How Often To Weigh?

Forgot to mention--I don't keep one in my house for that reason. We have a doctor's scale at work, I use that when I need to.

Welcome to the board, Bratty. What an excellent topic. I find that I have this tendency, too. I always want to jump on that scale. The thing I hate most about this tendency is that we tend to base whether we feel good or bad on a number.

To answer your question, I think it depends on the individual. I've known women who say they need to weigh themselves every day to stay "honest". But I think for most people, that's way too often. Because of shifts in water weight and other factors, once a week will give you a much more accurate picture of where you are weight-wise, particularly if you are dieting.

In the very early stages of my diet, I weighed in weekly. After a while, I changed to once every two weeks, then once a month. Once a month works best for me, because I like to see progress. So even if I only lost 1/2 or 1/4 lb a week, I'll still see a nice drop every four weeks.

I would like to lose another 10-15 lbs and then I'll be done. Then I think I will continue to weigh in once per month, in general. When I get on and off the scale too often, I tend to become too obsessed with the numbers when I should be focusing on feeling good and exercising. I know if I follow the steps to good health, the numbers will take care of themselves.

Keep those great topics coming!

Elissa