Should You Weigh Yourself Everyday?

“I don’t recommend you weigh yourself every day, otherwise, you’ll go crazy.” 

This is what I used to tell my clients. 

My biggest concern was that clients would get discouraged because they didn’t see their weight go down right away.  I would instead recommend that they weigh themselves every two weeks. 

Here’s the problem.  Weighing yourself everyday works pretty damn well.  At least, this is what some cool studies tell us. 

First, if you have lost weight already, daily weighing can help you keep it off.  (1)

Second, daily weighing can help you lose weight  (2)

Second, if you are not trying to gain weight (and maybe even maintaining your weight), weighing yourself daily can also help you.  By simply being conscious of what you weigh on a daily basis, you are less likely to simply gain weight. 

Unless you are prone to high anxiety, weighing yourself may not be appropriate for you.  Otherwise, daily weighing will likely increase your awareness of how your nutrition and exercise affects your weight. Should You Weigh Yourself Every Day? 

1.  168. Butryn ML, Phelan S, Hill JO, Wing RR. Consistent self-monitoring of weight: a key component of successful weight loss maintenance. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2007;15:3091. [PubMed]

2.  169. Gokee-LaRose J, Gorin AA, Wing RR. Behavioral self-regulation for weight loss in young adults: a randomized controlled trial. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2009;6:10. [PubMed]