A Daily Weigh May Keep the Pounds Away
Nov. 30, 2005— -- Americans live in a weight-obsessed culture and most people fear their bathroom scale -- afraid of what bad news it may bring.
A new study from Brown University Medical School says that those who step on the scale every day are more likely to lose weight and keep it off.
Researchers studied 300 people who had recently lost an average of 44 pounds. They found that those who weighed themselves only intermittently were almost twice as likely to put pounds back on as those who hopped on a scale every day.
"If you've lost weight and kept it off, you have to pay attention to it," said Katherine Tallmadge, a licensed dietitian. "You're not going to keep it off unless you're on top of it."
Researchers at Cornell University recently found frequent weigh-ins helped new college students stave off the dreaded "Freshman 15."
But some doctors say that weighing oneself every day only fuels the obsession about weight.
"We have a very weight-obsessed culture as it is," said ABC News contributor Dr. David Katz. "And the feeling that you have to confer with the scale every day to get some measure of your self-worth, unfortunately, can make you quite neurotic about weight."
Even popular diet programs like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig recommend weekly, not daily, weigh-ins.
But, if one is a glutton for punishment and wants to weigh in every day, the best time to do it is in the morning, when everyone weighs the least. Also, the same scale should be used every time for accuracy.
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