Weighing daily acts a bit like a self-regulator. Many people may find that not weighing puts weight gain “out of sight, out of mind,” and they may become relaxed in other areas of their weight loss goals. In contrast, if someone becomes relaxed but weighs themselves more often, they’re more likely to self-correct their behaviors due to the negative feedback of the scale number climbing
If they’re weighing daily, they’re more likely to self-correct faster than people who weigh in weekly or biweekly. With the latter group, more weight could be added before the individual begins to self-correct. While weighing in daily is associated with better weight maintenance, for some people, weighing in that frequently can promote neuroticism, unhealthy self image, and negative habits.
I recommend trying to divest yourself from the daily number you see on the scale. Instead, focus on the average weight for the week. Just like you wouldn’t sell a stock based on one bad day in the market, you shouldn’t drastically reduce your calorie intake just because you weighed in high one day.
By taking the average of your weekly weight, you’re less susceptible to day-to-day fluctuations. Weight fluctuations of up to 1-2% per day are natural and not cause for concern. If you find that weighing in freaks you out, another strategy is to step on the scale each day and have your partner, roommate, or significant other take the weight and write it down somewhere. Then you can avoid looking at it until the end of the week.
If you don’t live with someone, you can always step on the scale and look away but take a picture with your camera, as long as you can resist the urge to look at it for a week. If all those don’t work for you,then you may have to just do weigh-ins once per week. However, if you can weigh in daily, it’s the best method for tracking progress in my opinion.
Coach HB