How Often Should You Get On The Scale?

You Might Want To Step On More Often As You Get Closer To Your Goal

By Jackie Wicks, PEERtrainer co-founder
There is a lot of debate about the question of how often to step on the scale. But reality is that people are so afraid of weighing themselves. It is like anything in life- accountability is often really hard, painful and we don't want to do it. As humans we are conditioned towards pleasure and away from pain. But, in my experience, it is hard to lose the last ten pounds if you don't weigh yourself.

Here is a specific question that I got today from a Tip Of The Day Subscriber:

"I've been hearing that I should weigh myself every day instead of once a week.  What do you think?"

There have been studies that support both sides so I'm not going to the "scientific" research part of this question.  I'm going to share with you what I've seen work with people in the PEERtrainer community.

Thoughts For People With More Than 15 Pounds To Lose:

If you have over 15 pounds to lose, you should weigh yourself every week at the same time.  It keeps you on track and gives you a sense of what you're doing well.  If you weigh yourself every day, you'll get frustrated because it's such a minimal amount daily and you're looking for "bigger losses".

Thoughts For People With Less Than 15 Pounds To Lose:

If you have 15 pounds or less or you are maintaining your weight loss, you should weigh yourself every single day.  Based on what I've seen, the weekly weigh-ins do not give enough accountability to maintain the loss or lose the last pounds.

Again, nothing scientific or researched based.  This is only based on what I've seen bring the most joy and least frustration with the scale.

Important Note About Weight Training:

We are starting to become more vocal advocates for weight training, especially for women. The muscles that women build are not bulky, and help to burn fat for the long term. However, when you start weight training, you create tiny tears in your muscles. From what we understand, part of your body's response to this is to send more water to the muscles. This creates added water weight. So, if you are just starting a weight training regemin, or just getting it into your head that 15 pound weights, not 2 pound weights are the way to go- then skip the scale entirely for a couple weeks as you engage your muscles.

Making The Scale Your Friend

This might sound cheesy, but avoiding the scale is what helps people pack on 10 or 20 pounds. Don't be afraid of the number. And don't be obsessive about it either. But if you start to get comfortable with the scale, every time you do so you will bring focus to your goal. You will either have a small win or have some motivation to workout, eat some greens, or work on your portion control.


What Have Your Experiences Been With The Scale?

This is guaranteed to be a controversial subject, but we do want to hear your thoughts and experiences on this.

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