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Closely Monitor Your Weight (Quoted from pp.137-138) If you’re going to keep small weight gains from getting out of hand, you have to have some means of monitoring your weight. Dr. Susan Ross found that of her successful patients, “Most realized the need for a ‘red flag’ or warning system to monitor weight fluctuations and prevent the fluctuations from going beyond a certain amount.” When I asked the masters “How do you keep track of your weight?” I learned that nearly 9 out of 10 of them weigh themselves regularly. Like Janice, about a third of the masters weigh-in one to three times a week. About one-quarter consult the scale at least once a day. In fact, 15 people listed daily or regular weigh-ins among their top three maintenance strategies. The high incidence of frequent weighing came as a surprise to me, since dieters are warned commonly not to weigh themselves any more often than once a week. It is likely that frequent weighing is unwise when you’re trying to lose weight, because the scale doesn’t always register small day-to-day losses, which can be discouraging. But frequent weighing does seem to be an important check point for many people after they’ve lost weight. As with most aspects of weight maintenance, how often you weigh yourself is up to you. Drs. Kelly Brownell and Judith Rodin point out in The Weight Maintenance Survival Guide that “people who have difficulty with maintenance do not have a set of guidelines…They weigh themselves whenever they remember or feel like it.” Since weight tends to fluctuate throughout the day, it is wise not to consult the scale more than once a day. Instead, weigh yourself at one particular time of day only. Note, too, that fluid retention (from menstrual changes or from eating salty foods on a particular day) can cause daily weight fluctuations that are not cause for panic, and the amount of clothing you’re wearing can cause variations. Not every master monitors weight by a scale. Carole C. “never” weighs herself but instead gauges her weight by the fit of her clothing. She adds, “I try to look great, not keep my weight down. It’s a different perspective.” Similarly, Tim H. says, “I rarely step on a scale. But I can tell when I gain 5 pounds because I can feel it: my clothes get tighter.” About 4 out of 10 masters go by the fit of their clothes to keep tabs on their weight, some in combination with regular weighing. Doug S., who kept off more than 100 pounds for 4 years, states, “When my pants get tight, I start dieting. I used to allow myself to buy bigger clothes. I had a range of pant sizes from 34 to 52. But I got rid of the big pants. Now, I won’t buy bigger sizes. Some masters say they keep a handle on their weight by noting how they look in a mirror. And Larry Z. monitors his 70-pound weight loss of 15 years by noting the fit of his belt, as well as by weighing himself. Joy B., whose kept 35 pounds off her tiny 5’1” frame for more than 4 years (20 of that off for 18 years), not only weighs herself once or twice weekly and checks how her clothes fit but looks at the size and shape of her legs, since that’s where she tends to gain weight. “When my thighs touch, it means things are getting out of hand (and into mouth!).” As always, pick one (or more) monitoring systems that are right for you. Be ready to experiment, and take into consideration your past experience of what did and didn’t work. If you choose weighing, decide if you’ll check the scale once a day, once a week or once a month. Maybe, like Janice, you’re better off not consulting it if you suspect your weight is up a bit, or if you think you’re retaining fluid. If you passionately hate to weigh yourself, then perhaps judging by your clothes is best, allowing yourself to go not higher than a certain size. You could also pick an item of clothing or two that you want to feel good in. Kim W., for instance, keeps track of her weight by how her jeans fit and how she looks in leotards. The important thing is to pick a monitoring system and use it faithfully. |