to show true progress

[samsont]

weigh yourself everyday. don't fret about everyday weight though. By weighing yourself everyday, you are able to log and record - allowing you to go back and look at your averages. This is by far a better indication of fatloss.

example: on june 20th i weighed in at 256. on july 5 i weighed in at 243.

But i did not truly lose 13 lbs in 2 weeks. Taking weekly, or bi-weekly weight data can be really skewed. too many people fret and worry about what the scale says yesterday or tommorrow. let go of this stressor!

because i logged my weight since june 15th, i'm able to see i've actually lost a few lbs, but not quite 13. as well as, on some of the days where i gained weight, i could have been worried "oh no what am I doing wrong?!", but instead just kept with my program. results:

avg weight june 15-21 251.7
avg weight june 22-28 248.5
avg weight june 29-jul5 246

it was pretty encouraging to be able to go back and really see progress like this. I suggest people that you do this too. It's much better than once a week weigh ins- wondering how much weight you truly lost.

just wanted to share.

edit* bonus thought. So this just goes to show you, if you eat over your daily calorie limit for one day, it doesn't matter. It's about what your total is at the end of the week. same goes for your total weight.

[Nick1971]

IMO, it's better to weigh yourself once a week, the same day, and roughly the same time - typically before your first meal, and be sure to use the restroom before you get on the scale. My wife, kids and I use Wii Fit to do that every Sunday morning.

[samsont]

IMO, it's better to weigh yourself once a week, the same day, and roughly the same time - typically before your first meal, and be sure to use the restroom before you get on the scale. My wife, kids and I use Wii Fit to do that every Sunday morning.

then you missed the point of my post..Once a week weigh in's are skewed because of water weight. Establish a baseline where you can see your average.

Atleast explain why it is better. you gotta have a reason.

[frank112]

IMO, it's better to weigh yourself once a week, the same day, and roughly the same time - typically before your first meal, and be sure to use the restroom before you get on the scale. My wife, kids and I use Wii Fit to do that every Sunday morning.

Im with this. If you're diet and routine are relatively consistent then weighing yourself in the same conditions once a week should be able to provide pretty accurate results.

Case in point, I usually weigh myself naked on Tuesday mornings but decided to weigh myself saturday afternoon cause I felt pretty skinny. Mind you, i've been losing about 1lb a week consistently.

Last Tuesday 145
This Saturday 147
This Tuesday 144

[samsont]

Im with this. If you're diet and routine are relatively consistent then weighing yourself in the same conditions once a week should be able to provide pretty accurate results.

highly doubt that. Everyones weight fluctuates some. Cheat meals, sodium intake, exercise, medicine, theres so many things that can affect +- 5 lbs on the average person.

by establishing a baseline, you can TRULY chart your progress. If once-a-week works for you thats good, but it's not very factual/scientific, there are just too many variables.

People weigh-in once a week, and if they didn't show progress they get all upset and worried, "what am i doing wrong? what should I change?" when really, they could be doing great, but they have no clue how much their weight fluctuates.


I weigh myself on same scale, in my boxers first thing every morning..
on july 1st i weighed 246
july 7th i weighed 248

however, if i average my weight over the week, i really only weigh in at 246... therefore I shouldn't be worried if i ''gained 2 lbs omg''.

[Jamorir]

highly doubt that. Everyones weight fluctuates some. Cheat meals, sodium intake, exercise, medicine, theres so many things that can affect +- 5 lbs on the average person.

by establishing a baseline, you can TRULY chart your progress. If once-a-week works for you thats good, but it's not very factual/scientific, there are just too many variables.

People weigh-in once a week, and if they didn't show progress they get all upset and worried, "what am i doing wrong? what should I change?" when really, they could be doing great, but they have no clue how much their weight fluctuates.

I agree...This past sunday I ate a ton of carbs so when I did my usual weigh in, Monday morning the scale said 179.6, which was a 1.6 pound increase, but this morning I stepped up there and it listed me at 177.2..I was like wtf, so it seems like I need to give myself 2-3 days after a day of heavy carbs to get a accurate weight

[samsont]

I agree...This past sunday I ate a ton of carbs so when I did my usual weigh in, Monday morning the scale said 179.6, which was a 1.6 pound increase, but this morning I stepped up there and it listed me at 177.2..I was like wtf, so it seems like I need to give myself 2-3 days after a day of heavy carbs to get a accurate weight

yeah man, so simple, just log it everyday in MS notepad or something, then take random blocks of averages to see how you're doing. It's all about how you're doing collectively not just on a few random days a month ( weekly weigh in). Our bodies don't have weight loss calenders, it just decides to go 'whoosh' when it's ready, and like you just commented on, loves to hold onto itself when you alter your diet in certain ways.

