Daily Weight Loss Accountability

May 13, 2010

This weight loss journey is all about discovery. I tweeted yesterday about frustrations I was having with my scale. I’ve started daily weigh ins. “Why would you torture yourself like that” you ask. Good question!

When I started this blog, I got on the scale on Tuesdays. My logic was that if I was bad on Friday or Saturday nights, I could lose water weight Sunday and Monday. In the end, I was giving myself flex room on the weekends. I’m at a point right now where I SHOULDN’T have flex room. I need to modify my behaviors and fix them in a controlled way. Thus, I’m weighing every day to keep me accountable, with my official weigh in day on Monday.

Crazy thing about our bodies is that weight can fluctuate so widely. I retain a lot of water. I also drink a lot of water (at least 1 gallon/day). Then some days I have to go #2 (we all do it), and sometimes I weigh before that. All that being said, my weight can swing up 5 pounds between days. A whole freaking 5 pounds! It’s been startling to say the least, but based on common sense and everyones tweets yesterday, I realize I’m not alone.

So how am I measuring success when I see crap numbers on the scale?

  1. Did I drink at least 1 gallon of water yesterday?
  2. Did I eat “safe” foods in their regular quantities? If I added new foods, did I put them in SparkPeople to see the correct calorie, fat, carb and fiber counts?
  3. Does the skin on my shins “pit?” This means, if I press down hard on my shin, does it leave a deep indentation where my finger was? If so, I’m retaining lots of water.
  4. If all else fails, pee on a stick. A ketone strip, that is. It tells me the level of ketones in my urine to know whether or not I’m in ketosis, the fat burning state in which low carb works.

So I must vow to myself that if I start to get discouraged at the number on the scale, that I’ll go through this list to figure out where I’m going wrong. Or if it’s all in my head and I need to chill out.

If you’re trying to lose weight, do you weigh in daily? weekly?  monthly? Do you ever get so fixated on the number that it drives you bonkers? Leave a comment!

PS: Don’t forget to enter the Ruby and Crystal Renn book giveaway. Giveaway #2 will be posted sometime tomorrow :)

Tagged as: daily weigh in, scale, water weight, weight loss

  • http://twitter.com/MadelineMonday Madeline Monday

    I have always found that the more I weigh in the more motivated I am am..or at least the more constant. Also I get kinda a snowball thing going. Once I lose a few lbs, I want it more. That helps till I see results.
    I have to lose like 15 lbs before I see a differance.

  • http://bethebutterflies.blogspot.com/ Stephanie

    I weigh myself daily, actually multiple times daily. First thing in the morning after the morning pee, either in my undies or naked. Then I will weigh myself after work to have a good idea of how I did for the day. Then once again right before bed so I know what to expect in the morning. I do obsess about it, but it does keep me in check.
    I also retain water like crazy, give me a chinese dinner and you can see me look like a puffer fish. I know I am bloated when I can't see the veins on my feet. ~ Stephanie

  • Meg

    I do something like what you're doing. I look almost every day, but only record what I do on Sunday Mornings–Sundays being my way of trying to keep myself on track over the weekend. It drives me a little crazy, but it also gets me to re-focus mid-week if I'm going off the deep end. So far, so good.

    Good Luck!

  • http://sammyk-musicalmaniac.blogspot.com/ Sammy K.

    I've always weighed myself on a daily basis. It helps me to stay accountable and learn a little bit more about my weight. Do you take your measurements though? I've gotten big into this recently, but I don't see a lot of people that do it, so I'm just curious! I'm sure you'll do great! I absolutely love reading your blog. =)

  • http://diaryofcurvyjones.com CurvyJones

    I look at it every day. Every single day, I need to see the number on the scale. When I stop weighing, I stop caring about the changes I am making. I stop seeing how food affects my body and I start eating any and everything. I weigh everyday to keep my goal in line and every day I come more and more i line with that goal.

    I had a pissy rant on my blog about week ago about it. I have to do what works and this works for me. So yes I weigh everyday. Sometimes it's up. Oh well. Sometimes it's down. YAHOO! Most days it stays the same. Doesn't matter. I just need to know the number.

    I track it daily via the LoseIT! application for iPod Touch. On Tuesdays I record my total losses for the week. Weighing everyday helps stop the freak out I would see if I got on the scale, week after week, and was staring at the same damn number. At least i know by Friday morning that I've got to shake some things loose and I can spend a couple of days planning my offensive on this fat.

    I say do what keeps working. People will give opinions and advice… I find that the people that are the most successful get on that damn machine every single day. I emulate success.

    And I just need to know the number!! :)

  • http://www.skinnyemmie.com skinnyemmie

    I take measurements occasionally, maybe about once a month or every other month, or if I hit a big milestone (every 25 pounds or so). It does definitely help keep things in perspective!
    Thanks for commenting- I'm glad you enjoy the blog!

  • Alanna

    i weigh in every single day. If the number on the scale isn't good, i consider what i ate, if it had a lot of sodium, where i am in my cycle and if i've had a bowel movement. And if I know i've done nothing wrong, i just hope it's better the next day!

  • http://twitter.com/Mrs_Happy_Pants Mrs. Happy Pants

    I weigh every day, too. When I was not losing anything but trying to make a (pitiful) attempt at eating better, seeing my weight daily kept me from gaining.
    It's VERY frustrating to see the fluctuations. However, I started looking at the graph on my Wii Fit over longer periods of time and although it looks like a spiky roller coaster, over a year's time, the whole line slopes downward.
    It's also kind of funny to see how much it truly does flucutate over the course of a month. I retain water like a champ, and hormonal influences…ridiculous.

  • http://www.NoMorePlusSize.com/ Tishia – No More Plus Size

    I've been through the whole weighing every day thing and it drove me NUTS. I was absolutely obsessed with the scale. I'm at a point now where I weigh in once a week but this drives me bonkers too. I just have come to a point that I hate the scale all together. lol

  • lcinhouston

    Thankyou for continuing to blog, you're a great writer.

    Also, SparkPeople is very interesting, I'm glad you mentioned it. I joined, because today DH & I committed to getting back into gym / healthy eating mode over the summer. Both of us being in school full-time sure was a great excuse to eat crap and not exercise for 8+ months! NOT!

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