A: Don’t do it! Reconsider! Read some literature on the subject!
There is NO way in the WORLD I would ever advocate a person weighing themselves daily. There are just far too many factors that come into play when it comes to the number you see on the scale, and if you see that number go up five pounds in a 24-hour time period? You just might lose your marbles.
Listen – when you step up on a scale, the number you see is a representation of everything on the scale. That means clothes, shoes, the water you drank, the food you eat that has yet to be passed out of your system through going potty, the water your body is retaining because of weather, the water your body retained from yesterday… you can weigh anywhere from two to eight pounds more after a full day’s worth of work just because!
There’s absolutely no reason to weigh yourself every day. None. I can’t even fathom a reason why one would want to bother with that. I weigh myself weekly, and that’s good enough for me.
I mean, I get it – you’re working hard, and you want a daily reward for doing so. But really – it’s like asking for a reward for paying your bills on time. You should be taking care of your body daily. You’re not going to be rewarded with pound loss every day and setting yourself up to be all excited to see the scale move only for you to see it stay put? It’s only going to encourage you to throw the scale out the window and give up.
And sure, you can tell me that you wouldn’t have that reaction, but I call foul – if seeing results every day didn’t matter to you, you wouldn’t be weighing yourself every day looking for results. It’s that simple.
I remember my days of hitting the scale before cardio and again after cardio just to see how much weight I’ve sweated off… but it was water weight – and considering how dehydrated I was after that rigorous cardio session, I had to have drank at least twice the amount of water I sweated out.
And seriously… let’s not even start on muscle – any woman who’s seriously and regularly lifting weights will experience weight gain. And no, that’s not a reason to not work out. It’s a reason to let the damn numbers go.
I don’t know how many times, in how many different ways, I can tell you to stop paying attention to the scale. Is someone who is a size 6 at 130lbs “better” than someone who’s a size 6 at 165lbs? I hope not. The numbers don’t matter as long as you look and feel the way that is most pleasing to you.
But I get it. I think I know how it goes:
I gain 40lbs. I “forget” to keep track of my fitness. The warning symptoms hit me. I start to work out. First day on the treadmill, and…
…nothing? What do you mean, nothing? Aw screw this, where’s the donuts?
I mean, I get it. The problem presented itself. I took action. Where are my immediate results?
What do you mean, I don’t get any immediate results?
This is why it’s so hard to stick to our fitness routines. We could work and work and work and work and work… and see nothing for weeks. It starts to feel like all of our hard work is in vain, and we only fall off with fond memories of how we busted our tails, failed miserably, and will probably skip giving it another shot. Whereas, if I am starving and I scarf down a giant triple whopper (1,200 calories, 88g of fat, 1,600mg salt)… I get my immediate satisfaction. Like, right then and there.
I am here to tell you, as straight-forward as possible. Screw all that.
If there is one thing that I have learned and am still learning, it’s that fitness requires a level of faith far beyond hope and silent thoughts. It requires you to put your all – your 100% – into something you may not see for weeks or, in cases like mine, months. It requires you to believe in yourself, what you are capable of, how you care for yourself and your ability to seek out and find what you need to better yourself. Fitness requires faith… in yourself.
You have to believe in yourself. Believe in your efforts. Believe that your goal is one worth achieving, because you are worth the effort it takes. It might not give you the same instant satisfaction as a donut, but consider the feeling you get when you turn that donut down. You slayed Goliath! You got a monkey off your back.
My point, here, is that you aren’t going to get immediate results. Stop looking for them. Just do what you’re supposed to do – this is supposed to be a part of a lifestyle change, y’know – and you will be rewarded handsomely down the line. But hunting every day for some kind of grand victory? Isn’t gonna work.