You may have heard you should only weigh yourself weekly due to daily body fluctuations; however, weighing yourself more frequently (as in daily) is essential for weight loss success, including maintenance. Trust us, we mean it! Let us explain why you should weigh yourself every day:
Drop the Fear. Weighing in on the days you lose weight is easy and well, not-so-easy on days you don’t. But, guess which weigh-ins are more important? The days the scale doesn’t go down (or even up)! Yes, you read that right — these weigh-ins will have the biggest and most positive impact on your weight loss success.
Take Action (and Control)!
The first step in making daily weigh-ins a habit, is picking a time of day to weigh yourself (same time every day) that you know you can and will commit to. If you can’t weigh in every day, then choose a different interval and stick closely to your plan — e.g., “Saturday mornings right after I get up”. We recommend weighing yourself first thing in every morning right after you have gone to the bathroom (but before you drink, eat, or even shower). If you don’t have a scale, you can purchase one at your local grocery store or order one here.
And if you’re in a HealthyWage challenge, it’s quick and easy to update your weight on the HealthyWage app (available on iOS and Android) with our Progress Tracker. It’s important to know that we will NEVER shame you for weight gains and plateaus. In fact, we’ll praise you for owning it, evaluate your progress, and give you tips on what to do next. If you lost weight, we’ll give you a high five. If you gained, we’ll try to give you some extra motivation to keep going! Remember, weight loss is a journey full of ups and downs.
1. Daily Weigh-Ins Are Powerful
It’s counter-intuitive that weighing in when you haven’t lost weight is so important, but here’s why it is:Instant Commitment. It’s a small but powerful way to feel like you did something good today for your journey. You can easily do this every day, no matter what, and remind yourself that you are still on track (even if you ate too much). It’s also a great habit that keeps you focused on your weight progression over time.
2. Subdue the Monster
Monsters in your closet are not helpful, especially if they scare you off track. Tell your fear to “take a hike!” (out loud if necessary) and get on the scale every day. If you plateau or gain weight, don’t let that be a monster in your closet. Drop the fear! And remember, we are right here with you — always!
3. Trend-Spotting
Tracking consistently helps you to recognize weight loss trends that you might not otherwise notice, or that might take you weeks to recognize just in the course of daily life. For example, if you tend to not lose on the days after your boss treats the office to a donut breakfast, you probably won’t realize that the half a donut you enjoy keeps you from losing anything. However, when you track daily, you’ll quickly be able to see that you never have a loss on those days after. Once you’re equipped with that knowledge and recognize your trends, you can make better educated decisions about your habits.
4. Support
HealthyWage (and the community) can’t help you if you hide. Whether you’re successfully losing weight or struggling, you are more likely to hit your goal and win your challenge(s) if you stay connected. By logging your weight daily in the app, you can update your progress score and get key insights into how your weight today sets you up to achieve your goal. A small weight gain one day may not set you off track, but several small gains, and you’ll see your progress tracker slip behind the pacing bar. The sooner you pick up on a trend, the less effort it will be to get back on track!
Fluctuation Is Normal. We all know staying hydrated is key to healthy weight loss. Did you just chug down a large glass of water? There’s a pound! How about that salty meal you ate the other night. There’s another pound! Sodium will cause you to retain extra weight for up to 2 days! And hormonal fluctuations can wreak havoc on the scale in short bursts (for women & men)!
Drop the Shame. Don’t let non-weight-loss days get you down — they’re common and completely normal. The purpose of weighing in is not confirm if you lost weight (many days, you won’t); instead, it’s a daily action to help you take control of your weight and determine what’s helping, and even more importantly, what’s hurting your efforts. Even if your weight gain is caused by eating too much, stop judging yourself. Life is short, and sometimes you eat more pizza than you should. At HealthyWage, we have blood flowing through our veins and we’ve never met a pizza or a doughnut we didn’t want to eat. It’s okay to treat yourself, but don’t let those so-called “cheat days” throw you off course!
I decided to make the scale my best friend. Weighing myself every day on the scale, helped me tremendously; it contributed to a great weight loss. I now weigh myself every day! ~ Ana A., two-time HealthyWager winner who lost a total of 72 pounds and won $4,235!
Still not sure why you should weigh yourself every day? Try it out two weeks (just two weeks!), and we’re confident you’ll start seeing a positive trend, not just in your weight loss success, but in your nutrition habits and attitude towards the scale as well. And if you’re currently on your weight loss journey and need some extra motivation, start a HealthyWager: the individual weight loss challenge customized to you! You pick your weight loss goal, the timeframe you want to lose it in, and prize (up to $10,000)! Ready to get started? Enter your information in the HealthyWage Prize Calculator to find out how much you can win!
