To weigh every day or not to weigh every day, the final conclusion

One thing that I have been adamant about on this weight loss journey is NOT weighing yourself every day during your diet. However, there does come a point where I have to change sides on this issue and here's my reasoning. In the beginning of your journey to become healthier, weight loss can be touch and go. You're struggling with a new lifestyle and you're still learning about making better choices in food selection, preparation and so on. So during your initial diet phase 1 as I call it, you are just getting started and it may be two steps forward one step back with regards to weight loss. Even diet experts need time to assemble a game plan and a course of action best suited to their client. That being said, I'd have to say getting on your scale every day is probably not too advantageous. What I'd suggest is every few days, or perhaps, once a week. That way you wont torture yourself with temporary highs and lows we all go through while we're figuring out what is doable and what isn't.

 Now lets fast forward. Let's say you dug in and you're halfway to your goal weight loss total or even very close, do you still weigh once a week? How about if you've met your goal? I can't speak for everyone involved but personally I say I have lost so far 110 lbs. and my goal is as yet undetermined. One thing I am doing is weighing every day. Yes. Why? Because at this stage in my journey, the last thing I want to do is take my eye off the ball when I am close to reaching my goals. I know all too well that the minute you stop paying attention to your weight, the minute you stop wearing those snug pants and change them out for sweats..is most likely the minute you're going back to losing control over your body again. This is not where you want to be, not where you want to go.

So yes, when you get close to your goal in your lifestyle change it's time to not sabotage your efforts, but to keep a close eye. Let's face it, avoiding the scale, and buying stretchy pants is what gets us in trouble..that and all the lovely indulgences we tell ourselves we can have "just one of" and it won't hurt. So that is my thoughts based on my personal experiences. This is not my first rodeo at weight loss, the first low carb diet I followed, I lost 60 pounds and kept it off for over a year. Somewhere along that journey I stopped weighing, stopped wearing my skinny clothes and found myself eventually ballooning back up to over 300 lbs.

With all that being said, I'm going to stick with this philosophy. If someone differs in this opinion, that is fine, but one thing is for certain, the scale doesn't lie. My scale is my best friend now. I have conquered my fear, this friend tells me when I'm slipping before I get out of hand, and keeps me on the straight and narrow. For those struggling, it's not failing that makes us failures..its quitting that makes us failures. Keep on, fight the good fight..good luck!!

For more on why it is good to weigh yourself regularly check out this article as well which supports what I believe as well: http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/How-Lose-20-Pounds-6-Months-37240186

Related articles

• The Dreaded diet Plateau
• Great exercise equipment for those who weigh up to 300 pounds
• When your low carb diet stops working
• Great Low Carb Product suggestions from Product Dudz

The Dreaded diet Plateau

Exercising in a park in China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well just as I feared it seemed the dreaded plateau had hit. I'm down 75 lbs but the weight loss has slowed  a bit. I am always happy to lose 10 to 20 lbs in any given month so I am not going to complain. The best thing is not to obsess over it.

That means getting on the scale a few times a week not every day, because that can create a level of anxiety that will not speed the process up and make you feel like you're losing the battle on a daily basis.

This is in actuality far from the case and it is normal to hit a plateau. Reason? Well as your body drops the excess weight, it becomes lighter, and needs less food for fuel than it did so cutting back doesn't have the same effect anymore. Not to mention, your body isn't burning the same amount of calories any more to do the same activities. The heart doesn't have to work as hard, your muscles aren't being exerted as much and as such there's less metabolism taking place. Makes sense yes?..

Advice: Push through it, hold fast and increase your activities. This is probably the best time to increase, begin or enhance your exercise routine. The added activity should offset the slowed metabolism and get things moving again.. Remember with dieting, you do have to change up your routine..and your exercise should follow suit, keep your body guessing. Your body is smart it knows when you're suddenly depriving it of intake that it was used to and it will fight you, by storing the fat found in what foods you are consuming, especially if these foods have a high carbohydrate count. This is why low carb dieting works pretty well for many. Fat becomes the ready source of fuel for burning instead of the carbs, and the body does not get the chance to store it. Good to know. Good luck!