Let me tell you a story about a woman who weighed herself
too much.
Once upon a time there was a woman who went on a low-carb
diet and became very interested in what her weight was doing
on a regular basis. She woke up every morning and weighed
herself. Then she would go to the bathroom and weigh herself
again. Then she would weigh again after her shower. Then
she'd weigh herself after she put her clothes on. And she
would weigh herself finally before she went to bed at night.
Every day it was the same roller coaster ride. When she
weighed after going to the bathroom, she knew her diet was
working, because she would often weigh a full pound less
than what she weighed a couple minutes earlier. That's
pretty good weight loss for a couple minutes.
But then, when she put her clothes on and weighed again, she
would be horrified and question the whole diet. She had
gained 3 pounds!
And, if that wasn't enough, she also started measuring her
waist every morning and night. She discovered that her
nighttime measurement was often half an inch more than her
morning time tape reading. That made her sure the diet
wasn't working. But then, by morning, she would be surprised
to find her measurement down half an inch, and she would
brim with enthusiasm for her great diet.
In the end the woman gave up her diet, went insane, and went
bankrupt from all the scales and measuring tapes she had to
buy over her lifetime.
So what's the moral of the story? Obviously the woman in
this story took measurements too frequently. With all those
ups and downs how could any human being stay sane? She was
riding the measurement roller coaster.
You've been warned!! If you don't want to end up like this
woman, don't weigh yourself any more than once a week!
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The Real Point of the Story
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If you haven't picked up my sarcasm, let me fess up now. My
tongue has been planted firmly in my cheek so far. So what's
my point?
Many low-carb gurus will tell you: "Weigh yourself just once
a week". But the fact is that most dieters weigh themselves
much more often than this. Most weigh at least daily. I just
wanted to take a chance here to encourage you. You don't
have to feel guilty for frequent weighings. You'll probably
be just fine, even if you weigh as often as the woman in the
story.
So why do the gurus give this advice? Well, I suspect (and
I'm only guessing here) that Dr. Atkins and others got tired
of hearing from the small minority of dieters who would
freak out when their weight went up one day. Or they would
go to the scale every morning expecting a drop, and not see
one for maybe 7 mornings in a row! It was for them as
agonizing as waiting at the mailbox every day for a college
acceptance/rejection letter or something would be for the
rest of us.
And some people really probably can't put things in
perspective, and are probably better off weighing only once
a week. But I have a hard time believing this involves
anything more than a small minority of dieters.
How can you tell which group you are in? Well, weigh
yourself every day and see if it drives you crazy.
Let me now tell you how weighing just once a week can
actually drive you more crazy than weighing once a day.
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How Weekly Weighings Can Backfire
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Suppose you are losing a pound a week, but your weight
normally fluctuates 4 pounds depending on the level of fluid
retention you have. So suppose your average weight is 180
and your weight fluctuates between 182 and 178. When you
lose a pound the next week you will weigh 179, and your
weight will fluctuate between 181 and 177.
Now suppose you weighed just once each week. The first week
you weighed and the scale read 178 (the bottom end of your
normal fluctuation at that time). And the second week you
weighed and the scale read 181 (the top end of your normal
fluctuation a week later). What will you think then?
According to the scale you've gained three pounds! You
waited all week, and you found out you gained three pounds!
You would be understandably disappointed.
But if you had weighed daily, perhaps you would have seen
something like this: 178, 180, 182, 181, 179, 178, 177, 181.
Now that 181 reading has some context. Sure your
measurements that stand exactly 7 days apart say that you
gained 3 pounds in 7 days. But let's look at the context.
Both readings were aberrations. The first reading was
unusually low, and the second unusually high. There's really
nothing to worry about here, and the readings are consistent
with ongoing weight loss.
In this case, then, weighing every day is clearly superior
to weighing once a week. In fact it might be the difference
between sticking to a diet that's working and getting
discouraged and giving up.
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In Conclusion
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Now you might be wondering why I'm spilling any ink over
this issue at all. Is it really that important how often we
weigh ourselves? My answer to that question is no. It really
doesn't matter how often we weigh. What matters is that we
can put the measurements in perspective and understand the
role of normal fluctuation. I guess I just like to question
advice that I hear over and over when it doesn't seem like
there are very many good reasons for the advice in the first
place.
And since I don't want to be completely one-sided here.
There are some benefits to weighing only once a week, too.
First, it takes less time. Second, you don't have to deal
with the little emotional ups and downs (just be prepared
not to over-react if your weekly weighing goes against you.)
Third, you will probably go through fewer scales in your
lifetime. And fourth, you can test your will power by trying
to stay off the scale every morning.
Well, I guess that's it.
Thanks for listing to this little rant. You are truly a good
friend.
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