Here's Exactly How Often To Weigh Yourself if You're Trying To Lose Weight

Emily Laurence
·4 min read
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Woman stepping on scale to weigh herself

If you’re currently trying to lose weight, one way you may be tracking your progress is by monitoring your weight using a bathroom scale. It can be empowering to see the number go down when you’re putting in a lot of effort into eating healthy and working out.

Even though many people have a scale stationed in the corner of their bathroom, knowing how often to use it isn’t common knowledge. If you’re trying to lose weight, should you weigh yourself every day? Every week? Maybe just once a month? Keep reading to find out what weight loss doctors say is best.

Related: 10 Real People Share the One Change They Made That Finally Helped Them Lose Weight

When It’s Helpful To Weigh Yourself—and When It’s Not

If you do want to lose weight, Dr. Mert Erogul, MD, a Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Downstate and the Medical Bariatrician in the Maimonides Medical Center Division of Bariatric Surgery, says a realistic and safe goal to aim for is one to two pounds a week. He also warns against an overly restrictive diet. Severely restricting calories may lead to short-term weight loss, but scientific studies show that it is not linked to long-lasting weight loss and often leads to weight gain.

Dr. Neil Floch, MD, FACS, a bariatric surgeon at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut, agrees, saying it’s best to focus on eating nutrient-rich foods—especially protein-rich foods. It’s easier to overconsume ultra-processed foods that are nutrient-poor rather than foods high in protein, fiber and unsaturated fats, which are more satiating.

Related: Looking To Lose Weight? Get Started With These 40 Expert and Science-Backed Foods and Drinks

Dr. Floch says that if you’re trying to lose weight, weighing yourself regularly can be a helpful way to track your progress. But he also says that it shouldn’t be the only way you do so. “Many people who are putting a lot of effort into losing weight by going to the gym may not see a change on the scale and that’s because muscle is replacing fat—and that's good!” he says. “They may actually be gaining weight [due to muscle mass] but they are still becoming healthier.”

Because of this, it’s also important to pay attention to how you feel (such as if you have more energy, are sleeping better and seeing an improvement in your mood—all benefits of exercising more and eating healthy) as well as if your clothes are fitting looser.

If you have a history of disordered eating or you find yourself becoming obsessed with how much you weigh, these are good indicators that weighing yourself regularly could do more harm than good.

Related: Want to Lose Weight? Here Are 16 Actually-Doable Ways To Do It Quickly and Safely

How Often To Weigh Yourself if You’re Trying To Lose Weight

If you do want to use a scale to track your weight loss progress, Dr. Erogul recommends weighing yourself once a week. “[This] is sufficient to determine trends and to identify weight plateaus,” he explains.

When you do weigh yourself every week, Dr. Floch says that it’s important to do so at the same time of day each time. This, he says, is because weight can fluctuate over the course of the day as we eat, drink and go to the bathroom. 

Weighing yourself more than once a week to track your progress could backfire because both doctors say there are reasons why weight can fluctuate that are completely normal and not connected to one’s progress.

For example, Dr. Floch says that eating a meal high in salt can cause the body to hold on to water longer than it would otherwise, which can impact the number on the scale. Dr. Erogul says that women tend to gain weight during their menstrual cycle, so that’s another completely normal time when the number on the scale will go up. “Weight can fluctuate from day to day and that variability isn’t as important as the long-term trends,” he explains.

Dr. Erogul says that using a scale should be motivating, not make you feel bad about yourself. “If you find that weighing yourself regularly can motivate you to eat well, then go for it,” he shares. “If these fluctuations make you anxious or demoralized, then it might be better to weigh oneself less frequently.”

If you have changed your diet and lifestyle habits to be healthier and still aren’t losing weight, it can be helpful to see a doctor who specializes in weight loss. Dr. Floch says that, for some people, it can be helpful to take a prescription weight loss drug to work in tandem with eating healthy and staying active. 

While a scale can be a helpful weight loss tracking tool, it certainly isn’t the only rubric to go by. What matters more is how you feel. Feeling your best mentally and physically is more important than any number. You could say, they hold more, well, weight!

Next up, learn about one morning habit that can lead to losing weight faster according to weight loss experts.

Sources

  • Dr. Mert Erogul, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Downstate and the Medical Bariatrician in the Maimonides Medical Center Division of Bariatric Surgery

  • Dr. Neil Floch, MD, FACS, bariatric surgeon at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut