The Art and Science of Self-Weighing: Master the scale
You’ve come to the right place if you’ve made the decision to purchase a home weight scale or, if you already own one, want to use it as accurately as possible. A lot of us utilize this gadget quite arbitrarily, which might have unfavorable effects on your motivation and mood depending on whether you’re trying to maintain, lose or gain weight.
Does weight reflect our health situation?
with the unrealistic beauty standards that society is imposing on us nowadays, weight is becoming an important number to watch. Well, we must know that weight does not mirror our health situation directly or our fat.
weight body= fat mass+ water+ lean mass including bones, muscles, and organs+ microbiome which is the microorganisms in our gut and skin that represent alone 1 to 2 kg.
Also, this measure fluctuates not only with the food we consume but other factors can also affect it as digestion, stress, water retention and hydration. So really, DO NOT be excessive with conbtrolling this number
In this article you will know when, how often and how to weigh oneself.
What is the best time to weigh oneself?
The best time to weigh yourself would be in the morning, after going to the toilet and before having your breakfast, at this time your body had the whole night to digest the things you ate yesterday. However, if you can’t do it in the morning it is important to record your weight at the same time of the day every time.
How often do you have to weigh oneself?
There is no exact correct answer for this, scientific studies (mentioned on the references) have shown that during weight loss process people that were recording their weight daily had a better weight loss than those that weren’t. This is probably due to taking the number on the scale as a motivation to eat more correctly and be more active.
My OPINION: As a nutritionist, I would advise against doing this since it may easily become addictive and have the opposite impact if the numbers do not change in the way you had anticipated. It really depends on you, your objectives, and your personality.
Because of this, it is sufficient to record your weight at the same time each week in order to track the tendency for fluctuations.
How to weigh oneself correctly?
As any other device the scale has some rules to work correctly and accurately, here are some important points that you should consider when heading to your scale:
- Wear light clothes, the minimum clothes possible.
- Have no shoes.
- Have a straight posture and be still.
- Find the right spot for your scale: hard and flat surface for accurate results.
- Do not move your scale frequently.
- Use the same scale.
Calculate your BMI to know your weight status.
BMI is the body mass index, and you can calculate it with this easy equation:
BMI = weight (kg) / height (m) 2
You can interpret the number you get with this table.
Or you can easily calculate it by putting your weight ad height on our home page: Nutriphia – Home
BMI | Weight status |
Below 18.5 | Under weight |
18.5 – 24.9 | Normal |
25.0 – 29.9 | overweight |
30.0 and above | Obese |
Important: As previously mentioned, This index is useful to self-evaluate our weight status. However, it has many limitations like not distinguishing between fat and lean mass and its distribution, fluctuations of weight during the day and others. Thus, do not hesitate to ask your healthcare professional before taking any further measures.
To sum up, here are the 5 most important things to keep in mind:
- When it’s scaling day, do it as the first thing you wake up but after the toilet
- It is not necessary to do it every day, especially if you`re going to panic about it. Every week is completely fine and enough.
- Every time you record your weight, it must be at the same time of the day.
- Imagine you’re doing yoga for few second and Stand STRAIGHT AND STILL.
- Use the same scale on the same spot!
If you want to dive deeper in this topic check out the scientific articles cited below ↓
Limitations of body mass index to assess body fat – PubMed (nih.gov)
From Ancient Pops to Modern Munch: all about PopCorn snack
Food Cravings: what is it? What are its Causes? And how to handle the craving episode?
