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Regular Monitoring of Body Weight Helps to
Achieve Weight Management Goals
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15 December 2005
A study published in
the December issue of the Annals of Behavioral
Medicine, reports that dieters who weighed
themselves regularly shed more weight over a 2 year
period than people who didn't regularly weigh
themselves, and those who weighed themselves daily
lost the most.
People who weighed themselves also took other
healthful initiatives such as exercise more, but the
self-weighing effect was statistically significant
on its own, notes Assistant Professor Linde, the
lead of the author of the study. Prof Linde
concludes that advice to weight regularly should be
integral to weight loss advice: "We talk to people
about monitoring calories daily, about monitoring
their exercise daily…. if we're asking them to do
those … on a daily basis, then why not add this
other recommendation?"
The study included statistics from two populations:
(1) A group of 1,800 obese or overweight adults enrolled in a
weight loss trial who were asked at the study's start and at
intervals thereafter how often they weighed themselves. After
one year, monthly, weekly and daily weighers all lost weight on
average, but those who weighed themselves daily lost the most —
about 8 pounds, and those who never weighed themselves gained
weight.
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(2) A group of 1,226 adults in a weight gain prevention trial.
At 12 months, those who weighed themselves daily had lost about
2 to 3 pounds. Those who weighed themselves less often, or not
at all, actually gained weight.
In both studies, significant differences were also sustained after
two years.
Recommendations for those who plan to check body weight regularly –
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Always weigh at the same time of day, to
minimize daily fluctuations e.g. immediately
after getting up.
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Try to use the same scales each time. Then even if scales are not
accurate, the inaccuracy will be consistent and you will still be
able to monitor if weight is steady, reducing or rising.
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Weighing scales should be on hard, flat surface to limit inaccurate
readings of up to 2 kgs on less solid floor surfaces.
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Remember, that total body weight is only one method of understanding
and assessing body weight and health. A healthier lifestyle by
increasing physical activity for example, may result in reductions
in body fat, i.e. reduction in abdominal obesity which is not
apparent on weighting scales, so measure waistline with tape measure
or even subjective assessment of how tight fitting clothes feel as
well as total body weight, to monitor progress. |
