up on me. I will be more faithful from now on. It also keeps me honest.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by alligatorpie

...Do you see a day when you won't be weighing yourself everyday?.....WEIRD

Hi a-p…

For me to weigh everyday would be nonsensical. I'm faithful to the plan, and have faith in it.

Once a yr at the doctor's office is good for me.

I have no issues with people who elect to weigh themselves daily, or weekly, or monthly, or never.

I've been eating 30 net carbs a day with no restrictions on what make up those 30 carbs since I started in Aug 2008. I will not actually know the day/hour/second I reach a point at which 30 carbs a day switches me from losing to maintaining. I really don't care.

[Heheher]

Do you see a day when you won't be weighing yourself everyday?....

No, never. Maybe it has become an addiction. But I don't know of any other way to keep myself accountable. I have to stay diligent to lose and keep it off.

[ladybear]

I've always avoided scales, can we say "head in the sand"?

Even when I did Atkins 9 years ago, I weighed only so often, I was in my forties then and the fat melted off with ease, so wasn't stringent.

When I started again in Jan 2011, and found Low Carb Friends (which has helped me SO much ), I decided to weigh once a week to try to avoid fretting over the little ups and downs. Well, after one week of too much bacon and homemade blue cheese dressing bloated me and added 5 pounds to the scale, I went and bought a scale to start weighing every day.

Now, I weigh several times a day (see alligator pies thread about before and after bm ), different times to see trends and learn more about my body's reaction to things.

Even a few ounces up and down are good to see, as long as they keep trending downward, or if not I can take notice of how certain foods affect me.

I think I will weigh every day for the rest of my life, even if/when I get to goal or else my natural weight, to keep pounds from creeping back on.

[bdladie]

I weigh every day twice a day really. Every morning and every night before bed. Without it on vacation I am a mess. I even thought I should have packed it while on a trip to Disney World but it keeps me in check with getting to goal one day.

[MissieIdgie]

Once a day, every day, with no exceptions, although I would love to weigh every now and then but it almost seems like an addiction at this point. NOT weighing is no longer an option.

[ShesSuperCool]

I don't own a scale and won't have one. I have a tape measure and I decided to only check once a month. I've cheated on that. lol I usually check once a week instead.

It's early on in the game though.I may change my mind when I lose more. The reason I got rid of my scale in the first place was because it was so inaccurate. One day after a supposed 13 pound change overnight I threw the dang thing out the front door. I didn't smash it a'la Ruby but I was tempted! lol

[ravenrose]

I have always weighed myself every day, EXCEPT when I was in unconscious mode, gaining wildly after a huge weight loss. *sigh*

[shortcut]

I have weighed daily for years now. (Hard to believe I watched those numbers climb for so long and get so high before I took action.)
I have really taken to the daily weighing and charting though. I can tie almost every blip, stall and whoosh to recent behavior. It's very motivating.

[catne]

I weigh myself everyday...it's the only way I can make myself accountable. There's no way I could go a week or a month thinking I'm losing weight & then weigh myself and have a rotten surprise that I was staying the same the whole time...if I'm doing this right, there will be a loss, but not weighing for long stretches means I could be doing it wrong and wasting a lot of time & effort. I don't obsess about the daily number (though definitely disappointed when it wavers or stays the same for days on end.)

BUT I take that no-loss, or minor up-ticks, as a "note to self" that perhaps my WOE needs an adjustment...such as cut back on the restaurant meals (usually high sodium/leads to water retention.) I have also started entering the weight on ****** every day, and when it's getting depressing putting the same weight in every day (or even the slight upticks), I click on the weight graphing tab and look at the lovely down-trend that shows up on the graph. If I wasn't weighing every day, I wouldn't have that visual to reinforce what I'm doing.

The only time I don't weigh myself daily is when I'm eating junk I should not...when I don't weigh, I don't pay attention to what's happening. And the excess pounds just pile on.

[Beeb]

Never owned a scale before I had a weight problem. When doing WW I went to the meeting and weighed there. When I started LC back in 03 I bought a scale and have weighed everyday since.

