More often you weigh yourself, the more weight you lose

Washington: A new research has revealed that dieters weighing themselves frequently lose more weight than their counterparts.

The researchers from Tempere Univeristy of Technology in Finland analyzed 2,838 weight measurements (up to a years' worth of weigh-ins) from 40 overweight individuals (with a body mass index of 25 and over) who indicated that weight loss was a personal goal or concern and found that weight loss was related to how often individuals weighed themselves.

Lead author Elina Helander said that the more often you weigh yourself the more weight you lose. This observational study cannot prove causation and it may be that less serious dieters weight themselves less or that dieters who stop losing weight stop weighting themselves.

The average time that participants could go between weighting without gaining weight was 5.8 days or about a weekly weigh-in and so it is best to weigh yourself at least once a week if you wish to lose weight, and weighing yourself everyday may help you stay on track.

A previous study by the same research team found that your weight naturally fluctuates throughout the week and that most people weigh the least on Wednesday.

To summarize both studies Brian Wansink, author of 'Slim by Design: Mind Eating Solutions for Everyday Life advises,' said that the bottom line is if people want to lose weight, it's best to weigh themselves every day, but if they weigh themselves only once a week, they should do it on Wednesday because that will give them the most accurate reading.

The study is published in PLOS ONE.