[VariantInterval]

I loathe weighing myself daily, strictly because it always keeps mind on my diet and my weight. i hate that. I'd rather just make sure i'm doing the exercise i need to do, and make sure i stay within my calorie limit each day, then weigh myself occasionally to make sure everything is on track.

I weigh myself every 2 weeks, in the morning after a long night's rest. If my diet an exercise routine is exactly the same over those 2 weeks, i dont see how weighing yourself daily is any better than weighing myself less frequently.

Additionally, you're not going to be able to observe the effectiveness of a diet and exercise plan on a day to day basis, so in the end it's the numbers over longer periods of time that matter anyway.

In the end, the only thing that matters is the results and if it's working for you, as well as setting up the behaviors that will enable you to keep up with your weight loss until you reach your goal.

My mom and bro like to weigh themselves daily. I can't be arsed to do it ;- P

[samsont]

Lol the whole point of weighing daily is not to observe the day to day, but to be able to accurately observe progress overtime. Not sure if you read this thread.

I loathe weighing myself daily, strictly because it always keeps mind on my diet and my weight. i hate that. I'd rather just make sure i'm doing the exercise i need to do, and make sure i stay within my calorie limit each day, then weigh myself occasionally to make sure everything is on track.

I weigh myself every 2 weeks, in the morning after a long night's rest. If my diet an exercise routine is exactly the same over those 2 weeks, i dont see how weighing yourself daily is any better than weighing myself less frequently.

Additionally, you're not going to be able to observe the effectiveness of a diet and exercise plan on a day to day basis, so in the end it's the numbers over longer periods of time that matter anyway.

In the end, the only thing that matters is the results and if it's working for you, as well as setting up the behaviors that will enable you to keep up with your weight loss until you reach your goal.

My mom and bro like to weigh themselves daily. I can't be arsed to do it ;- P

[Nick1971]

then you missed the point of my post..Once a week weigh in's are skewed because of water weight. Establish a baseline where you can see your average.

Atleast explain why it is better. you gotta have a reason.

Just to be clear, I didn't miss the point of your post. I simply don't think daily weigh-ins have the value you do. And you're going to get those fluctuations on a daily basis, as well as over time, so the effort putting into daily logging of weight is of less statistical merit than weekly weigh-ins, and runs more of a risk of people "fretting and worrying about what the scale says" on a daily basis. I don't even give that much stock in just one week variation. But if you go a month and you lose 5lbs by the end of the month, and the next month you lose another 5lbs, that's easier to spot and it gives more weight to the statistics given.

By all means if you want to weigh yourself daily, and it doesn't phase you that you're 2lbs heavier one day and 2lbs lighter the next, or whatever - more power to you. The goal isn't to dissuade anyone from keeping track of their calories, their weight lost, etc. Heck, if the daily weigh-ins help to motivate - then I argue for doing so. I want people to find what works best for them. Daily metrics also can prove more valuable on an aggressive diet, or a literal "cut" as well, where you are trying to make weight or reach an immediate goal.

If you're modestly good with spreadsheets you could use whatever statistical sampling methodology and really go to town in Excel. Personally, I just edit a text file with Editpad Lite. Here's the last 7lbs for me:

05/29/2011 (Sun) - (174.8lbs)
06/05/2011 (Sun) - (172.2lbs)
06/12/2011 (Sun) - (171.1lbs)
06/19/2011 (Sun) - (170.4lbs)
06/26/2011 (Sun) - (169.3lbs)
07/03/2011 (Sun) - (170.6lbs)
07/10/2011 (Sun) - (168.0lbs)

As you can see, there is slight fluctuation, and according to how things have been going, with regard to tracking of calories, the week I actually gained weight, I actually consumed less calories than the previous week, and the most recent week where I lost the most calories, I actually ate more on average during the previous week where I gained more weight. Bottom line for me is, I see much less fluctuation over time this way, yet I still retain the relevant information to track progress.

IMO it's more important to track daily calories than weight, but if you feel there is value in daily weigh-ins, by all means, do so.

[5-O]

completely agree with op. it is the more accurate and helpful mode of measurement imo. the only drawback is having to do it everyday, but i mean really, stepping on the scale takes like 30s max to do the whole process.

[CJ_]

The longest my weight has plateaued was 4 weeks in a row (even though I was losing according to bodyfat, and tape measurements), so even using this method it would not show the true change.

This logic should be taken and applied to weekly weigh ins, and a monthly average taken, or a 4 week moving average.

