To Weigh or not to Weigh? That is the question.

I feel like I’ve been a slave to the scales all my life. Even as a young child my mum would weigh me to keep an eye on my weight. I was competitive swimmer and mum was keen that I kept my weight down to help with my swimming.

Then through years of being a member of groups like Weight Watchers or Slimming World I would be asked to ‘weigh in’ every week.Some weeks I would return home triumphant but other weeks I will be ready to give everything up following a weight gain or a stall on the scales (even after I had had a good week of dieting!?)

So another revelation to my diet journey this time has been whether or not and when I weigh myself. I would recommend everybody weigh them self before they start so that in the long term they can see the progress they have made and whether the diet is working for them however personally I’d guard against weighing too often after that.

So many things can affect your weight as well as just what you eat. For women your monthly cycle can radically affect your success on the scales and when you reach menopause your hormone imbalance can also have an effect on how you lose weight each week. The amount of water you drink can affect your weight loss and whether you are retaining fluid. Whether you are ‘regular’ (don’t make me go into detail - you know what I mean!). At some point you may take up exercise and inflamed muscles again can make it seem like you have gained weight. And finally, with my scales, where I place them on the bathroom floor can even make a 2 lb difference! No matter how ‘good’ you’ve been all week any one or a combination of these can produce a gain which could make you give up all together.

I think the most damaging thing you can do for your mental health is to weigh yourself every day. There is no diet in existence which will make you lose weight every single day (not even starvation).

Let’s be honest you don’t really need to weigh yourself at all unless you’ve been specifically asked by a doctor to lose a certain percentage of weight or you want to know a figure to be able to say to people when they ask “wow how much have you lost?” A better guide to your weight loss on keto is how you’re feeling.

How do you feel in your clothes? How do you feel when you run up a flight of stairs? Can you do things now that you couldn’t do before? Has joint pain reduced? Has your blood sugar stabilised? And so many other indicators that this lifestyle is helping you feel healthier.

So if you absolutely must weigh yourself…My suggestion? weigh yourself once a month or at the very most every two weeks so that you can keep a track on the progress you’re making.

If you don’t feel like you have made much progress and you worry that weighing yourself is only going to make you feel bad then don’t do it!! Be kind to yourself and look for those other indicators instead, the NonScale Victories as they are referred to online.

If you are dieting then my homework for you is to make a list of those non scale victories so that even when you gain a little weight you can look back on the health benefits you have achieved so far.