Looking to drop a few pounds this fall? When measuring your progress, make sure you’re weighing yourself properly. Your weight isn’t the most important aspect of your overall fitness journey, but it can be helpful to know how much weight you’re losing on a regular basis.
If you have a healthy relationship with weighing yourself, the number can be a tool that gives you valuable insight into your progress toward your overall health target or helps you change your focus to body recomposition.
With that in mind, there are a couple of things you need to know about how and when to weigh yourself to get consistent results each time. Follow these simple steps to master weighing yourself correctly.
You’ll get the most accurate reading from your scale if you weigh yourself first thing in the morning. Do it after using the restroom and before eating breakfast or chugging any water. According to experts, morning is the best time because you’ve given your body the chance to properly digest everything you ate and drank the previous day, leaving your stomach relatively empty.
Read more: Boost Your Health and Wallet: The Power of Intermittent Fasting
There is no “worst” time to weigh yourself, but you may want to avoid weighing after activities that could throw off your weight. This might be something like eating a large meal or drinking a large amount of liquid, which can in turn cause you to “weigh more” temporarily. You may also want to avoid weighing yourself after exercise because you will weigh less due to the water lost through sweating.
If you experience menstruation, you may want to avoid weighing yourself in the days leading up to your period. That is because your hormones can cause weight fluctuations that would affect the number on the scale. You should also note that it is normal for your weight to fluctuate throughout the day, and from day to day. If you are concerned about sudden changes in your weight, consult your doctor as soon as possible.
Besides weighing yourself at an ideal time of day, there are more ways to ensure you regularly get an accurate reading from your scale, which is especially important when tracking weight loss or gain.
Like any unhealthy relationship, you can walk away from weighing yourself if you think it’s negatively impacting your life. Don’t hesitate to ditch your scale if you’re experiencing:
Read more: Your Weight Isn’t Everything: 6 Health Metrics That Are More Important
In search of more health-related tips? Read up on how to incorporate more fruits and veggies into your diet and why you should eat more carbs, not fewer.
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