It's very easy to get obsessed with your bathroom scale when you are trying to lose weight. The scale can be a useful tool, but only if you give it the respect it deserves.

HOW, WHEN & HOW OFTEN

• Use the same scale every time you weigh yourself. Scales vary.
• Make sure your scale is on a hard, flat surface. Carpeting or an uneven floor will give an inaccurate reading.
• Weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after using the toilet, wearing the same clothes (or no clothes). This way you aren't weighing food, excess water or clothing differences.
• Ideally, women should weigh themselves once a month after their period has ended. Men, and the women who can't wait a month, should weigh themselves once a week.

ABOUT YOUR SCALE

• Some scales have weight limits and will be inaccurate after that limit. Make sure you have a scale that is appropriate for your weight.
• Older scales have batteries. Old, weak batteries in your scale will produce inaccurate results.
• While there are newer scales with body fat monitors, most scales only measure total body weight, not fat.

WEIGHT FLUCTUATIONS

For those of you who are scale obsessed, education is the key to not letting the daily fluctuations get you down. To gain one pound of fat would require an excess 3,500 calorie intake above what your body will normally burn. Obviously, the weight fluctuations are coming from more than that. Your scale weight will fluctuate based on many factors. Everyone already knows that muscle weighs more than fat, but they tend to forget about water weight and undigested food in their systems. A large dinner could add as much as five pounds. It is also possible for women to slowly gain weight throughout their cycle and then drop it after menses.

So, feel free to use your scale as a tool in your weight loss. You can even obsess over it if you want to, as long as you keep in mind what it all means and don't dwell on it. Effective weight loss is about the gradual decline in the averages. Respect your scale!

About the author: K.C. Gagne manages her weight by using her home treadmill. In fact, she likes her treadmill so much, she decided to blog about it.

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