Weighing everyday keeps me honest and on track to see if I need to adjust or keep a closer eye on what I'm eating.

[SherriS.]

I used to jump on the scales several times a day as if my weight was going to go down during the day. I had to get rid of the scale for several years before I realized I was gaining alot without having that accountability. I now weigh once a day and think I will have to for life.

[LCWizard]

I've stop weighing. Weighing daily for me feels like being on a diet. I've decided no reason to be obessive about it. Weigh once a month or so.

[Pony47]

I will always weigh every day. To me, it's how I catch a couple of pound gain immediately and put it right. Like someone else said, I'm addicted. But better to be addicted to a scale than food!

[CMJ1015]

Originally Posted by TamTam34

I will definitely weight myself everyday. I did low carb as a "diet" back in 2003, once I hit goal, I stopped weighing. The pounds snuck up on me. I will be more faithful from now on. It also keeps me honest.

My story is the same.

[cowboygus]

Personally, I weigh myself on Monday & Friday morning (and write it down).

Everyday would be too much for me. I'm fairly large still and my water weight can fluctuate greatly.

[tjunetracy]

I work graveyard shift four days a week and don't get to sleep more than 4 hours during the days after I work. I dont weigh on those days because my weight is alot higher when I don't sleep. I usually weigh on Thursday mornings since I get to sleep on Wednesday nights and sometimes I will weigh on Monday mornings since I sleep on Sunday night.

[Feelin'Great!]

Originally Posted by catne

I weigh myself everyday...it's the only way I can make myself accountable. There's no way I could go a week or a month thinking I'm losing weight & then weigh myself and have a rotten surprise that I was staying the same the whole time...if I'm doing this right, there will be a loss, but not weighing for long stretches means I could be doing it wrong and wasting a lot of time & effort. I don't obsess about the daily number (though definitely disappointed when it wavers or stays the same for days on end.)

BUT I take that no-loss, or minor up-ticks, as a "note to self" that perhaps my WOE needs an adjustment...such as cut back on the restaurant meals (usually high sodium/leads to water retention.) I have also started entering the weight on ****** every day, and when it's getting depressing putting the same weight in every day (or even the slight upticks), I click on the weight graphing tab and look at the lovely down-trend that shows up on the graph. If I wasn't weighing every day, I wouldn't have that visual to reinforce what I'm doing.

The only time I don't weigh myself daily is when I'm eating junk I should not...when I don't weigh, I don't pay attention to what's happening. And the excess pounds just pile on.

This (quote above) is almost exactly me. I've been *at* this for 4+ months now and when my weight stays the same for a week or two, I review my weight loss graph on ****** and it shows me that I'm doing it right. I don't start tweaking though, I just ride it out. My cals and carbs are low enough so I think I shouldn't mess with it. Weighing daily has not been an *issue* for me. I'm starting to get pretty close to goal so I know it's going to be slower than when I started. I just like to know what is going on.

[Lisa Marie]

While I'm not a daily weigher, I'm in a routine of weighing myself 2-3 times per week, with Monday mornings being the day I record my weight in a chart I've been keeping since I started LC again back in February.

I do think that weighing keeps me accountable, but I also know that, for me, a bad day on the scale can derail my eating.

[ljguitar]

Hi folks…

It seems to me just as a regular reader and casual observer that for all the talk about daily weighing keeping people accountable, the daily weighers go off plan as much as the non-daily weighers.

[alligatorpie]

Its hard to know who goes off plan more often. I think being "down today" can give you a little more leeway to be "bad." When you weigh less frequently, I think there may be a greater "fear factor" involved with regard to weighing. Weekly goals are more important to most people than daily variances, so I think there is a greater focus.

Anyway, I tried for this not to be another "how often do you weigh thread?...but rather, an observation into the craziness that all this weighing and obsessing that we (myself in particular) are guilty of....especially in comparison to the days when we could go weeks, months, years without ever weighing ourselves.

