Challenges › One week
Weigh daily, judge weekly
Step on the scale every morning for a week. Only the average counts.
What you need to do
Every morning this week, after the bathroom and before breakfast, weigh yourself and write it down. At the end of the week, average the seven numbers. That average is the only number that gets to make decisions. Single days mean nothing.
Options that work
- Same scale, same time, same clothes (or none)
- Your weight bounces 1 to 3 pounds day to day from water, salt and hormones. Expect it
- Premenstrual water gain of a couple of pounds arrives on schedule and leaves on schedule. It is not fat
- Started creatine or lifting? 1 to 2 pounds of water goes into the muscle in the first weeks. That is it working
- Weight flat but the belt is looser? Measure your waist once a week too. It cannot be fooled by water
Tip for success
If seeing the number every day makes you feel worse, not better, weigh weekly instead and skip this challenge. The habit has to serve you.
Part of the fundamental The right amount, honestly.
Why this works
Regular self-weighing improves weight loss and maintenance without harm to mood, and daily beats most days [92]. People who keep weight off long term weigh themselves at least weekly [96]. After menopause the scale and BMI can mislead: a BMI of 30 caught only a third of women who were obese by body fat, so the waist and the mirror matter too [38]. The right pace is 0.5 to 1% of body weight a week; faster costs muscle and bone [18] [19].
Sources
- Zheng 2015, Obesity. Regular self-weighing improves weight loss and maintenance without harm to mood. Weigh daily, judge weekly.
- Wing and Phelan 2005, Am J Clin Nutr. People who kept 30 or more pounds off for years mostly eat breakfast, weigh themselves at least weekly, move about an hour a day, and eat the same way on weekends as weekdays.
- Banack 2017, Menopause. After menopause, BMI misses fat: a BMI of 30 caught only a third of women who were obese by body fat. The waist and the mirror beat the BMI chart.
- Garthe 2011, Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. Losing about 0.7% of body weight a week while lifting gained lean mass; losing 1.4% a week did not. The source of the 0.5 to 1% a week pace.
- Seimon 2019, TEMPO trial, JAMA Netw Open. 101 postmenopausal women. Severe restriction lost twice the weight but proportionally more lean mass and about two and a half times more hip bone density than moderate restriction. The single best argument against crash dieting in this decade.
The fridge version
One line, seven boxes. Print it and put it where you eat.
Weigh daily, judge weekly · one week
Step on the scale every morning for a week. Only the average counts.
Tip: If seeing the number every day makes you feel worse, not better, weigh weekly instead and skip this challenge. The habit has to serve you.