Top Stories

Study: Stepping on scale every day key to weight loss

PITTSBURGH — Losing weight is difficult, and one of the most difficult parts of doing so might be stepping on the scale. A new study involving researchers at the University of Pittsburgh shows just doing that every day could get you started.

The study looked at more than 1,000 people. It found one-third of participants stuck to a daily weigh-in, and it helped. Those who measured daily lost 1.7 percent of their body weight. Those who stuck to weekly weigh-ins or didn't weigh themselves at all did not. Researchers believe it's all part of a self-monitoring mindset.

If you want to receive BREAKING ALERTS, please download our WPXI News App.  You can also follow WPXI on Facebook and Twitter

"If people do the daily weigh-in. that may increase their awareness of how their daily eating, exercise. impact their weight." said Dr. Yaguang Zheng, a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh involved in the study.

TRENDING NOW:

Researchers say it has to do with reconnecting your weight goals to your daily activities. Daily checks allow people to reflect on what they ate or how they exercised that day and how it may have influenced their weight. Weekly checks make that more difficult.

"For the weekly, once their weight has a big fluctuation, they are not able to identify the reasons or impact factors," Zheng said.

Participants in this study weren't given any workout or diet guidance but researchers suggest self-monitoring weight could pair well with fitness tracking apps to keep daily data on workouts and calorie counts.