Weigh yourself Daily in December

Nearly every diet advises you not to weigh yourself too often and there's a good reason behind that. Weight fluctuates (sometimes by as much as a pound or two) during the course of a day or from one day to the next and this often has nothing to do with how much fat you've gained or lost.

You may find you weigh less in the morning than you do at night - this doesn't usually mean that your body has been releasing pounds of fat while you slept but that you have lost a fair amount of water! Weight gained or lost from one day to the next is generally due to retaining or releasing water too - either due to monthly hormone fluctuations or because you've been eating (or not eating) foods which are high in sodium.

If you take too much notice of the figure on the scales you can get unduly depressed by a high reading or overly confident by a low one. But you're just registering the differences caused by the amount of water in your body and not fat.

Yet I like to weigh myself daily and here's why.

1. I know that my weight will fluctuate by a pound or two so I don't let small amounts of weight gain or loss bother me. I just carry on weighing myself every morning before I have my shower.

2. I have a magic figure in my head over which I will not let myself get without doing something about it. This is fixed at 2lbs over my ideal weight (2lbs gives those minor fluctuations a chance to balance themselves out).

3. I never have to do much to get back to my ideal weight. I just become a little more selective in my food choices, move a bit more for a week or two and that's it. Losing a pound or two is never as much effort as losing twenty!

4. It has worked for me for the last seven years.....

But what if you have a long way to go to your ideal weight. How can daily weighing help you then?

Well, it's a great strategy whatever your weight to avoid a backslide. And given that the Christmas season is coming up it's ideal to avoid piling on the pounds in December.

Typically people put on between 5 and 10lbs during the party season. You don't have to be one of them!

Just note your weight at the start of the month and don't let yourself get more than 2lbs over it!  If your weight slips over the 2lb mark, cut back on treats and drinks and make a determined effort to eat healthily and keep up your exercise every day until you're back to where you were.

Daily weighing not only gives you a reality check when you've started to indulge a bit too much, it also reminds you every day of your weight loss goals and gives you a reason to stay sensible during the season of festive feasting.

And how lovely to wake up in January ready to go forward rather than bitterly regretting how much you let yourself go.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small