Use Your Bathroom Scale This Often to Motivate Weight Loss

How often to use your bathroom scaleWhen you’re trying to lose weight, learning to use your bathroom scale is often a key tool. That said, every person and every program seems to have a different opinion regarding the ideal number of times you should weigh yourself.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, and from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, sought to determine exactly how often you should use your bathroom scale for the most weight loss motivation.

How Often Should You Use Your Bathroom Scale?

According to the research findings, many people find that daily weigh-ins provide the highest motivational benefit. This is very different from what many programs and weight loss experts have believed until this point. Until now, one of the most commonly held beliefs was that weighing yourself too frequently could be harmful.

The researchers analyzed the data from 1,042 adults. Their average age was 47 years. Among them, 78 percent were male and 90 percent were white. The volunteers were all working to lose weight and weighed themselves as they normally would using scales with either WiFi or Bluetooth. The researchers did not provide the participants with any directions or advice. The participants were simply told to use your bathroom scale as usual.

Study Findings

If you were wondering why you might want to use your bathroom scale daily, consider these study findings.

About one third of the study participants weighed themselves on a daily basis. The average weight loss among all the participants was under 2 kilograms. That said, among those who weighed themselves once per week or less (including those who didn’t weigh themselves), no weight was lost over the course of a year.

On the other hand, among the participants who weighed themselves six to seven times per week, the average weight loss was 1.7 percent of their total starting body weight. This appears to clearly show that you should use your bathroom scale more often than once per week if you want to motivate yourself to lose weight.

Should You Use Your Bathroom Scale That Much?

Every dieter is different. The amount you should use your bathroom scale is personal to you. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to track your weight loss and include some tests of your bathroom scale use. See if you feel more motivated to keep up with your diet if you start each day by looking at that number on the scale. Perhaps it will get your mind going in the right direction right from the beginning of the day.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *