Weigh Everyday to Control your Weight

Many dieters have a hard time to go on a scale- it can be an emotional experience, especially if you've gained a couple of pounds. So, understandably, they try to avoid it. Some weight loss programs wrap the "weigh in" into a big event, giving the weighing an even higher emotional significance.

Weight control is important. When I am talking with my clients they often mention things like "I need to control my weight all the time or I'll fall off the wagon". Some of them start to weigh every day- but, does it really work? Is it really a good idea to weigh yourself daily?

Usually the "weigh in" is done only once a week, or even less. The reason for this is: Our body weight is continuously fluctuating a bit. If you weigh every day, you might get discouraged because the scale does not show a continuously declining weight. But: It's natural to have ups and downs.

There is another problem with weighing yourself daily. It might take some time (up to a day) until the results of your lifestyle show up on the scale. So, if you had a large dinner, on the next morning the scale still might give you an OK number- but a day later you'll see it.

Nevertheless, if you take this delay into account and weigh every day, you'll get a good idea what makes you lose weight and what causes weight gain. Get a "daily weighing journal" and write down your numbers. It's important that you see the trend: Is your weight going up or down? And if it is going up, what has caused the weight gain?

On the other hand, if your weight declines, you're obviously doing something right. What is it? Can you do more of it? -As always in life, if you've found something that works, keep on doing it! Any simple insight gained that way will greatly help you to lose weight permanently.

Does it make sense for you to weigh yourself every day to control your weight? Just ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I get easily discouraged when I see my weight fluctuating a bit? If yes, don't weigh daily.
2. Am I able to see the overall trend in daily numbers? Am I able to learn from my numbers what makes me gain weight and what makes me lose weight? If yes, weigh every day to control your weight.

As you see, any weight loss advice has to adjust to the personality to be successful and sustainable. "One size fits all" does not work if you want to lose weight permanently.