It turns out a lot of people here have always been regular weighers....for accountability's sake. For that, I respect the craziness that it has become.

[catne]

AP, I really don't think daily weighers go off plan any more often than weekly, or monthly. I would guess the real variation, and the different reactions to weighing, depends much more on how the individual views the numbers, and uses the information. If one sees a lower number as something that should be rewarded with a cheat...well, don't think the scale is the actual problem there, lol.

[nolcjunk]

Originally Posted by alligatorpie

No doubt daily weighers go off plan more often. I think being "down today" can give you a little more leeway to be "bad."

I don't think that is true at all- people are just as likely to go off plan whether they weight or not, whether they call it a diet or a WOE, whether they see themselves doing it for life or for a short period of time, whether they have weight goals or not.

But, I did find that if you go off plan and continue weighing everyday you will go back on sooner (true for me).

[alligatorpie]

Originally Posted by catne

AP, I really don't think daily weighers go off plan any more often than weekly, or monthly. I would guess the real variation, and the different reactions to weighing, depends much more on how the individual views the numbers, and uses the information. If one sees a lower number as something that should be rewarded with a cheat...well, don't think the scale is the actual problem there, lol.

You could be right. I guess there is no way to know really. I guess my statement was a bit too declarative. I will adjust it accordingly...thx.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by alligatorpie

...It turns out a lot of people here have always been regular weighers....for accountability's sake. For that, I respect the craziness that it has become.

Hi a-p…
I'd be interested…what kind of accountability results from, and is enforced by, weighing daily? I'm either going to stay on plan, or not. There is no fear of a piece of metal and glass on a floor which holds my feet to the fire.

Does the scale call my cell phone and warn me to be careful when I'm going to a picnic or wedding or restaurant? I just made up my mind when I started this in 2008 that this is the way it is…no exceptions.

Our scale doesn't follow us around at night and tap us on the shoulder and say "Hey bud - close the fridge door and back away!" But then, I never gave it permission to either.

[alligatorpie]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi a-p…
I'd be interested…what kind of accountability results from, and is enforced by, weighing daily? I'm either going to stay on plan, or not. There is no fear of a piece of metal and glass on a floor which holds my feet to the fire.

Does the scale call my cell phone and warn me to be careful when I'm going to a picnic or wedding or restaurant? I just made up my mind when I started this in 2008 that this is the way it is…no exceptions.

Our scale doesn't follow us around at night and tap us on the shoulder and say "Hey bud - close the fridge door and back away!" But then, I never gave it permission to either.

I follow you. I just respect the fact that people say the scale keeps them accountable. I had typed a long winded response to your question, but realized it was just scattered ramblings about the whole scale discussion that has been hashed out here relentlessly.

All I can say is if staying on plan does not yield results, then it may be time to change your plan a little bit. What other tool for accountability for people is there? For many, it is the scale and scale alone.

I posed a question to you in the "flax" thread about weighing only at the doctor's office once a year. If you were to go to the doctor this year and notice you had gained 10 or 12 lbs, would you change your plan up a bit? I suspect not, but would be interested to hear your perspective.

[JoeBee]

Hi all. First let me say this is my first post and hopefully not my last. Ive read the responses to this post and find them most interesting. I too was a daily weigher until the scale creeped over 200lbs. Over the last 10yrs i watched the numbers go up from 145 to 200+. Now it is time to bring them down and a daily weigher i will be once again. It is my way.

[EveH]

Originally Posted by Tam Tam 34

I will definitely weight myself everyday. I did low carb as a "diet" back in 2003, once I hit goal, I stopped weighing. The pounds snuck up on me. I will be more faithful from now on. It also keeps me honest.

That is exactly what happened to me and DH. Even the same year when we lost. We bought a Doctor's type scale and plan on weighing once a week from now on.

[clackley]

Welcome JoeBee!

The only times I didn't weigh daily was when I was gaining and in denial. The scale is only one tool that gives one piece of information. Some choose to use it frequently and others use other things.