What would happen if you stopped weighing yourself?

For many people, stepping on the scale is part of their morning routine. Some people even weigh themselves multiple times a day.

For some people, frequent weigh-ins help keep their diet on track.

However, there is now the thought that frequent weigh-ins can work against you. What would happen if you quit weighing yourself?

As discussed in yesterday’s column, our body has an internal scale, where the body actually sends a message to the brain if weight is creeping up. The brain then sends a message to decrease food intake.

By learning to listen to our internal messages, instead of the number on the scale, it may help some people self-regulate their diet, and with less stress than seeing a daily number on a scale.

While checking in on the scale can be helpful for some people, for others it can set up a harmful cycle. They see a higher weight than they expected, and get upset. This can set off emotional eating due to feeling of frustration.

Stopping the daily weights can be a hard habit to break. Starting with only weighing yourself at set intervals, such as once a week, may be helpful, then gradually moving to once a month.

Stopping daily weights is not for everyone, but may reduce stress and psychological burden of dieting for some people.

For others, the daily weight is important, and keeps them on track. One study that was performed (only in men) showed that daily weight was an effective predictor of keeping weight off.  However there are no studies to date on daily weights with women or adolescents.