Use Your Scale the Right Weigh

by Bethany Sanders (Subscribe to Bethany Sanders's posts)
Mar 31st 2009 9:00AM

The bathroom scale isn't the only measure of weight loss, but it's certainly an easy and inexpensive way to track your progress. This is one time you don't want to use a hand-me-down -- older, spring-style scales can wear out over time and become inaccurate. Shop around for a new scale that gets good reviews. Digital scales that measure to the tenth of a pound are great for weight loss, because even if you don't lose a whole pound, you'll still be able to see progress.

Once your scale is ready to go, here are some tips to ensure an accurate reading every time, so that you can chart your weight loss as it goes down, down, down.

Place your scale on a hard, even surface.
Weigh yourself on the same day every week.
Weigh yourself at the same time every day (you're at your lightest in the morning).
Hop on that scale naked -- no use weighing your clothes!

Comments (3)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

rtabel 3-31-2009 @ 10:17AM

Don't obsess about weighing yourself! This can be very distracting. Instead, focus on eating healthy, getting the right nutrition and exercising your body. That will take care of the scale. I found more weight loss resources at http://www.squidoo.com/Fat-Loss-12

u262f 3-31-2009 @ 4:23PM

I have my own tips about weighing in the "right way". I personally step on the scale three or four times a day -- sometimes, more than once within the same five minutes. The "right way" is to use the scale as an informational tool, not as a judge. The numbers are just information. There's no reason to feel happy or upset because those numbers change. I can see on the scale how much food I've eaten and how much waste I've eliminated. I know that I gain and lose 5 lbs every day from just eating, drinking, eliminating, and sleeping. I know that water has zero calories but causes the fastest weight loss and weight gain. I know that my periods make me retain weight.

I also know that the tenth of a pound on the digital scale is bogus. If you step on the scale naked, step on the scale carrying a 5lb weight, and then step on the scale naked again in immediate succession, the first and last weights are quite often not the same. The way to track tiny changes is over time. Graphing long-term trends is very useful. When my daily variation is 5 lbs and monthly variation is 10 lbs, it's easy to miss a trending weight gain or loss of half of lb per month because it's lost in the noise. However, a long-term graph (such as the one the Wii Fit gives you if you use it regularly) will eventually show these trends. The 5-10 lb regular gain/loss is just a normal part of life, but the half lb per month gain is what will kill you. Trying to see that incremental trend inside the 5-10lb noise is almost impossible without squashing lots of data points close to each other in a long-term graph.

I don't know why people are so afraid of the scale. My turning point was when I started stepping on a digital scale multiple times per day. My BMI had slowly crept up from 23 to 30, and it was still going up when I first received a digital scale as a gift. Getting my weight multiple times per day gave me the information I needed to get stop my weight gain and start dropping my weight again. I'm back down to BMI 23.

The right way to use the scale is to not get irrationally emotional over the numbers. It gives useful information if you know how to use it. Don't fear the scale.

There should be a "multiple times per day" option in the poll.

Fred Smilek 4-01-2009 @ 1:05PM

It can make quite a difference, weighing yourself in the morning or evening..

The Society to Save Endangered Species was formed by Fred Smilek and two of his colleagues; Charlie Mack & Jonathan Korny. Fred Smilek stays active in raising awareness for this cause. [www.fredjsmilek.com]