Do you weigh too much? I don’t mean how much you weigh, I mean how often you weigh.

Are you one of those people that hops on the scale every time you go into the bathroom? Do you contemplate shaving your head to lose those last few tenths of a pound each time you hop on.

Do you drive yourself insane with the fluctuating number from day to day, hour to hour?

Man, I’m asking questions like an infomercial pitchman.

How often you weigh yourself might effect your weight loss goals- and not in a good way.  Scales don’t just measure fat, they also weigh muscle, bones, and water. The scale is not an indicator of weight loss. You can weigh less without losing fat and you can lose fat and not see it in the scale.  Weighing yourself everyday can be frustrating when you see these numbers change up and down, and cause you to lose motivation.  Weighing yourself less often can actually give you a clearer picture of your actual weight loss.

The ensure the most accurate number on the scale when you do weigh, make sure you weigh at the same time each day you weigh in, preferably first thing in the morning when you stomach is empty and you had a good night’s sleep.  Or better yet, use your body fat percentage as a gauge- this is the only way to keep track of the actual amount of fat your body contains.

Body fat is the best indicator, because not only does it track how much fat you are losing, you can also see how much muscle you are gaining.  It shows you the quality of your body mass, as opposed to just the quantity.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “I’m not losing weight because I am gaining muscle,” though. This is a cop out- if you have fat to lose, you should be losing weight, it’s just that it doesn’t happen as consistently and perfectly as you would like it too.   If you are working out hard enough to gain muscle weight, you are working out hard enough to lose fat weight, so that’s not an excuse for a unmoving scale.  Weigh once a week, to make sure you are on track, but watch your body fat, too.

Most importantly, don;t drive yourself crazy.  Your weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds a day based on meals, hydration, and, a-hem, bowel movements.   Stay accountable, but don’t live and die by your scale.