how often to weigh in?

hi there
ive sort of covered this in the jan starters thread but i have been thinking about it a bit today.

eventually i want to be able to not bother with scales. i can become a bit obsessed with them and i really want to be able to rely on my clothes and how i'm feeling as a measure for keeping my weight under control rather than letting the figures on my scales each morning dictate my mood for the day.

over the last 4 weeks i have put on half a pound in total.

if i hadn't been weighed since then til today i would be feeling pleased with myself.

what actually happened was: week1 gained 2;week 2 gained 1.5 ; week 3 lost 4; week 4 gained 1

what i suppose i'm thinking is that it doesn't really matter about the ups and downs of the month as long by the end of it i'm the same

after weigh in week 1 i was fed up so ate more
after week 2 i was fed up so ate more then panicked and cut back.
after week 3 i was happy - so ate more
week 4 i have put on weight cos i lost 4 the last week!

if i hadn't been weighed would i have followed the same pattern? i know i had put weight on as my clothes felt tighter - but do i need the weigh ins to make me act, or can i control it myself...hmmm?

so i am going to have a go at 2 weekly weigh ins to see what happens. ive got to make sure i don't use it as an excuse to eat more as i don't get weighed for a fortnight?

it feels scary as i don't want to get back into the 'cheating the system' feeling i always used to feel when dieting

how often do other maintainers weigh in?

daisy x

Good geeerief Daisy! Chill Hun!

In that 4 week period did you add in your once a month one too? If you slow your weighing in, make sure that it's equidistant from that or you'll be giving yourself a complex!!!

BUT I do know what you mean by the 'wow I've done good this week I must have a reward' thingy. One of my biggest battles and I'm still not sure I cope with it very well or I wouldn't still be trying to lose!!! Eeek!

Daisy, you must get out of the mind set of rewarding yourself with foody treats if you do well like stay the same or lose.
Don't see the scales as a challenge.
Your weight will fluctuate depending on various different factors as well as food.
Just as your mood does, your blood pressure does etc etc.
By all means reward yourself if you do well - but try and take the association away from food.
Personally I go to LL WI every week if I possibly can. it keeps me on track. In between I'm careful but I don't count calories. The way I look at it: if I joined a gym(would never happen!) and got fit
I'd soon lose it if I didn't keep it up - same as LL.
You have done and are doing so well Daisy. Don't be hard on yourself.x

It's such a personal choice Daisy - whatever works for you. If you find the scales mess with your head, use clothes. Me, I hop on the scale first thing ever single day. I don't rect much either way - I am just looking for it to be a conistant range. If it is up a pound or two for more then 3 or 4 days, then I cut back a little. If its not, then I carry on as normal.

It has to be what works best for you.

sorry, was rambling a bit there!
i'm not in panic mode, honestly -just putting thoughts down really.

i've always been a 'reward with food' when on diets which is why they have never worked ... i suppose at least i'm more aware of this now so can work on this!

daisy x