I have no hard scientific data to back up this post, just oodles of experience working with clients, and mountains of empirical evidence watching “scale addicts” jump on this ruler of happiness (or discontent) to see what’s changed from the day before.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s important to know what you weigh. If you happen to be very overweight, getting on the scale once a week will help track weight loss progress. Even if you’re of average weight, getting on the scale every week or two is a part of simple body maintenance. But getting on the scale daily can be mind-crushing, and in my opinion, burdening for everyone – regardless of their weight loss goals.
People are emotional creatures. We respond to stimuli. Formany of us, the number we see on the scale defines how we feel, at least immediately after we weigh ourselves, or for a good while thereafter.Seeing the wrong number can really throw us off.
Weight loss scenario
Some of us let down our guard when we see we’re on the right track. As the weight starts to come off, we figure we must be doing something right (and you probably are!). Therefore, we make the wrong kind of exceptions based on the expectations that the weight will continue to come off. Suddenly the desserts you once gave a cold shoulder to are starting to warm up to your appetite again. After all, your metabolism must be up, or you’ve got this weight loss thing under control…right? Wrong. After a day or two of eating less-than-stellar nutrition, your weight is back to where it was. Personally, I’mall about appropriate indulgences.Save those indulgences for the right time (reminder: we’re coming into theholidays), and NOT for every brownie, plate of nachos or [insert your guilty pleasure here] you meet along the way.
True, true, the “inappropriate indulgence” scenario can definitely happen at any stage, regardless of when you weigh yourself, but weighing yourself daily only allows for this door to be open more often.
Weight gain scenario
Some of us throw in the towel. It happens – weight fluctuates.It can even go up slightly after a week of diligent eating and exercise. You’ve jumped on the scale every day this week. Holy crap - your weight is actually up! What is going on? You’ve been working out and eating healthy. Either it’s a defunct thyroid or your body is just not able to lose weight, right? This makes you disheartened. Since exercise isn’t doing the trick, that starts to fade away. Old dietary habits quickly creep back and your right back to where you started. Does this sound familiar?
There are a myriad of reasons why some of us lose weight faster than others. The bottom line to remember is exercise and eating healthy work. Not only is this combination good for your body, but it absolutely positively assists in weight loss. Some people lose a lot of weight right away,but many, many, many of us start losing weight after several weeks of this regime. This doesn’t mean that your body isn’t reaping loads of other unseen benefits. If you know you’re doing the best you can, there is no need to weigh yourself on a daily basis. Once or twice a week should do the trick. If you’re happy with the way things are going and notice progress in other ways (clothes are looser, you can run a little faster, it’s easier to carry a bag of groceries up the stairs), weigh yourself less.
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