How do you weigh-in?

[Yellow_Blue]

Hello everyone!

When is the best time to weigh-in? Our weights keep fluctuating throughout the day. If I drink 500ml water the scale will show up. And if I give a break of 4/5hrs between meals (sometimes) my scale will show down from my early morning weigh-in. So guys how do you measure your weight?

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

So what is the logic of what you're saying? What do you think? Weigh no more than once a day. First thing in the morning, after the toilet and undressed, in the same spot, on a firm floor.

[TheTabbyCat Administrator 10 kg]

I weigh myself twice a week, with nothing on, the scales are on a tiled floor. Before breakfast and after the bathroom ( if I'm lucky 😭)

[jd65 5lbs Restart Oct 2023]

I weigh myself once a week on weigh day, first thing in the morning. If I have weighed myself any other time in the week I can move up or down from That weight. It’s just what my body does so I use Sunday morning first thing as my weight loss for the week.

[Vonb]

Like jd65 I just get weighed once a week, Wednesday morning after using bathroom and before breakfast. That’s the weight I then record. Hubby always has sneaky weighs other days and his is up and down but I only record his Wednesday weight x

[springersrule Moderator Host 76kg]

I weigh in on a monday morning, and like others i get on the scales after toileting but before eating or drinking anything. I try my hardest not to weigh myself through the week due to fluctuations.

I don't think it matters much what time you weigh yourself, even with the daily fluctuations as long as its at the same time each week xx

[PippiRuns 6kg Restart Nov 2023]

I weigh in once a week first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom. I put the digital scales on the same tile of the bathroom floor every time and wear nothing ⚖️

[Eleanorba Maintainer in reply to PippiRuns]

Same here Pippi...I even take my watch off haha.

[slipstick Maintainer 2st 7lbs]

I'm less interested in the exact number than in how it is changing week to week. So like many others I weigh myself once a week first thing in the morning, same time every week.

[Hopewhispers]

First thing in the morning before breakfast, that way it's not about food intake or fluid because I've been fasting overnight, I weigh at the same time of day always

[Eleanorba Maintainer]

Hi Y_B I weigh in just as BridgeGirl says - first thing in the morning after I've been to the toilet and before eating my breakfast. I weigh in once a week, on Sat or Sun, about 8am.

During the rest of the week I get up too early to weigh in - if I weigh in at 6am (I eat breakfast around 6.30 on a weekday) then I'm one or two pounds heavier! Where do those pounds go between 6 and 8?? When I've tried weighing in early and try again later, I often haven't even had a wee between.

[Caccani]

My curiosity is why does it fluctuate, weight one self , then weigh oneself say 2 hours later, nothing in, nothing out in between ,state of dress or undress identical, no baths or showers, so no wet hair etc, location of digital scales the same and the result can be 100 g difference. My son mentioned it to me as if it was a known thing, and we experimented with different scales , and found similar situation. Is there a scientific explanation I wonder?

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Caccani]

I'm really not sure but it certainly undermines the "calories in, calories out" idea.

The human body isn't like a shopping bag that you drop something into and immediately the additional pounds/kilos can be seen. There are constant biological processes at work.

[slipstick Maintainer 2st 7lbs in reply to BridgeGirl]

I don't think "calories in, calories out" was ever supposed to work on very short timescales like 20 minutes particularly since it's incredibly difficult to know exactly how many calories we're using minute to minute. But it's interesting how many people are very keen on toileting before weighing. Presumably they believe that calories out make a real difference😀.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to slipstick]

I suppose it's for consistency. I think that's all that matters plus, as you say, looking at the overall trend

[Doing4me in reply to Caccani]

Maybe get on and off the scales in quick succession to observe and differences between them?

[WasYoYo80 Maintainer 3st 7lbs]

I have to admit, I did an experiment once of weighing myself everyday to see the fluctuations and to remind myself that our bodies are complex entities, constantly undergoing complex processes. This helped me gain perspective that the number on the scales wasn't the be all and end all - just my body's relationship with gravity at that given moment in time. I'm a woman - I have a menstrual cycle which makes me retain water at certain parts of my cycle - that's just biology at play. So now, I go for consistency, like many have said, at the same time each week, first thing in the morning.

[Yellow_Blue]

Thank you everyone for all your replies! I got many valuable inputs from you, among which some I knew before, some I learnt now and some theories propel me to do some future research to find out the truth how our body works in calorie burning. Thanks to each of you for sharing your experiences and knowledge!!

[Hidden]

I do first thing every morning after I went to bathroom. Don’t weigh again that day. Keeps me more motivated and cautious for the day’s eating. I tried weekly but works better for me to do daily, more accountable that way.