Effective Ways to Use the Scale for Weight Loss

At The Pride NZ, we always have people ask 'how should I weigh myself to lose weight?'. The scales are a great tracking tool for weight loss… When used correctly. When used incorrectly, they aren’t so helpful. They can even be harmful. 

So here are 3 effective ways to use the scale for weight loss.

Method 1: Don't Use The Scale

First off, some of you will feel emotional every time you step on the scale. If the number goes up, it’s gonna be a good day. If it goes down, your day is ruined. If this sounds like you, DO NOT use the scale. For you, over time the scale will do more harm than good.

The scale may be useful for you in the future. But for now, there are many other ways of tracking progress which we'll cover in a future blog post.

Understanding weight fluctuations is essential. Our weight can fluctuate up to 2Kgs day to day, purely due to water retention and carb storage in our body. Because of this, weighing yourself every day and comparing daily weights is very misleading.

Method 2: Weekly Averages

A slightly better way to use the scale is to weigh yourself every day, first thing in the morning after taking a poo, with minimal clothes. Then at the end of the week, take the average of all the weights. Then instead of comparing daily weights, you can compare weekly averages. This takes out a lot of the water retention error. 

But there is one issue with this method. Weighing every day can cause people to become obsessed with the scale.

Method 3: Our Favorite Method for Weight Loss

Instead, we use a method that balances the positives of both methods. Using this method, we can minimize the chance of getting obsessive over the scale, while also eliminating the error that comes with daily fluctuations. In our opinion, this is the best way to use the scale

Here’s how we recommend using the scale:

• Weigh yourself on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday mornings

• Take the average of these 3 days

• Compare these averages each week.
  

This way you can reduce the fluctuation error as well as minimize the chance of becoming obsessed with the scales. The reason we chose Weds/Thurs/Fri is because most people eat foods on the weekend that cause water retention. By Wednesday, most of that water retention is usually gone (this is why we are often heavier on Sunday/Mondays compared to Thurs/Fridays). As a result, we get a much more accurate measure of your true weight.

And if you're not good with numbers and this totally confused you, email us at samu@thepridenz.com and we'll break it down further for you :)

#personaltrainers #thepridenz