STEP 1 Use your own scale 使用自己的称

Always use the same scale. Scales that haven't been calibrated recently can be off by as much as four pounds, so using a variety of scales will make it more difficult for you to monitor gains and losses.

To check your own scale's accuracy, put a five-pound dumbbell or bag of sugar on it and see what reading you get.

STEP 2 Weigh yourself in the morning 在早晨称重

Weigh yourself at the same time every day, preferably first thing in the morning, before you eat.

Don't weigh yourself right after a workout, unless you always weigh yourself right after a workout and never at any other time. Exercising makes you sweat, so the reading may reflect an inaccurate weight decrease.

STEP 3 Use a hard surface 将称放在较硬的地面

Keep your scale on a flat, hard surface; carpeting can affect the reading.

STEP 4 Pee before you weigh yourself 称重前排便

Make sure your bladder is empty when you step on the scale.

STEP 5 Get naked 裸称

Weigh yourself naked or in your underwear; clothes and accessories can add as much as five pounds.

STEP 6 Take an average 取平均数

Weigh yourself on three consecutive days each week, and use the average of those numbers as your weekly weigh-in number.

In a study of 3,000 dieters, those who weighed themselves daily lost an average of 12 pounds, compared to a 6-pound loss for dieters who did weekly weigh-ins. Dieters who didn't weigh themselves at all gained four pounds.