New Delhi:Weight loss advice floods social media every day, but one health educator believes the most important investment isn't a gym membership or expensive supplements. As explained by health educator Prashant Desai, it is a weighing scale.
As highlighted in a recent podcast clip, Desai reveals how he monitors his weight loss journey by weighing himself every day because he believes daily monitoring is more important than taking measurements occasionally. His views have generated quite a debate online.
Start with a weighing scale, says health educator
Desai says that for anyone who takes weight loss seriously, the first thing they need to do is get themselves a weighing scale. According to him, . The best possible time would be early in the morning, after using the bathroom and before eating or drinking anything.
Don't focus on one day's number
According to the health educator, daily weight changes are quite natural and, therefore, he does not encourage people to judge their progress based on a single weigh-in. Rather, he recommends calculating the average weight for the entire week and comparing it with the previous week's average.
According to him, this is a more accurate way of determining your progress.
Why weekly averages matter
Desai also states that whenever there is an increase in your average weight from one week to the next, it generally means that you are consuming more calories than you are burning.
If the average weight decreases from one week to the next, it indicates that you are most probably in a calorie deficit.
In summary, Desai wants to communicate that you should not rely on assumptions but let the facts speak for themselves.
Weight naturally fluctuates
Although monitoring your weight can be beneficial, it is important to know that body weight tends to fluctuate every day due to various factors.
For instance, hydration, food intake, hormonal fluctuations, physical exercise, sleep and the digestive process may affect the number on the weighing scale in the short term. For this reason, medical experts recommend focusing on long-term trends rather than short-term fluctuations.
Using a weighing scale will not, by itself, help you lose weight, but the monitoring process can be beneficial when done consistently. Regardless of whether you choose to weigh yourself every day or follow another schedule, tracking long-term trends is more important than focusing on short-term readings.
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