[Electricheadd]

Assuming a 500 calorie deficit the max amount of fat lost is only 1 lb/week. The average person fluctuates 2-5lbs each each day. How would increasing the poling interval inside the margin of error give you a more accurate assessment of your weight loss trend? If anything you should only weigh yourself once every 2-5 weeks.

[Nick1971]

Just to give another example. Here is the first period of weight loss I had. I was actually 192lbs at the beginning of November last year, but I did not track calories or weight until nearly the end of that month.

11/21/2010 (Sun) - (187.0lbs)
11/28/2010 (Sun) - (186.1lbs)
12/05/2010 (Sun) - (184.3lbs)
12/12/2010 (Sun) - (182.5lbs)
12/19/2010 (Sun) - (178.1lbs)
12/26/2010 (Sun) - (180.3lbs)
01/02/2011 (Sun) - (177.7lbs)
01/09/2011 (Sun) - (179.5lbs)
01/16/2011 (Sun) - (177.9lbs)
01/23/2011 (Sun) - (175.7lbs)
01/30/2011 (Sun) - (175.0lbs)

Two weeks showed an increase in weight despite staying on track with diet, but I knew that I was still on track because I kept track of my calories. I personally put far more weight into tracking calories than tracking weight on a weekly basis, and even less on a daily basis because of weight fluctuation issues. At a 500 calorie deficit, you lose, what, 2.3oz a day on average, over time? You can fluctuate by 1-2lbs in a single day. But by the time the month goes by you overcome the fluctuations with real weight loss shown. And tracking weekly gives enough information to gauge progress, IMO.

[samsont]

Assuming a 500 calorie deficit the max amount of fat lost is only 1 lb/week. The average person fluctuates 2-5lbs each each day. How would increasing the poling interval inside the margin of error give you a more accurate assessment of your weight loss trend? If anything you should only weigh yourself once every 2-5 weeks.

so if your two back to back weigh in's are , unfortuneately, a - 5 lb day, and then a +5 lb day, people wonder why their weigh isn't moving in the right direction.


average weight over course of a week > 2 random weigh in's. It's clear cut better way to show progress. I'm not sure how it can be wrong.

i'm done with this thread though, some of the replies totally miss the point. If you're looking to be extremely analytical and precise throughout your entire transformation, get averages. I'm not telling people to worry about each and every day. It's so easy to weigh yourself, write it down and compute the data at the end of the month. If you log your calorie's along with it you can also figure out your true 'maintence' and what is optimal for YOUR body as to what calorie deficiet works for your goals.

june
15 - 253
21 - 248
avg weight june 15-21 251.7
22 - 248
28 - 249
avg weight june 22-28 248.5
29 - 247
5 - 243
avg weight june 29-jul5 246
6 - 246
12 - 249
avg weight july 6-12 248.4

Look at the variance. I could be led to believe, i lost 5 lbs one week, gained 1 lb the next, 4 lb loss in a week, 3 lb gain... see what i mean?


log log log log log! reps,sets,cardio,weight,calories!

[Q-Tip-81]

Agreed......if you actually weigh yourself every day and chart each weight, a downward trend should be apparent.

[Electricheadd]

so if your two back to back weigh in's are , unfortuneately, a - 5 lb day, and then a +5 lb day, people wonder why their weigh isn't moving in the right direction.


average weight over course of a week > 2 random weigh in's. It's clear cut better way to show progress. I'm not sure how it can be wrong.

i'm done with this thread though, some of the replies totally miss the point. If you're looking to be extremely analytical and precise throughout your entire transformation, get averages. I'm not telling people to worry about each and every day. It's so easy to weigh yourself, write it down and compute the data at the end of the month. If you log your calorie's along with it you can also figure out your true 'maintence' and what is optimal for YOUR body as to what calorie deficiet works for your goals.

june
15 - 253
21 - 248
avg weight june 15-21 251.7
22 - 248
28 - 249
avg weight june 22-28 248.5
29 - 247
5 - 243
avg weight june 29-jul5 246
6 - 246
12 - 249
avg weight july 6-12 248.4

Look at the variance. I could be led to believe, i lost 5 lbs one week, gained 1 lb the next, 4 lb loss in a week, 3 lb gain... see what i mean?


log log log log log! reps,sets,cardio,weight,calories!

I do see what you mean. However, I have a few issues with it. The first, is that measuring 14-21 times before you should expect to lose any weight is not going to give you a more accurate trend line. (Just more dots on the graph) The second, is that it the reality of the situation is losing lbs of fat takes weeks not days. If I could teach every new guy that comes to these forums one thing it would be patience and persistence win the race. The method your suggesting may work well for a seasoned pro who has faith in his macros/calories and exercise plan but the average new guy will drive himself insane fussing with it.

