The pros and cons of weighing yourself every day

This is the year you’ve vowed to lose weight. You step on the scale to mark the starting point toward your goal.

The answer isn’t always so simple. Perhaps every day, perhaps every week, with the qualifier that the scale isn’t the only way to gauge whether you’re headed in the right direction.

“Our philosophy here is that no one size fits all,” said Meridan Zerner, a dietitian, nutritionist and wellness coach at Cooper Clinic in Dallas. “The majority of research would say weigh daily. But if there’s any negative fallout from weighing every day in terms of outlook, self-esteem or your positive momentum, I would say we can check in once or twice a week.”

A study presented at the American Heart Association’s recent Scientific Sessions conference concluded that daily weigh-ins might be beneficial. Researchers tracked 1,042 adults over a year and found that people who weighed themselves once a week or less did not lose weight, while people who weighed themselves six or seven times a week averaged a 1.7 percent weight loss.

“That’s an action we call self-monitoring, which is an evidence-based strategy that we use with all kinds of behavior change,” said Amy Walters, a psychologist and director of behavioral services at St. Luke’s Health System Humphreys Diabetes Center in Boise, Idaho. “Tracking your behavior gives people some accountability, it can create some natural feedback, and it can serve as a source of motivation. They see, ‘Gosh, if I really follow my plan, I start to see some changes.'”

But there can be drawbacks to spending too much time on that scale.