Recently, I have nearly completed a very successful self-directed diet program. After trying other ways to lose weight, I decided to give some of my ideas a try. This article is the first in a series of tips that have worked for me even though they violate conventional wisdom.
I decided to ignore all the extraneous advice and do it my way.
The first idea I had was to weigh myself every day. Sure, I know you are thinking, all the so called experts advise that you should weigh yourself only once a week at most. Why? Because they think you will get “discouraged” if you weigh too often and don’t see results from your diet.
My problem with weighing only once a week? I don’t get feedback from my efforts (or failures) fast enough.
Fast Feedback is the Key
By weighing myself every day, I learn immediately whether my actions and eating pattern from the previous day were successful or not in trying to lose weight.
A key to the usefulness of this feedback is using a high quality reliable scale and weighing myself at the same time every day – for me it is before breakfast, right after I have gotten out of bed. The high quality scale is the first thing I bought when I started the diet. I spent about $150 on the scale – it looks like the one you see at a Doctor’s office. With my scale, I feel confident that the results I am seeing aren’t because the scale is giving me different readings every day.
This sense of confidence is necessary for the feedback to have its full effect. On a daily basis, with this new regimen, I am assured that if I splurge with a burger and fries from a fast food restaurant at lunch, the following day’s feedback will show little, if any, lost weight. Conversely, maintaining discipline with my eating will directly result in lost pounds. Ordinarily, results are clear everyday or at least every other day.
Everyday feedback lets me see both my successes and mistakes. My prior, failed, dieting attempts have shown that weekly weighing is not frequent enough for my requirements. Seven days is too long and results in me forgetting the root causes of gained or lost weight. My session with the scale each morning allows me to go over in my mind the previous day’s food consumption.
Of course, as with any idea, daily weighing has its downsides too. The most important of these is that I can feel bad when I’ve had a bad day the day before. It is important not to let that feeling get me down, though.
If you are finding it difficult to shed pounds, I highly recommend giving this tip a try.
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