The scale can be your friend versus being your prison or enemy, as I have said to many of you.
I’m reprinting/updating this particular blog since weighing has come up SO much lately. Must be that time of year! Many of you feel compelled to weigh every day even though you know intellectually (forget emotionally) that this is NOT a good idea.
Of more concern to me is not what time of the day to weigh yourself, but how often you weigh yourself.
The fact many of you weigh everyday which gives me heart palpitations! You could fast on any given day and weigh MORE the next morning. Conversely, if you ’splurged’ and had beer and pizza one evening, you may get on then next morning and weigh less then you thought. It’s unhealthly and just silly to use the scale as a daily litmus test of true body composition. MY recommendation: Weigh yourself ONCE a week. The same day of the week, the same time, preferably first thing in the morning, buck nekked. Keep track if you will, then one week later (not before), repeat. You will see TRENDS and FLUCTUATIONS. You may have worked really hard, eaten just right to ensure weight loss, and still the scale, THE SCALE merely reads what the existing conditions of your body are at that moment in time. Water weight, hormones, the big meal from the day before or not, constipation, or not, or any of the many possibilities(too many to list) can be reasons for fluctuations. I can’t say this enough. It’s not perfection..it’s PROGRESS.
Fluctuations occur under the most perfect eating and exercise habits. If looking to lose weight, over time you will see a downward trend, with natrual highs and lows along the way, on the scale. DO NOT let these highs and lows translate to highs and lows in your emotions giving the scale too much power. Again, scale fluctuations occur for many reasons under the most perfect eating and exercise habits.
Okay, I’m off my soapbox on this one!
Warm regards,
Margo
