To Weigh or Not to Weigh?

To Weigh or not to Weigh?

That is the Million Dollar question of every person trying to lose weight. 

Do weighing yourself daily (or regularly) help lose weight? Or, does it make you disappointed on your progress (or non-progress) that you stop dieting and exercising altogether?

Advantages of Weighing

What are the advantages of weighing yourself as opposed to not weighing at all?

1.  Weighing yourself, especially on the onset of your new diet and exercise regimen, will give you an idea of how much weight you should lose. This idea is crucial for you to know exactly how much calories you need to consume daily to reach your goal. 
2. Seeing the progress of your efforts will motivate you to lose unwanted weight.
3. By weighing yourself regularly, you will be able to track your progress.
4. You will hold yourself accountable for the results of your efforts. This accountability will lead you to be on top of your routine and thus, will help you make adjustments on your diet and exercise, if necessary.  
5. Weighing will help you change your overall lifestyle, particularly the way you eat and the way you work out.
6. The habit of weighing yourself daily will empower you.  Doing a daily task such as this reinforces your self-discipline which empowers you.
7. Weighing yourself regularly also prevents you from gaining more weight.  Since you can track your progress, you will also be able to see if you slip up.  As in item 3 above, this will help you make adjustments on your diet and exercise.
8. When you see progress on the scale, this becomes like a “reward” or a “trophy” for your efforts.  The improvement will make you feel good about yourself and thus, motivate you even more.
9. When there is no apparent progress in weight loss, this becomes your cue to again, make adjustments to your routine or regimen.

Disadvantages of Weighing

Indeed, it would seem weighing yourself daily or regularly, is more of an advantage.  However, there are also some disadvantages to doing so. Here are some of them:

1. It will discourage you if you do not see the progress you are expecting.
2. You get too obsessed with weighing and the numbers you see on the scale that you overdo things.
3. By overdoing your diet and exercise, it becomes more harmful than helpful.  You may develop certain diseases or conditions such as bulimia, anorexia, anxiety, OCD, etc.
4. You might rely too much on the scale that you forget to use your common sense on a specific diet, exercise, and other lifestyle issues.
5. You might body shame yourself, and thus, you lose self-esteem or self-worth.
6. You might confuse yourself thinking that you are not losing weight despite your efforts.  Sometimes, the progress may not be apparent just by looking at the scale. Your weight may stay the same, but your fat composition may have already decreased. There is a difference between losing weight vs. losing fat. Check out this link https://bustingmyfatbelly.com/losing-weight-vs-losing-body-fat to help you understand the difference.
7. You become a slave of the weighing scale that all you do is weigh yourself more than once a day. You lose focus on the more important aspects of diet and exercise.
8. When you see non-progress, you either starve yourself or eat more thinking the diet is not working out for you.

So, Should You Weigh or Not weigh?

That is a question that you alone can answer.  You will need to think about how you can use a weighing scale to your advantage.  A weighing scale is merely a tool for anyone trying to lose weight to track their progress.  It is neither your friend nor foe.  It is how you use it, and by using it, you have to have some mindset on how to treat it.

Partnering With Your Scale

If you choose to use it, consider it as your partner.  You need to work with it.  If you make progress, you congratulate yourselves.  If it does not, don’t blame it.  Just try again.

What Matters Most

Finding out how much you weigh on the scale should not be your end goal.  It is only a part of reaching your goal.  The number on the scale is simply that, a number.  Those numbers may fool you but what you see and what you feel in your body are what matters the most.