Daily Weigh ins ? Yes or No ?

Q: I was wondering, what do you think about daily weigh-ins? Also what about using a simple moving average? The problem with daily readings are that they may fluctuate based on a number of factors. You never know which is an "up" reading and which is a "down" reading. But I was thinking that the same could be true with weekly readings. You don't know if your weekly weigh-in is actually reading a bit higher than your "true" weight or a bit lower. A moving average would seem to smooth those variances out and give you a better idea of what your "real" weight is and the general trend of your improvement.

A: It's normal for your body weight to fluctuate, so it's important to control and account for those variances when you do your weigh-ins and chart your progress. Your weight fluctuates not only on a weekly and day to day basis, but even within the same day (sometimes by several pounds). Changes in weight can be based on numerous factors including hydration (loss or gain of water weight) and contents of digestive system (how recent the last meal and bowel movements were). A moving average would definitely smooth out the variances.

To get accurate weigh-ins, consistency is also a key. Always do your best to duplicate the weigh in conditions every time: Fed or fasted, clothed or not clothed, bladder empty or full, pre or post workout, morning or evening, high carb or low carb day, amount of fluids ingested, potential diuretics consumed, etc. If you control for all these factors -- for example, always weighing first thing in the morning before eating or exercise -- you will get more accurate weight and body composition data and also help smooth out the variances - with or without a moving average.

You should weigh yourself "officially" once a week, on the same scale, under the same conditions. But daily weighing can be helpful as long as you're controlling the variables and you don't obsess over daily fluctuations.

If you weigh yourself daily, you can log your weight into a spreadsheet and then convert your progress into a graph with the date on the horizontal axis and weight/body composition on the vertical axis. The key is to look for the trend over time. Body fat (and weight) should be heading down in a long term trend and lean body mass should be staying relatively stable. You could also add a column for 7-day moving average if you choose, which smoothes out the fluctuations or "noise."

Another benefit of tracking your measurements regularly is that you can compare your weight and body composition results to your training and nutrition for the same time period to look for correlations between methods and results and hopefully learn what methods work the best for you.

There are many weight loss "experts" who say that you should "throw away your scales" and that it's a negative thing to weigh yourself daily or even to weigh yourself at all. I disagree and there's a substantial amount of published research that shows the benefits of tracking body weight as well.

It's common sense for weight management, but also well accepted wisdom in teaching, coaching and business management -- that you can only expect what you inspect - and what gets measured and tracked gets improved. When measurements are reported to an authority figure, and you are "graded" and held accountable for what gets measured and tracked, results usually improve even more.

Although weight gain can sometimes happen quickly when there are sudden changes in environment, body weight and body fat usually tend to "creep" when left unchecked. Folks who don't monitor weight or body composition seem to wake up one day and they realize they "suddenly" got fat. Of course what really happened is that tiny increases in fat and waist line went unchecked and therefore, unnoticed over a long time period.

Successful weight reducers and maintainers have a common behavior pattern and that is they keep track of their weight. Weight monitoring could be daily or weekly, but either way it should be checked regularly, so if results are negative, you will be alerted and you can increase compliance and "buckle down" or change your strategy. Frequent (weekly or even daily) weighings provide a feedback tool which increases awareness, allowing for a quick course correction.

By the way, people who have to wear well-tailored suits or tight fitting clothes have a feedback mechanism they can check themselves with every single day. Those who wear baggy clothes / elastic waist bands who also do not weigh themselves tend to succumb to the weight creep and not realize it. If you don't have to dress up for work every day or if you tend to wear loose, baggy clothing most of the time, then its not a bad idea to have a pair of "lean jeans" that you try on regularly just to see how they are fitting.

There's a very compelling argument for frequent self monitoring, including body weight. The only potential criticisms / drawbacks to frequent weighing that remain include:

(1) It might encourage obsessive behaviors (in psychologically susceptible individuals), and

(2) There may be only a small amount of measurable progress after one week, and no measurable change after just a day - both of which might lead some people to impatience and frustration if they don't have a long term time perspective.

Therefore, daily weighing may not be appropriate for everyone. I think it's good advice to suggest measuring and recording body weight "at least once a week" and then leave it up to the individual to decide whether they want to weigh daily or not.

Keep in mind, weigh ins are not an absolute necessity and the mere act of weighing yourself every day or every week doesn't guarantee more weight loss. There are people who for various reasons, choose not to weigh themselves at all, who never go near a scale who successfully lose weight and maintain their ideal weight.

However, regular weigh-ins have consistently been correlated with improved weight loss and some research says that daily weigh ins correlate even more highly with long term success than weekly weigh ins. Studies have also concluded that people who weighed themselves regularly improved weight maintenance and avoided weight regain/cycling as compared to people who didn't weigh themselves at all.

One thing that should be emphasized more, that was not even mentioned in any of this research to date is the importance of measuring and monitoring body composition (fat vs. muscle) instead of just scale weight and the importance of slow and steady fat loss as opposed to rapid weight loss.

Understanding body composition and developing the patient-person's lifestyle mindset are the final keys that really complete this self-monitring advice and help us to avoid compulsive behaviors or obsessing over our short term results.