One of the most intimidating pieces of equipment is the bathroom scale. Some people avoid stepping on the scale because they’re scared of seeing the number on it. Monitoring weight daily can cause people to do crazy things, from celebrating a one-pound drop to feeling discouraged at the sight of the number going up. A few pounds here and there can make you feel like you’re doing something wrong or that all your hard work is worthless. That’s not healthy.
You shouldn’t be obsessed with the bathroom scale or weigh yourself several times per day. But it wouldn’t be wise to never step on a scale again either. If you don’t weigh yourself for months, you could discover, when you finally step on the scale, that you’ve gained 20 pounds and must drastically change your lifestyle to take it off.
But by weighing yourself multiple times a day, you place additional stress on yourself. When you do weigh yourself, make sure you’re doing it right. Here are five common mistakes people make when weighing themselves.
You Place Too Much Faith in the Bathroom Scale
A standard bathroom scale measures total body weight. It can’t distinguish between fat and other substances like muscle, bone, and fluid. Your body weight can rise for several reasons. You may have eaten a big meal or consumed too much sodium and have fluid retention that’s causing your weight to go up. If you’ve been strength training and see a gradual increase in weight, it could be that you’re gaining muscle.
One way to differentiate is to use a scale that looks at body fat. A body fat scale is designed to measure your body fat percentage, but it’s not entirely accurate. It’s useful for monitoring changes in body fat if you check your body fat as soon as you wake up in the morning after urinating. It’s also important to use a body fat scale according to the instructions. Read the directions carefully. For example, your feet shouldn’t be wet either since that can affect the reading.
Other factors that can affect the reading of a body fat scale include a recent bath, hydration status, and sweating from a recent workout. A body fat scale can give you an idea of whether your body fat content is changing, but the reading won’t necessarily be accurate in an absolute sense. However, it does tell you more than a bathroom scale. If you weigh first thing in the morning after urinating each time you weigh, it’s reasonably accurate for following changes in body fat percentage.
You Weigh Too Often
Stepping on the scale too often isn’t a good practice either. If you weigh yourself throughout the day, you may see fluctuations in weight of as much as 2-5 pounds. This can be discouraging if the number goes up instead of down. It’s better to weigh yourself once or twice a week at most. Weighing too often is mentally stressful for some people. The mental stress can then contribute to weight gain by increasing the stress hormone cortisol. Don’t let your body weight become an obsession.
You Weigh Yourself after a Workout
You just went for a run, did a strength-training circuit, or a high-intensity interval workout. You’re pumped up, tired, and feeling good about yourself. So, you hop on the bathroom scale to see how much weight you lost. It’s down! Yay! But don’t read too much into it. You might see the number on the scale drop after an intense cardio session, but there’s a good chance that that number will go back up tomorrow. The reason? You sweated and lost fluid during your workout and that causes your weight to be artificially low until you rehydrate and eat carbohydrates to replenish your glycogen stores. Weighing in after a workout won’t give you an accurate picture of your weight.
You Don’t Weigh Yourself at the Same Time Each Day
You may not think it matters, but the time of day you step on the bathroom scale can have a big effect on what it says. Your weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds over the day, depending on how much you’ve eaten and how much water you’re holding onto.
For example, if you weigh yourself in the morning, you might be down a pound or two compared to your afternoon weigh-in because your body retains more water during the day or because you ate and drank more before your afternoon weigh-in. When you weigh yourself first thing in the morning before breakfast, water retention and the effects of a meal are less.
The only way to see your accurate weight is to weigh yourself at the same time, every time. Otherwise, your weight will fluctuate, and you won’t get a true representation of your progress. The worst time to weigh yourself is right after eating. Weighing yourself after a meal can increase your weight by several pounds. If possible, weigh first thing in the morning before breakfast and after using the bathroom.
You Don’t Weigh Often Enough
As mentioned, weighing too often can lead to an obsession with the scale, something you don’t want. But don’t go to the other extreme either and stop weighing entirely. Weighing once or twice per week is enough to catch early changes in weight and compensate through diet and exercise and flexible enough that it won’t stress you out. Some people don’t weigh at all, preferring to use fewer markers such as how their clothes fit. However, this method is not as effective as regular weigh-ins for catching small amounts of weight gain.
The Bottom Line
Tracking your weight is important but don’t let the scale dictate your life but don’t ignore it either. Weighing in daily often gives a misleading picture of your progress and can lead to frustration and even sabotage. For most people, a pre-breakfast weigh-in twice per week is a good compromise.
References:
“Weight Fluctuation: Daily Range, 8 Factors, How to Weigh ….” .healthline.com/health/weight-fluctuation.
Obesity. Volume15, Issue12. December 2007. Pages 3091-3096.
“Why Does My Weight Fluctuate | Causes of Daily Weight ….” 07 Jul. 2020, https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/nutrition/a-daily-weight-fluctuation-nothing-to-worry-about/.
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