I found this article on AOL's diet and fitness section. I found it very interesting.
In the bathroom, locker room and even at the doctor's office, most adults cringe at the sight of a scale. But it might actually be a dieter's best friend, according to new findings.
Over a two-year period, adults who self-weighed daily actually lost more weight than adults who shied away from the scales. In fact, daily weighers lost twice as much as those who only measured weekly, according to the University of Minnesota study.
Adults often have a better gauge on their cars than on their bodies, says Michael D. Ozner, author of 'The Miami Mediterranean Diet.' While it's easy to tell when your car needs a fill-up, monitoring weight comes less easily to many.
"Our fuel gauge should be our bathroom scale," says Ozner. "If we see that we're gaining weight, we don't want to fill up or put more fuel into our system."
The daily approach runs contrary to conventional wisdom about measuring weight, and many health experts discourage frequent trips to the scale because of daily fluctuations that can be discouraging.
What's Your True Weight?
Dawn Jackson Blatner, of the American Dietetic Association, says hormonal changes, salt and carb splurges, and even weather can affect your weight. She recommends using the "4 S's":
· Same time of day, on the
· Same day each week, wearing the
· Same clothing, and using the
· Same scale
Your true weight is a measure of what's happening to your body over time, says Blatner, which is why she recommends a weekly check-in. And if your clothing sizes differ from friends of similar weight, remember that your body type predetermines how and where your weight is distributed. You can just thank Mom for that.
I have to say that the scale has never been my favorite part of a doctors visit, but the first time I took my newly adopted dog- Germen Sheppard, Boxer, Lab, Chow, etc-mix, to the vet the first time she really didn't want to be weighed. She was fine being let around and into the back room- no problems at all until the vet tech step aside to reveal the big scales of doom. Poor Maggie took one look and tried to bolt from the room- dragging me with her. We did finally get her on the scales- but it took all three of us to keep her there long enough to be weighed. The two vet techs & I were all overweight so I couldn't resist saying that I bet we've all considered doing that at the doctors office
I am one of those who does tend to weigh myself nearly everyday. It does keep me on track and in ways, it makes me more accepting that my weight does fluctuate somewhat- its easy to forget that if you only weigh yourself once a month or so. I know for me, when my weight is stable, I have about a 5 pound range I bounce around in- if it goes any higher, I have to do something or else its too easy for my weight to creep up there.
I've gone through periods where I've weighed myself as much as 4 or 5 times a week. I felt stressed out because I was obsessing about it so much. Now I do a Wednesday check, then real weigh in on Friday (I peek on Thursday a lot, heh heh). My weight, even at the same time of day with the same clothes -- ie none -- can change by as much as 3 lbs in a day.
I do the Wednesday check to get an idea if I need to watch the snacks or exercise more.
It seems like such an individual preference. I've heard women say that they weigh once a month and that works for them. I have to say unless you're pretty emotionally neutral about your weight, weighing every day doesn't seem too constructive too me.
I'm a daily weigher -- in fact, I weigh myself at home and at the gym, so the days I go to the gym, I weigh myself twice.
I'm an engineer, and I love data. Not sure if one causes the other, but after being in engineering for 20+ years, I do like my data . My trainer laughs at me because I'll go on the web and download the stairmaster manual so that I can calculate the amount of elevation I've gained climbing the evil stairmaster.
Weighing myself that frequently has made each individual measurement a little less troublesome. I have a sense of how my body weight will vary throughout the month and also depending on what I've eaten recently.
Hi there
I am also a daily weigher... ok, lets be honest here... i usually weigh first thing in the morning and then again after work... sometimes after I workout and always before bedtime. It amazes me how much it can vary but I also know that if its up more than 2-3 lbs late in the day, that tomorrow I have to be better behaved. So far, this is working for me!
Article on Weighing Daily
-- can change by as much as 3 lbs in a day. 
. My trainer laughs at me because I'll go on the web and download the stairmaster manual so that I can calculate the amount of elevation I've gained climbing the evil stairmaster.
