Your Scale and You

Your Scale and You

Unlike other plans that recommend weighing in weekly or less often, we advise you to weigh yourself daily.

"Daily?" you ask. Yes! Studies show that people who weigh themselves daily are more successful at long-term weight loss than those who weigh themselves weekly. Experts speculate that frequent weigh-ins remind you of your goals and help keep you motivated. At the Duke Diet & Fitness Center (DFC), we feel that an essential part of this daily weighing strategy is tracking your weight on a graph. A graph helps you to see the big picture: Rather than focusing on one day's number, you're looking at trends over several days, weeks, or months. There's nothing more motivating than seeing that line move downward over time!

We also like graphs because they can help you to become accustomed to the fact that the number on the scale does fluctuate each day. The line won't always move downward, and that's okay. Weight normally varies from day to day, based on factors like how much water your body is retaining, among others. We find that seeing these normal fluctuations on a graph keeps our clients at the DFC from getting discouraged by them — they look past the little ups and downs and focus on the larger trends.

Another advantage to graphing with daily weigh-ins is that it helps you self-monitor more effectively. If you see your weight beginning to trend in the wrong direction, you can take steps to nip that trend in the bud.

Of course, weighing in daily isn't right for everyone. If you've ever had an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia or if you find it extremely upsetting to get on the scale, you should talk to your doctor or mental health–care provider. Otherwise, give it a try and see how it works for you!

If daily weighing is a good strategy for you, we encourage you to keep it up — even after you meet your weight goals. Research has shown that people who've lost weight and continue to weigh themselves regularly afterward are better able to keep the weight off. So plan to make your friendship with your scale a lifelong one. Doing so will greatly increase your chances of both short-term and lifelong success.

Duke Diet & Fitness Center. You can find even more nutrition, fitness, behavioral health, and medical tips at www.dukediet.com.
 

 I weigh myself daily.  I love my scale.  It only weighs what is on it.  It is up to us to try to decipher the results.  The scale never lies to us and so it is my friend.  It helps me stay grounded and on top of my weight daily.  After a lifetime of never weighing myself, I do it now to stay focus, mindful and on track. 

I can't do it daily.  I am a bit OCD and at one time I weigh myself 1-4 times a day and got obsessive with it. Listening to my psych - to be more "normal" I limit how often I do it. 
On maintenance now - I weigh myself 2-4 x a week.  That is still too much - according to my psych. 
I am working on limiting to once - 2 x a week.  
But that's me.  The ides is to have more or less "normal" life.  I know it will never be "normal".

But - one time I was not weighing myself for a few weeks - and gained too much.  So I understand that weighing often is needed, specially when I know that I do not count calories... It is so easy to get too many. 

Hi Molly,

I think I agree...

I weigh myself daily and I think it helps.  I also noticed that when I avoid the scale, that's because I haven't been making good food choices or following my basic WLS rules.

Lisa

Hi Molly,

I agree...the scale never lies.  I may not like what I see, but as my friend it will always tell me the truth.

Dreamgirl119