Maria's Last Diet

by Maria's Last Diet

Here’s your chance to weigh in on the scale. Do you use a scale? Does weighing yourself work for you? How often do you weigh yourself? Does the frequency with which you weigh yourself make a difference? If so, what difference does it make?

The research on using the scale to facilitate weight loss is quite mixed. Some studies show weighing less frequently is better, others show weighing more frequently is the answer, and finally there are research studies that conclude it’s best not to weigh yourself at all. So it appears that it’s your choice. In other words, what works best for you about weighing yourself is what you should use.

There are some consequences to getting on the scale and seeing what you weigh. The two most common are you can be encouraged and you can be discouraged. The important thing is not the consequence itself, but how you handle an unwanted consequence.

What are some of your experiences using the scale a lot, a little, or not at all? Have you developed any good ways to deal with your reactions to the weigh in?

by Maria's Last Diet

The scale, oh the scale. What adventures await? Will I or won’t I be what I think I am? Should I or shouldn’t I today; or should I wait until the end of the week?

The scale stands as the one of the most fearsome weight-loss activities. You can’t wait to get on and see how you are doing; yet you don’t want to get on to see how you are doing. There’s avoidance of the scale and there’s compulsive use of the scale (multiple times a day). There’s great ambivalence and indecision and conflict, lots of conflict.

What is best to do about the scale? Should you avoid it entirely, taking the position that knowing how much you weigh and how much weight you lost doesn’t make any difference to the weight-loss process? Should you weigh yourself every day, taking the position that knowing your weight and how much you’ve lost does indeed affect the process of weight loss. Should you take a middle position? Weigh yourself on occasion, like once a week, or every two weeks, or once a month, because this is what will help you lose your unwanted weight the most.

Here are some of the research findings.

Study 1. Daily weighing helped keep weight off once weight was lost. It promoted dietary restraint, overall restraint, decreased depressed mood, and decreased bingeing. 

Study 2. Greater frequency of weighing was associated with greater twenty-four month weight loss and less weight gain.

Study 3. After 6 months of weekly weigh-ins, there was an average weight loss of 5 percent or more of pre-weight-loss weight.

Study 4. Daily weighing led to increased weight gain for people who work especially hard at controlling their weight day in and day out.

There are many more research studies on the value of frequent versus less frequent use of the scale. The preponderance of results point to more frequent weighing as being a good technique for fostering both weight loss and maintenance of lost weight.

by Maria's Last Diet

Weight monitoring is such a common occurrence, especially among women who are trying to lose unwanted weight. One reason women step on a scale is to have greater control with their weight. 

Research on this topic showed that daily weigh ins resulted in increased weight, while weekly weigh ins led to decreased weight. This was true for chronic dieters. For occasional dieters or non-dieters, the frequency with which they weighed themselves did not affect their ability to have greater control with their weight.

A possible cause for putting weight on among more chronic dieters: “…daily weight reminders might lead to dissatisfaction with one’s progress, which may prompt overeating…”

What have you found to be the optimal frequency of weighing yourself—so you can comfortably control your weight?

by Maria's Last Diet

The scale, the scale, the scale. Each day the scale. The pressure of the scale weighs heavily on me.

I'm dieting--of course. Saying to myself, "Don't eat this. Don't eat that. Just have a little, not a lot." The pressure is on me all the way round.

So weighing myself each day, rather than keeping me on my diet, seems to be throwing me off my diet. I can't stand all the pressure. Even the goal of getting thin is pressure. This is nothing like the old days, last month, last year, the year before, when I ate and ate and food was good. Now it's bad. Can you imagine that? Food is now bad.

Pressure, pressure, pressure. The scale, the scale, the scale. Got to do something very different. What if I backed off on everything? Told the scale to kiss off, at least every day. Maybe once a week would be OK. Less pressure.

I can't restrict myself everywhere and keep being a happy person. I won't even be a sane person. With so much restriction, I don't even want to keep trying to lose the weight. Booby traps everywhere, and I'm making them. So for now, goodbye everyday weighing. That's the first restriction I'm going to lift off me. Then comes the too many don'ts of dieting. But that's a story for another time.