Any thoughts on this article?

Replies

  • sofchak
    sofchak Posts: 862 Member
    The body scale is just one of the many tools at a person’s disposal for creating a weight loss/management strategy. Other tools include food scales, the MFP app, DEXA body fat tests, and a plethora of eating habits (OMAD, IF, Paleo, Low carb).

    All these tools and they way they are used/not used, becomes part of a personal strategy for every one of these people on the MFP forums. A body weight scale used daily is a fantastic strategy for some; for others, it’s the worst strategy possible. Comes down to individual preference. Period.
  • HappyGrape
    HappyGrape Posts: 436 Member
    whatever works for your. If it's not working - change it. I do it daily on and off, and when done daily I tend to lose little. Now in maintenance, not as important but still do it once weekly
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    As already said, weighing daily is a tool just like tracking our calories is a tool. I'm a daily weight - I like having data and use a weight app to still keep an eye on trends despite being at maintenance. Its a personal preference and will vary from person to person.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    Based on my experience with it, weighing daily is a great way to learn how your weight fluctuates from day to day. It might help those who get discouraged by daily fluctuations understand the process of weight loss and help them not freak out when they see their weight is up a pound or two. For those who want to try it and see if it's helpful, I highly recommend getting a trend smoother app and sticking with it for 3-4 weeks.
  • Secretnotes
    Secretnotes Posts: 46 Member
    I like this quote from the article: "Your obesity or lack thereof — it's not a secret to anyone," he said. "You should get acquainted with that number."

    I weigh daily, but I can deal emotionally with the ups and downs. Some people can't.

  • BitofaState
    BitofaState Posts: 75 Member
    Someone's trying to sell a book.

    Trying to tie this back to behavioral economics based on anecdotes from two people - well it rather lacks the rigor you would expect from a peer reviewed economics paper. Sure some studies say that daily weighing can help, but there are others that don't agree with this finding and would show that only regular and consistent monitoring is necessary (weekly for example).

    The studies did not show what the newspaper article suggested. The first because the control group was not monitored for frequency of weighing. The second study looked at a behavior associated with decreased conformity to monitoring and showed that people who didn't lose weight had a declining tendency to self monitor and then makes the claim that those who self monitor more frequently lose the most weight - cause and effect anyone.

    Saying all that feedback is useful in managing our ability to go into self delusion over where we are. Successful losers and long term maintainers show a consistent habit of self monitoring over time. Frequency is less important than consistency, and reacting to trend rather than single data points is also key - something that the write up seems to fudge with the
    weigh yourself in the morning, see whether the number has gone up or down, reflect on what you ate the day before, and tweak as necessary

    I'd hope that any educated economist would resist the temptation to chase noise in the signal over the background trend.

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