Are You Weighing Yourself Correctly?

If you are trying to lose weight, it is imperative that you weigh yourself consistently and with accuracy. Since I often get questions from clients about the best way to do this, I thought it would make a nice feature article for readers of my blog and newsletter.

Why is it so important to weigh yourself each week?

There are two reasons why it is critically important to weigh yourself each and every week:

-The first reason is simply to find out what is going on. Bad habits can sneak in quietly and if you think you are getting away with them, you won’t be able to stop them. A weekly weight reading keeps you aware of where things are going.

-The second reason is to help you identify patterns. When you lose weight, study what you did right. When you gain weight, study what you did wrong. Assigning a consequence to a behavior is critical to learning whether or not you should continue or avoid that behavior. Over a period of months, you will learn exactly what you must do to lose weight and exactly what causes you to gain weight. Consider your weigh in a data point to help you gauge your program and make any necessary adjustments.

How to weigh yourself accurately and consistently

1) It all starts with an accurate scale. I am a big fan of Tanita Iron man scales. These are research quality scales that also let you measure your body fat. They are a bit more expensive than your typical scale but last for years and years. You can pick these up on Amazon.com and learn more about them at Tanita.com. I have been using one of the IronMan series for years and love it.

2) Weigh yourself one time a week, first thing in the morning, in your underwear, before you eat or drink anything. If you had a cheat meal with refined carbohydrates like bread, pasta or white rice, a particularly salty meal or a few drinks containing alcohol, it is perfectly normal to retain a few pounds of water. This can impact your weigh in, so find a day to weigh yourself when you have been eating clean for at least 2 full days. Most of my clients splurge on Wednesday and Saturday nights, so a Wednesday morning or Saturday morning weigh in is perfect. Record your weight in a log to make it easy to keep track of trends.

3) Lastly, keep the right mental attitude when weighing yourself. A lot of my clients got very nervous about their weekly scale reading at first. If they did not lose weight, they would get upset and feel like they failed. It is totally normal to have weeks where you don’t drop weight and weeks where you even gain weight along the way. Don’t freak out if this happens here and there. Look at the weigh in for what it is, a weekly data point to help you gauge your progress, keep you focused and make any necessary adjustments to your program.