If you are up for losing weight, then weighing machine is your best friend. Take the weight once daily. Stepping on the scales should be like brushing your teeth.
The old conventional wisdom was: Don't weigh yourself more than once a week. It will drive you crazy. But now we are seeing more and more research showing that the optimal frequency for weighing oneself is likely every day. Contrary to the popular theory that such frequent trips to the scale could be confusing, discouraging or even psychologically dangerous.
Researchers believe that those who put daily weighing to the test after preliminary studies linked it with weight loss and maintenance. Those preliminary studies, based on observations of people in broader studies, did not prove that frequent weighing helped people control their weight. It was possible that cause and effect went the other way- that good numbers kept people coming back to their scales while disappointing numbers kept them away. It was also observed during these studies that people found, it helped them monitoring the weight daily. People monitoring their weight lost significant weight and were able to keep it off too. Definitely, counselling plays an important role apart from just monitoring in keeping depression, binge eating or other signs of disordered eating at bay.
But there are nutritionists of the opinion that one can get lost in those numbers and start identifying their self-worth with what's on the scale. Also, weight fluctuates day to day, hour to hour, depending not just on what you have eaten but how recently you have had a bowel movement or a drink of water. So, we should comprehend from this that taking weight is a very person specific. It always depends on the mindset of the person being handled for weight loss.
Few tips for daily weighing:
• Do it at the same time, in the same state of undress, each day. Most experts recommend morning when people tend to weigh the least.
• Chart the readings or just write down the daily weight for records and your own better understanding.
• New digital weighing machines also record BMI, but this fact should be borne in mind that BMI moves at a slower pace than weight.