This is a question you have to ask yourself. Only you know your personality well enough.
When I was at my top weight "somewhere around 200 pounds" I was not weighing myself at all. I did not want to abuse my ego that badly. Fatties avoid reality. Also if they are depressed it only makes them eat more.
But don't let that deter you from getting started. You can start dieting not knowing what the exact poundage is (or "kiloweight"). Maybe pull on one of those tight pairs of jeans that you can barely button at the waist. Try them on every 2 weeks or so and see if the waist band is feeling more comfortable. Maybe even try on the clothes in your closet (I did) and put the ones that fit or barely fit in one place and the ones that are a little too tight in another place and the ones that are really too small in another.
I don't recommend running out and buying your dream outfit as an incentive. But you are you. For me, that would be too much pressure. Just getting into some old clothes that have not seen daylight in a year or more was cool enough to be my inspiration.
I am not against going out and getting something new as a reward WHEN the weight comes off. Hey, htat's what you do with the money you saved by not eating Jenny Craig meals. You go out and buy something that will make you look less baggy and slimmer. But don't do it before you are ready and know that there is an incentive to looking through smaller sizes on the rack.
At some point you probably will want to weight yourself. Or if you go to the doctor you are going to be weighed. Remember a doctor's scale is a weight scale. They are more accurate than your typical home spring scale. I have never had a home scale that wasn't at least 4 pounds lighter than a doctor's scale. Sigh............
But any scale will tell you if you are losing. Don't worry about the numbers as much as seeing a change in the numbers. You can weigh every day, once a week or once a month. Doesn't matter.
If you are very heavy you will see more drop in weight in a short time than you will if you are slimmer. That is because you lose a percentage of your body weight. When you are heavier your body has a lot more work to do. The same diet takes off more pounds when you are heavy than when you are skinny. When you are skinny you don't lose as many calories unless you increase your energy output. At some point ANY diet will reach a plateau. That is when your calorie intake equals your calorie output. You will either have to eat a little less at that point or exercise a little more to lose more weight.
Good idea to weight yourself at the same time of day. If you do it at night you are going to be factoring in your dinner and all the fluids you have drunk during the day. Just keep in mind that pounds are lost through your urine. Some times of day you are going to be more hydrated than others and the scale can move up and down a pound or two depending on how much water is in your system.
Be sure to calibrate your scale to zero carefully. There is a little wheel somewhere under the dial. Press on it a little and see if it comes back to zero again. Do it a couple times to get as accurate a reading as possible. Then weigh yourself without holding onto anything and be sure to center your feet. If you have a weight scale you don't have to do this. Digital scales need to have batteries replaced occasionally.
Me? After I started weighing myself, I started doing it every morning before my shower but after breakfast. I use a cheap spring scale. You have to have faith in your diet sometimes because you will see the scale bounce up and down and back from day to day. You probably will not see weight loss in a steady decline. I would say that I see some substantial loss about once every 2 weeks - enough to know it is not just a fluctuation in the water or food in my gut. If this is too frustrating - don't weigh as often. Just do not be perturbed if you do not see positive results as often as you would like.
If you see negative results - say in about 2 weeks, you are going to have to sit down with yourself and have a little discussion. Start analyzing where you are over eating and cut down more.
I set little goals for myself. Since the 5 and 10 pound marks on the scale are larger, passing one of them is a big deal. But I insist that the goal stays past for a few days before I celebrate - say with a frappochino at Starbucks (lite, no whip). 10 pounds may be worthy of a new set of walking shorts.
At that point any downward movement on the scale is a delightful milestone and will make you feel fabulous. It makes it easier to stick to what you are doing right and maybe even back off a little more if necessary to keep the decline going or speed it up just a little.
2 pounds a week is about right for an average size woman. I am 5'6" with average frame. I was wearing a size 18 and now I am down to a size S (6-8) in pants and a size 10 dress or 12 jacket. Gone from a X large T shirt to a Medium or Small. I have no desire to reach a smaller size just for the sake of being able to say I wear a 4 or under. I am close to the bottom of my normal BWI range and my waistline is below 34" - both standards of normal weight for my age and body type. I also bore 3 large babies and have a flat tummy again. I like me a little saftig, not boney. When my wedding ring started slipping off at 128 pounds I knew that I had reached my goal.
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