That is the question.
I’ve been a daily weigher-in for years now. It’s just habit: roll out of bed, pee, get on the scale and then grunt either positively or negatively depending on the number. I like to think that I pay attention to what the scales says, but don’t let it rule my life. I’ve been around long enough to know that my weight can vary as much as 3-5 pounds over the course of a few days, due to things such as too much salt, hormones or ice cream (YUM).
And I’ve been tracking my weekly Friday weigh-in for a long time as well. Some weeks it’s not so pleasant to record that number, but I have to admit — it’s cool to graph it out over years to see where I’ve been.
But recently, Coach V. told us that she’d watch the numbers for us. That we didn’t need to worry about them. And since then, I’ve been trying out not getting on the scale every morning. And it’s been weird, and a little uncomfortable with a dash of awesomeness thrown in just to confuse me.
And so I’m not sure what way to go with this — should I get on the scale every day? Or just once a week to report in measurements to LE?
Let’s make a list, shall we? Exciting!
An argument for weighing in daily:
- I like having the daily feedback. While I might not always know what to attribute weight gain/loss to, sometimes I can put it together and make adjustments as necessary.
- Seeing the number every day makes it not too meaningful, if that makes sense. Because I see it swing up and down, those blips don’t mean as much.
- And the flip side of that — if I only see the number once a week, that one weigh-in becomes MUCH more meaningful because it represents an entire week of work (or week of having headed in the wrong direction)
- Because I’ve always done it (good reason, right?)
- There’s a real sense of freedom in not having to see that number every day. It focuses me on my behavior (which I can control) and not on the outcome (which I cannot control).
- There’s the possibility of getting on the scale and seeing a big loss from last week and somehow that would feel like more of an accomplishment than seeing my weight creep down bit by bit over a week. Talk about motivation!
- Because I’ve never done it this way (and I’m all about doing things differently now, right?)
I also weigh myself every day, although I think that weighing once a week or even once a month is, in the long term, probably a better approach.
I’m voting for weighing once a week when we have to send in our girths. Try it and see how you like it.