Tips for Weighing In

When I started a few weeks ago, I had to guess my weight. We didn't have a scale as our last one had broken and I hadn't been able to find one that went high enough.

I am not sure exactly what my starting weight was, but I am guessing it to be right around 450 pounds, or 205 kg.

Just over a week into my new lifestyle my hubby found a scale that goes to 440 pounds on Best Buy so he ordered it for me. I was ecstatic and terrified when it arrived - ecstatic that I would finally be able to track my weight, but filled with trepidation that I might have been off on my starting weight and would still be too heavy for the scale.

I was filled with great relief when I stepped on the scale and got a reading of 193.4 kg.  That weight was after twelve days of Atkins.

I have since weighed twice more. My weight after three weeks is 186.4 kg. Still nasty, but I am moving the right direction. I also had the delight this week of having my BMI (body mass index) fall below 60.

Here are my tips for weighing in:
1) Always weigh the same time of day. It doesn't matter whether you choose morning or night but your weight changes over the course of a day so keeping your weigh time consistent helps you get a more accurate picture of what your weight is doing.
2) Weigh once a week. It is tempting to hop on the scale more often but small fluctuations in weight are normal, and we are more likely to end up playing mind games with ourselves.
3) Dress in the same type of clothing each time, or better yet, your birthday suit.
4) Weigh twice. I find this helpful as some scales can be really finicky, and if you don't stand on it properly, they can give a wrong weight. If I get two rather different weights, I step on the scale again.
5) If you use a manual scale, make sure it is set to zero before you climb on. You don't want to be adding pounds because your kids played with the scale!
6) If you are buying a new scale, I recommend digital. Digital scales make it easier to see small losses, something that gets to be very important when you hit plateaus or are close to your goal weight.
7) Track your weight on a graph. When the weight loss seems slow, that slow downward trend can add extra encouragement.

Have a great week and happy weighing!