Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Scales are not your friend


When trying to lose weight, dieters invariably find themselves with a trusty companion. Those bathroom scales that have been ignored for however long suddenly acquire elevated status. It goes without saying that when you are cutting down on food intake you want to see results, but don’t presume that every time you climb on board, you’ll see what you want to.

Successful weightloss takes time. It is a long term project, not a quick fix. Realistically you only need to weigh yourself once a week, so pick a day when you’re going to do it and stick to it. Ideally you want it to be at the same time of day every week for the sake of consistency, that way you can chart your progress. It is what people do when they attend Weight Watchers meetings, and if it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me.

I personally opt for Wednesday mornings after breakfast. Why Wednesday? Well, conveniently my diet started on a Wednesday this year and so was able to record my starting point there and then. However the more practical reason is that if I do let my hair down over the weekend, I’ve still got a couple of days to do something about it before tilting the scales.

Some may question why I eat my breakfast before the weigh in. There is no particular science behind this. I just eat my bran flakes when I wake up and I don’t see any reason to alter my routine. It is a simple question of consistency. Same day. Same time. Same scales. This way you can put trust in the result. If you mix and match when you weigh yourself, there will be variance. Pick a time and stick with it. Certainly don’t go down the route of weighing yourself multiple times per day. Scales are not your friend, so don’t become over familiar with them.

I’ll be posting details of my weigh in tomorrow. Here’s hoping things are moving in the right direction.

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