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Best Time to Weigh Yourself, and How Often to Do It

By Eric Parker, founder of TrueCal. Published . Sources checked .

Written with AI assistance from the cited studies. Every claim was checked against its source. Editorial policy.

Key takeaways

  • Weigh at the same time each day, such as first thing in the morning before breakfast, under the same conditions.
  • In Orsama's 2014 study of daily weight patterns, people weighed themselves right after waking up and before breakfast.1
  • A 2015 review of 17 studies linked regular self-weighing with more weight loss, and found no link with depression or anxiety.2
  • Weight tends to rise over the weekend, peak on Sunday or Monday and fall through the week, so compare weekly averages rather than single days.1
  • Daily weighing doesn't suit everyone. Once a week works if it's the same day and the same conditions each time.

When is the best time to weigh yourself?

Weigh at the same time each day. First thing in the morning, before you eat or drink, is an easy time to keep the same.

That's also how people weighed in Orsama's 2014 study of daily weight patterns, right after waking up and before breakfast.1

Use the bathroom first, wear the same thing or nothing, and use the same scale on the same hard floor each time.

Later in the day, the scale counts everything you've eaten and drunk that your body hasn't used or passed yet. Stored carbohydrate adds weight too. Glycogen, the carbohydrate stored in muscle and liver, is held with three to four parts water.4

How often should I weigh myself?

There isn't one right schedule. A 2015 review by Zheng and colleagues of 17 studies found that regular self-weighing was linked with more weight loss, and wasn't linked with depression or anxiety. How often people weighed varied a lot from study to study.2

Daily weighing has the most direct evidence. In Steinberg's 2015 study, 47 people in a 6 month weight-loss program used scales that sent each weight to a website with a graph of their trend. Those who weighed every day lost an average of 6.1 kilograms more than those who weighed less often, and they took up more weight control habits, 17.6 against 11.2 on average.3

Daily weighing doesn't suit everyone. If the number changes your mood for the day, makes you want to skip meals, or is hard to stop checking, weigh once a week instead, or set the scale aside for a while.

Why is my weight highest on Monday?

Weight follows a weekly rhythm for many people. In Orsama's study of 80 people and 4,657 weigh-ins, weight rose from Saturday, was highest on Sunday and Monday, and started to fall on Tuesday. The authors concluded that the weekend rise should be seen as normal rather than as weight gain.1

The rhythm was strongest in people whose weight went down. In the group that lost weight over the study, the low for the week usually came at the end of the week and the high on Sunday or Monday. In the group that gained, highs and lows were spread across the week.1

If you weigh once a week, pick the same day every time. A Monday reading and a Friday reading aren't a fair comparison.

How to read the trend

A graph helps. Everyone in Steinberg's study saw their weights as a line over time, not one number at a time.3

  • Write down every reading, including the ones you don't like.
  • Average each week's readings. Seven days hold one weekend and one set of weekdays, so the weekly rhythm evens out.
  • Compare this week's average with last week's, not one morning with the next.
  • Give any change two to three weeks before you decide it's real.

Pair the scale with a food log

Researchers count weighing and food logging as parts of the same habit, self-monitoring. Burke's 2011 review covered diet, exercise and self-weighing across 22 studies, and found a consistent link between self-monitoring and weight loss.5

A log explains the scale. A salty restaurant dinner or a weekend away appears in both, so a jump comes with a reason you can see.

When to step away from the scale

If weighing brings up anxiety, guilt or an urge to restrict, it's fine to weigh less often or not at all. Other signs of change include how your clothes fit, your energy and your strength. If food or weight starts to take over your thoughts, talk with a doctor, a therapist or a registered dietitian.

A note on medical advice

This article is for general information and isn't medical advice. Talk with your clinician about your own situation.

Worked example

Say one week's morning readings are 181.4 pounds on Monday, 181.0 on Tuesday, 180.6 on Wednesday, 180.2 on Thursday, 180.0 on Friday, 180.8 on Saturday and 181.6 on Sunday. That's the weekly rhythm from Orsama's study, low late in the week and high around the weekend. The 7 readings average 180.8. If next week averages 180.5, the trend moved down slightly, even if next Monday reads higher than this Friday.1

A closer look

In Orsama's 2014 study of 80 people and 4,657 weigh-ins, the weekly swing was larger in people who lost weight over the study than in people who gained. Their low usually came at the end of the week and their high on Sunday or Monday, so a Monday high is normal even when the overall trend is down.1

Questions and answers

Should I weigh myself every day or once a week?

Either can work. Daily weighers in Steinberg's study lost more on average, and Zheng's review linked regular weighing with more weight loss across studies with many different schedules. Pick the schedule you can keep without stress.32

Why do I weigh more at night than in the morning?

By evening, the day's food and drink are still in your body, and glycogen, your stored carbohydrate, is held with three to four parts water. A morning reading before you eat leaves most of the day's food out.4

Is it normal to weigh more after the weekend?

Yes. In Orsama's study, weight rose from Saturday and peaked on Sunday and Monday, and the authors called that weekend rise normal rather than a sign of weight gain.1

Does weighing every day cause anxiety?

In the studies Zheng's review covered, regular weighing wasn't linked with depression or anxiety. People differ, though, and if it bothers you, weighing less often is fine.2

Keep weigh-ins and meals in one place

TrueCal keeps your weight history in the same app as your food log, so when the scale moves you can look back at what you ate.

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Sources

  1. Obesity Facts. Orsama. 2014.
  2. Obesity. Zheng. 2015.
  3. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Steinberg. 2015.
  4. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Kreitzman. 1992.
  5. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Burke. 2011.