Whether you have a goal weight in mind or are working hard to maintain your current weight, you need a way to monitor your progress. 
Looking at yourself in the mirror or seeing how your clothes fit works for some people, but weighing yourself on a scale is much more precise with no room for exaggeration. The scale can't lie, but fabric can definitely stretch.
So if you don't already own one, spring for an accurate, digital scale like this one from Tanita ($80). I like this scale because it displays both your current weight and your weight from the previous time you stepped on the scale. Statistics show that people who weigh themselves regularly (either weekly or daily), lose more weight and prevent weight gain more successfully than those who don't weigh themselves. You don't have to spend this much money, but make sure you don't skimp either. You can think of it as an investment in your new lifestyle.
Chloe
That's awfully expensive- I'm not so concerned with my weight being scientifically accurate so much as it doesn't go up or down on the same scale I use regularly . .
1Actually, I recommend against purchasing a digital scale. These things will drive you crazy. Did you drink a glass of water? Oh, that's a 0.5 pound increase in the reading. Did you go to the bathroom? Back down a pound. Did you weigh yourself in the morning first thing after waking up? It'll be different when you weigh yourself again after getting ready for work. Best thing I did was changing to a normal manual scale.
2Good points ms660bk! So true...
3Yeah, I'm not so sure about the fractional lbs either. I'd rather have a digital one that didn't measure quite so accurately.
4i don't know if i agree, ms660bk...i've just switched to digital from a manual scale and i couldn't be happier. my manual scale was not a cheap one, but it was so inconsistent. i'd have to step on it several times, and assume an average.
my digital (a tanita, but not that model) is great.
yes, there are changes at different times of the day...but there ARE changes in my weight at different times of the day. if i drank a lot of water, i EXPECT to weigh more.
i think it's important to note that in addition to a good scale (and that is certainly a personal preference), being consistent in the time of day you weigh yourself is important as well. i always weigh myself first thing in the morning, and naked. and i feel like i have a pretty good read on my weight.
5i have a mechanical one for $6 and they're just fine. the secret is to always weight yourself on the same scales, and that's how you track your progress. i remember my friend used to love coming to my place and weighting herself, because it was 4lbs lighter from hers.
6I have a digital scale and I don't actually use it much because it kinda drives me nuts when I weigh in too often. I do keep a general tab of my weight so I can see if I'm losing/gaining too much, but I don't really need to pay the extra $40 for the scale to keep track of it for me. A notebook works just as well.
7I have a digital scale and love it. I have a rule though, I have to wear the same thing at the same time each day. Basically when i get up in the morning and take off PJs I get on the scale. If I forget, I shrug and wait till the next day.
8I, for one, LOVE my WiiFit for this exact reason. Every morning when I get out of bed, I hop on the WiiFit and wight myself right after feeding the cat. (My cat makes sure I make it to the kitchen within 5 minutes of waking up, so I might as well go the 5 extra steps to the living room!) I love that it will scold me for weighing in at different times, and if there is a significant jump in readings it offers a checklist of possible reasons (overeating, lack of exercise, ate too late the night before etc.)
I've lost a total of (just about) 10 lbs. since we got the WiiFit back when it first came out. Granted, almost NONE of that is at a result of actually USING the WiiFit (although, it could be argued that it is one hell of a moral booster!) Knowing that I have to weigh myself in the AM keeps me from eating too late at night since my body won't have time to process the food, and I can avoid the fluid flux by using the bathroom just before logging in my weight for the day.
Also, that lovely little line graph is proof that I'm either on the right track, or sinking slow back to square one. I've begun walk/jogging 2 miles each morning after weight myself and I must say, those little .4 lb. decreases each day are what keep me going!
9**apologies for all the typos above. Apparently the WiiFit does not enhance my typing abilities!
10Ooo, I want a WiiFit!!
11My digital scale drove me slightly crazy, since it would give a different random reading sometimes, making me generally mistrustful of what it said I weighed.
12I still use the same ol' scale from my childhood. My mum bought a digital scale and really drove us all crazy...
13I weighed myself at the gym and supposedly I gained 23 lbs in one week... is that even possible!?
the scale is wrong... haha 
14laureng22, of cours eit's possible. healthy is another question. but if i stop eating pizza and fast food i drop 10lbs in a week.
15Oh course it's not possible to gain 23 pounds in 1 week. If you go by the fact that there are 3500 calories per pound, then gaining an actual 23 pounds would mean that you had to eat an extra 85,000 calories that week! That's totally infeasible.
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