Doing this 30 day challenge I have been weighing myself every day. Not something I generally do or advocate. Especially if you're building muscle. It can cause a bit of confusion and frustration. When your pants are suddenly falling off but the scale isn't moving, it makes you wonder. But for the last couple weeks I've been stepping on it every day. I do it at the same time, in the same place, with roughly the same clothing on. It's been fascinating. To see the effect of different daily routines shown on the scale has been enlightening. I can gain or lose several pounds depending on how much water I consume that day. I don't consider a number my actual weight until it averages out over 3 or more days. Simply because it fluctuates so much. If you stressed about that it could make you bonkers. And make you give up. But there seems to be evidence showing that weighing yourself daily can lead to successful and long term weight loss. Or a padded room with nice nurses and good drugs.
According to results from the National Weight Control Registry, the largest study of successful dieters, some 36% of dieters reported weighing themselves once a day.
There are many different opinions on this subject, though many of the opinions lack any data to back them up. It's simply conjecture and anecdotes. Jillian Michaels says "I recommend that people weigh themselves once a week, at the same time every week. Weighing yourself every day can have a negative impact on you." and dedicates an entire page to her opinion. I suppose there's probably some truth to it, if you let there be. As she and others say, and I've noticed, your weight can fluctuate throughout the day, or even over a couple days. There are quite a few variables to take into account. Water consumption, sodium intake, exercise, sleep, hormones. They all affect your weight. Even what time I eat breakfast can change the number I see.
"Long-term weight loss maintenance" by Rena R Wing and Suzanne Phelan and published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition provides some fascinating incite into what makes long term weight loss possible. This is the study that investigated the daily weighing. The abstract says the following:
There is a general perception that almost no one succeeds in long-term maintenance of weight loss. However, research has shown that ≈20% of overweight individuals are successful at long-term weight loss when defined as losing at least 10% of initial body weight and maintaining the loss for at least 1 y. The National Weight Control Registry provides information about the strategies used by successful weight loss maintainers to achieve and maintain long-term weight loss. National Weight Control Registry members have lost an average of 33 kg and maintained the loss for more than 5 y. To maintain their weight loss, members report engaging in high levels of physical activity (≈1 h/d), eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet, eating breakfast regularly, self-monitoring weight, and maintaining a consistent eating pattern across weekdays and weekends. Moreover, weight loss maintenance may get easier over time; after individuals have successfully maintained their weight loss for 2–5 y, the chance of longer-term success greatly increases. Continued adherence to diet and exercise strategies, low levels of depression and disinhibition, and medical triggers for weight loss are also associated with long-term success. National Weight Control Registry members provide evidence that long-term weight loss maintenance is possible and help identify the specific approaches associated with long-term success.
In the "Discussion" section of this article you will find this little nugget:
A significant finding from this study was that maintaining or increasing self-weighing frequency from baseline to 1-year follow-up was associated with less weight regain. Consistent and more intensive self-weighing may allow individuals to catch weight gains before they escalate and make behavior changes to prevent additional weight gain. In previous research, we found that recovery from weight regain was rare but possible if individuals caught the weight gains early, reversing small (as opposed to larger) weight gains. Consistent self-weighing may facilitate weight control by enabling individuals to catch and reverse small weight gains. Alternatively, it is possible that individuals who are gaining weight decrease their frequency of self-weighing because they find doing so distressing or because they do not perceive it as a helpful weight control behavior.
If you're interested, you can actually join the National Weight Control Registry and read their research HERE.
If you're interested, you can actually join the National Weight Control Registry and read their research HERE.
What I find myself wondering is if the daily weighing is as important as all the other contributing factors. A daily breakfast, less eating out, more exercise. We all know these things lead to weight loss. A consistent eating pattern, less calorie consumption? You mean eat less and move more? I'm shocked they lost weight and kept it off. Shocked I tell you! Lowering depression makes you eat less and lose weight? So really, how much of the success can be directly and linked to the daily weighing? I don't think we can know that for sure, but it doesn't seem to hurt.
One thing I did find worth noting is that most of the studies quoted in various articles, though completed by different people in different nations, all seem to use the same data from the National Weight Control Registry. And considering the fact that the data collected is all self reported by participants, there is a significant possibility for error. But it is certainly worth thinking about. The question to ask yourself is, can you handle the daily fluctuations? If yes, then it may be useful for you. If it's going to discourage you and leave you crying on the bathroom floor then perhaps every few days or once a week would be better. Just don't toss it in the trash bin and say fuck it like I did for years. You won't like how that ends. Or perhaps begins. Not sure on that one. Either way it's pretty shocking when you step on a scale after several years and it screams in protest. When you have to special order a shipping scale that goes high enough to register your weight. When I first started to gain a lot of weight I would stop occasionally on the roadside truck scales, take the weight with me and my car and then step off. You don't want to need to do that.
Sources:
Long-term weight loss maintenance
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