The Tale of the Scale

I’ve always been told that it’s a bad idea to weigh yourself every day. I can understand why, because your weight fluctuates from day to day, depending upon what you ate or didn’t eat the day before. It goes up a pound or 2 and it goes down a pound or 2…. Or it stays the same for a whole week. It’s enough to make a person trying to lose weight go crazynutscoockoo.

The reason they tell you this is because they don’t think you can mentally handle these daily fluctuations. They say you should only weigh yourself once a week. But if you understand what’s going on, you can handle weighing yourself each and every morning. If your scale says you weigh 2 pounds more than yesterday, you probably had something that made you retain water. Usually food with high sodium content. Personally I think weighing myself every day is beneficial to me, and I am quicker to adjust my diet if it’s not doing what it’s supposed to. 

If you went up 2 pounds in weight in one day you would have had to have eaten 7000 calories, since a pound of fat is 3500 calories. I should say "extra" calories, on top of what you normally eat. Possible, but highly unlikely if you’re trying to eat healthy and are on a diet. So if you understand that your weight will fluctuate from day to day, and as long as the overall trend is downwards, you can weigh yourself every day. No problem.

The trouble with weighing yourself only once a week is you might have had a high sodium meal or 2 the day before you weigh yourself and be bloated the next morning. You get on the scale; see a few more pounds than last week, and panic. You step off the scale, move the scale over to a more level spot on the floor (as if)and get on it again. Same weight, Arghhhhhhh.  Then you have to fret for a whole week, probably starving yourself for no reason at all. Or binging out of frustration

So if you understand what’s going on… every morning when you wake up, go to the bathroom, do your business and then get on the scale. Same time every day, same amount of clothes, or no clothes at all if you prefer.