[samsont]

I do see what you mean. However, I have a few issues with it. The first, is that measuring 14-21 times before you should expect to lose any weight is not going to give you a more accurate trend line. (Just more dots on the graph) The second, is that it the reality of the situation is losing lbs of fat takes weeks not days. If I could teach every new guy that comes to these forums one thing it would be patience and persistence win the race. . The method your suggesting may work well for a seasoned pro who has faith in his macros/calories and exercise plan but the average new guy will drive himself insane fussing with it.

exactly. A new guy doesn't need this... they got 2512890357890243905 other things to figure out.. but if you're like me and many on this site and are curious to see how they are progressing over the months, in relation to their exercise/calorie intake, it can be rather useful.
weekly weigh ins.. eh. theyre whatever. not very detailed. i log everything, takes less than a minute.

[Electricheadd]

exactly. A new guy doesn't need this... they got 2512890357890243905 other things to figure out.. but if you're like me and many on this site and are curious to see how they are progressing over the months, in relation to their exercise/calorie intake, it can be rather useful.
weekly weigh ins.. eh. theyre whatever. not very detailed. i log everything, takes less than a minute.

I could definitely see it then. You would love this!

http://www.withings.com/en/bodyscale

[samsont]

I could definitely see it then. You would love this!

http://www.withings.com/en/bodyscale

hah i'll check it out. my sister recomended something like that to me aswell.

honestly, i love the freedom of good ole' MS note pad. its almost too simple, but thats a plus - i try to avoid un-needed devices.

[yepimonfire]

then you missed the point of my post..Once a week weigh in's are skewed because of water weight. Establish a baseline where you can see your average.

Atleast explain why it is better. you gotta have a reason.

i weigh myself everyday to keep track of water weight. i dont get how someone could weigh themselves once a week. it's really inaccurate imo

for example. a few days ago i weighed in at 218. well, i was 218 almost three weeks ago, and i knew this was simply water weight because the day before when i weighed myself i was 213. today i weighed back in at 213.

[nlite2000]

I weigh myself when I'm massively hungover (because there is always a woosh) and the day after a carby day where my inner fatty got the best of me. Also, after a big poop.


It doesn't really matter when and how often you weigh yourself--if you're losing a significant amount of weight you'll see trends, and you'll get the picture that you fluctuate day to day. And the mirror doesn't lie, like its slutty cousin, the scale.


Anyway, I think this is kind of like meal frequency.

[yepimonfire]

I weigh myself when I'm massively hungover (because there is always a woosh) and the day after a carby day where my inner fatty got the best of me. Also, after a big poop.


It doesn't really matter when and how often you weigh yourself--if you're losing a significant amount of weight you'll see trends, and you'll get the picture that you fluctuate day to day. And the mirror doesn't lie, like its slutty cousin, the scale.


Anyway, I think this is kind of like meal frequency.

actually when you're really overweight it's harder to see losses unless its like 20lb chunks. once you get within about 20lbs of a low BF it becomes much much easier to see in the mirror. sure i may have dropped clothing sizes but it's hard to tell mirror wise sometimes.

[Delgod]

i weigh myself everyday and post my lowest weight attained. because i know i wont be gaining any fat.

[nlite2000]

and lettuce be real here--measuring your waist at the naval is the best way to see true progress. I don't do it, but I think I should, and you should too!

[LengthyLifter]

OP's method is the same as mine. But I'm a spreadsheet/numbers junkie. If you care about accuracy I think 3-day averages (or more) are the only way to do it. Otherwise you should just forget regular weigh-ins altogether.

Perhaps you could take a 3 day average every two weeks if you're not interested in a daily weigh-in.

[samsont]

Anyway, I think this is kind of like meal frequency.

massive offended by this. (if you mean meal freq broscience)

me, and some in this thread have concluded it works better for us than weekly weigh in. i'm not sure how the two are even related.

[LengthyLifter]

massive offended by this. (if you mean meal freq broscience)

me, and some in this thread have concluded it works better for us than weekly weigh in. i'm not sure how the two are even related.

Maybe he just means it's a matter of personal preference that won't affect your progress.

[nlite2000]

massive offended by this. (if you mean meal freq broscience)

me, and some in this thread have concluded it works better for us than weekly weigh in. i'm not sure how the two are even related.

I mean do what works for you, bro.

[samsont]

I mean do what works for you, bro.

statistical data =/= broscience, please go