Why Diet?
Why diet? If you can’t think of a good and permanent answer then don’t do it. Personally doing anything with the word die it in seems rather unhealthy and dieting definitely is not healthy in the long run, You might lose the weight, even keep it off for a while, but when dieting it always [...]
Learn MoreStick to the Scale?
A recent study from Brown University found that stepping on the scale every day can help people who have lost weight to keep it off. Sixty-one percent of those monitored who lost weight kept it off when they weighed themselves daily, while only 32 percent who weighed less frequently kept the weight off.
I don’t know if I like this news. I guess it makes sense that you can adjust your diet if you see that you are starting to gain weight that you might not notice if you’re not weighing yourself frequently. But weighing daily seems like just a little bit too much obsession to me. Weight varies from day to day depending on what you eat and drink the day before. A week-to-week assessment seems more reasonable.
I’ve never weighed myself regularly. Maybe once a month or so. I’ve probably gained or lost no more than five pounds over the last five years. I know I’m at a healthy weight, but, more important I think, I know I feel healthy in my body the way it is. I don’t need a scale to tell me I’m doing the right thing, and I wouldn’t need a scale to show me if I suddenly stopped my healthy lifestyle.
The scale is a crutch, but maye seeing the number stay (relatively) steady from day to day is a helpful motivator for some people. Anyway, it’s worth thinking about if you’ve recently lost weight.
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I think this is an issue of cause vs. correlation. Do people who maintain lost weight do it because they weigh themselves daily or are people who maintain their weight loss also mildly obsessed with weight loss and thus are the same people who are weighing themselves daily? The two events are definitely correlated, but is one the cause of the other or vice versa or are they both effects of another cause?
For example, I wore my red sweater today and it snowed. These two events are correlated. One could argue that it snowed today because I wore my red sweater since the two events happened at the same time. However, it’s more likely I wore my red sweater because it snowed today. You could also say that the cold temperatures of winter caused it both to snow and for me to wear my red sweater.
Anyway, I weigh myself once a week and it works fine for me.
ReplyI have always been a daily weigher. It keeps me motivated. When I have gone a few days without weighing, I start to think “eh, I’ve been doing okay… one piece of cake won’t hurt me.” But, when I have that number looking up at me EVERY morning, I don’t feel like splurging and ruining my chances of a good weigh in. I gain when I don’t weigh so those studies definitely make sense. Of course, I DO consider myself obsessed.
Reply[...] If you already weigh yourself everyday, then this next tidbit will please you… A recent study from Brown University found that stepping on the scale every day can help people who have lost weight to keep it off. Sixty-one percent of those monitored who lost weight kept it off when they weighed themselves daily, while only 32 percent who weighed less frequently kept the weight off. [...]