By the weigh
Here's another example of conventional "wisdom" being debunked. After years of telling dieters not to weigh in every day, now the experts say the best way to keep weight off is to hop on the scale every morning.
My home-town medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine, recently published this study, based on research conducted at Brown Medical School in Providence, R.I. Basically, they found that weighing in every day was the best way to maintain weight loss - almost twice as effective as other means.
I've written a lot about weight loss lately - mostly about how to successfully lose weight without compromising nutrition or satisfaction. That's hard enough - but the really hard part is keeping that weight off month after month, year after year.
It probably still makes sense not to weigh yourself every day when you're actively losing - the daily fluctuations could drive you crazy. But once you've hit your goal, frequent weigh-ins can help you recognize and stop back-slides before they get out of control. In this study, participants were told to accept a gain of up to three pounds. But once they hit that mark, they were encouraged to tighten the reins and get their diet back on track.
That's a good rule of thumb for lots of healthy habits - pay attention, but don't expect perfection.
