Don’t weigh yourself too often
It seems so simple, step on the scale. But you can also do it wrong. And where do those fluctuations come from? Here are some tips and tricks for weighing.
- First of all, it is important that you place the scale on a hard and even surface. Soft carpeting does not work well, nor does a rough natural stone floor. A tiled floor or parquet is suitable.
- Always use the same scale. The scale in your sister or friend’s bathroom or the one in the doctor’s office can indicate a completely different weight.
- Always weigh yourself at the same time, for example every Monday morning. The best time is immediately after getting up, if you have just been to the toilet. Preferably weigh yourself naked.
- Step onto the scale slowly and stand still, with your feet completely flat and symmetrical. Don’t bend your knees to read your weight, just lower your head.
- Do not weigh yourself too often. Every day is really not necessary, even if you want to lose weight. A weight naturally fluctuates a bit. Most people have a margin of about 1 to 2 pounds. These changes are mainly due to changes in the amount of fluid in the body. If you eat a little more salt one day than usual, you can retain more fluid and therefore be heavier the next day. This is often the case, for example, if you have eaten in a restaurant, because there is often a bit more salty cooking. That extra moisture is gone after 1 or 2 days.
- Just before menstruation, women can be 1 to 2 kilos heavier than normal, also because they retain some extra fluid.
- You can also retain a little more fluid on hot days, because the blood vessels open up a bit and fill up a bit more. You will also gain weight. It is (as crazy as it sounds) good to drink a lot. Then the body will also excrete the extra fluid.
- Do you have irregular bowel movements? This can also affect your body weight. Due to constipation there can be extra ‘filling’ in the intestines and that weighs in.
- Weight isn’t everything. It is also about the muscle mass and the distribution of weight over the body. Someone who is nicely muscled and has little fat tissue can be (much) heavier than someone with a lot of fat mass. You have to nurture and cultivate muscle tissue. It is active tissue that permanently boosts your metabolism. In addition to the scale, you should also regularly look critically at yourself in the mirror. A muscular body looks much more toned than a body with a lot of fat.
Finally, you can extend the scale and mirror with a tape measure. Because the waist circumference is also a good measure of whether your weight is at the right level. If the body fat is mainly around the abdomen, this is less beneficial than if the fat is around the thighs and hips. The waist circumference is measured in the middle, between the lower rib and the top of the hip bone. In the diagram below you can see if you are in the danger zone. By the way, you can also use a favorite pair of jeans as a benchmark: if they start to get tight, it’s time to take action.
|
Waist circumference in cm |
Advice |
|
|---|---|---|
|
man |
Woman |
|
|
less than 94 |
less than 80 |
No increased risk. Keep it like that. |
|
94-102 |
80-88 |
Danger zone comes into view, keep your weight. |
|
more than 102 |
more than 88 |
Increased risk, try to lose weight. |
Liesbeth van Rossum is an internist and endocrinologist and Mariette Boon is an internist in training and researcher into brown fat. Together they wrote the bestseller ‘Fat important‘. This duo knows all about body fat and how you can influence it. Do you want to lose weight? Listen to the podcast below before you start a diet, because then you can avoid common mistakes.
