How Often Should You Weigh Yourself?

You probably know someone who steps on the scale multiple times a day. We explore the ideal frequency of weighing for weight loss versus focusing too much on the number.

Likewise, there are those who are afraid of the scale in a way, so they do not approach it for fear of realizing that they have gained unwanted pounds or have not lost what they planned. This is often the case with people who are overweight and start some physical activity and introduce changes in their diet. After some time, it is necessary to step on the scale to see the results, and according to them, adjust the further dietary and training regimen.

However, the situation where the scale does not show the desired results after several weeks of dieting and exercising is demotivating for many to continue adhering to healthy habits and regular physical activity.

Similarly, those who weigh themselves daily are often confused by the changes the scale shows from day to day, without any clear cause or changes in diet or lifestyle.

Therefore, you should keep one thing in mind: changes in weight are common due to a number of factors that affect weight. These include hydration level, the content of the last meal, the amount of salt, but also the digestive rhythm, training rhythm, sleep, stress, and even the weather.

A few hundred grams of change between weigh-ins are not an indicator of accumulated or lost fat tissue, but the usual work of the body in regulating physiological functions.

So, how often should you weigh yourself, regardless of whether you are working on losing, gaining, or maintaining body weight?

Daily Weighing

Many consider daily weighing to be maintaining control over body weight and the desired direction of losing weight, gaining mass, or maintaining the existing state. This helps many people maintain the rhythm of both diet and physical activity.

Daily weighing is recommended for those who are aware of the usual daily fluctuations caused by the factors mentioned above and who will observe the weighing results as a trend, not by individual results.

If a change of 300g between two days negatively affects your mood, then daily weighing is definitely not something you should resort to. The number the scale shows should certainly not affect your overall mood and attitude towards diet or training, but rather be just a guideline and a number in the bigger picture—weekly and monthly—which is a clearer indicator of the trend your weight is following.

Weekly Weighing

Weekly weighing has several advantages, and one of the most significant is tracking progress without daily focus on the result the scale shows.

For the best results, always choose the same day of the week for weighing and weigh yourself in the morning, on an empty stomach. When observing the results, look at the trend, and for that, you will need several weekly weigh-ins.

This frequency of weighing can be a good tool to feel the meaningfulness and importance of weighing without experiencing daily stress or being a victim of daily weighing and results.

Occasional Weighing

Many occasionally step on the scale and monitor their weight this way, without a constant rhythm or special concern about earlier results.

Often, these people rely on other indicators of body weight changes, such as how certain clothes fit them, and whether they have become too tight or too loose, or they simply monitor their weight according to how strong they feel and what kind of training results they have.

Avoiding Weighing

Most people never step on the scale. Those who care about weight but avoid weighing rely on other indicators, such as those mentioned in the previous chapter, and what they see in the mirror or how they feel and how much strength they have during training is more important to them than the number the scale shows. The moment they feel unwanted changes, they introduce changes in their diet and training, but they still do not focus on the scale.

This approach is one of the better ones because the result the scale shows is certainly not crucial either when considering health or when considering physical fitness. Namely, two people of the same weight can have drastically different amounts of fat tissue, muscle tissue, and proportions, and the scale will show them the same – number!

Conclusion

An obsessive relationship with weight can turn into a problematic pattern of behavior in which the only thing a person wants to achieve, at any cost, is a reduction in the number the scale shows, regardless of the means and safety of the method used to achieve it.

Take the number the scale shows only as one of the results of your body composition, and it is certainly not an indicator of good fitness, and especially not of health.