Lucy asks: How often should I weigh myself on your program?

My advice is that you weigh yourself once a month, on the same morning
every month, before you’ve eaten anything, and preferably without
clothes and after voiding. Keep a written monthly log.
And that’s it. Please do not weigh yourself more than once a month.

I suggest this because I know firsthand what getting on the scale can do for a weight loss program.
There were times I weighed myself several times a day. I’d go down in
pounds on intense diets (as much as 5-10 pounds in a week), and up in
water weight whenever I ate or drank liquids. Depending on what the
scale dictated, I ate more or less. It made me crazy! I’d feel happy if
it went down a little, so I’d eat some more, which made it go up. I’d
feel really depressed if it didn’t go down, so I’d starve myself, which
often had no effect, which made me feel worse.

Weight change is cumulative and gradual. It’s affected by the overall
aggregate of what you eat, and how much you use up the nutritional
energy you’re consuming in the form of physical activity. When losing
weight, the pounds don’t go off steadily or predictably. Everyone is
different. Allowing a month to let the wonderful work you’re doing take
effect is far more sane and safe than frequent, compulsive weighing.

What’s YOUR relationship to your bathroom scale?  Friend or Foe?  Tell us below.

Also, please sign up to receive my drnorrischumley Twitter.com short messages.  They can help you all day, throughout the day!

 

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