How to Weigh Yourself the Right Way

The scoop on scales

Just step on your bathroom scale -- simple, right? (Unlike that tough choice of how to hang the toilet paper.) But when and how often to weigh yourself, what type of scale to use and whether keeping track is helpful or harmful aren't always clear-cut. Here's advice from several experts -- see what works best for you. Plus, bonus tips on measuring your waistline and body fat.

Take charge.

You should "absolutely" weigh yourself at home, says Lawrence Cheskin, a physician and director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center. "The more knowledge you have, the more likely you are to stay in line with what you need to do." When it comes to weight management, he says, "You need to know where you are if you expect to be able to track where you're going."

What if scales freak you out?

If self-weighing "is going to make you distressed and unable to do anything," it's not very useful, says Cheskin, who's also an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heath, in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society. But if you're in a weight-loss program -- or you have an eating disorder and need to gain -- it's important to keep track. Face away from the scale, and ask someone to look for you, suggests Kristin Kirkpatrick, manager of wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.

Weigh regularly.

A 2005 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found overweight people who successfully lose weight and keep it off weigh themselves frequently. And a 2014 study in the journal PLoS One found those who take breaks from regular weigh-ins tend to gain weight back. Kirkpatrick advises weighing weekly rather than daily. "Sometimes people weighing once a day tend to become a little bit obsessive with that behavior," she says. "You want to watch weight and be careful with it, but you don't want to go to extremes."

Wake up and weigh.

First thing in the morning -- after urinating but before eating or drinking -- is best, says Kathryn Ross, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Weight Control and Diabetes Center, affiliated with Brown Medical School and The Miriam Hospital. Ross advises daily weighing. It "lets you get that feedback immediately," she says, which is key to making behavior changes. "If you don't see the results of the behavior you're engaging in in a week, two weeks, a month down the road, you cannot connect what you're doing to what you see on the scale."

'Fat pants' aren't the best gauge.

You may have that go-to pair of pants that lets you known when your weight's creeping up. Even so, "My jeans feel loose today" isn't the most scientific indicator of your weight status. "It's hard to use your clothes, because if your clothes tend to be looser fit, you might not notice until you've gained a pound or two," Ross says. It's great that people are paying attention to how their clothes fit, she adds, "but weighing yourself frequently gives you a lot more detailed information, and a lot sooner."

Stick to one scale.

Consistency is key, so use the same scale whenever you weigh yourself. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or expensive. However, "sometimes you get what you pay for," says Kirkpatrick, who recommends checking consumer websites for features and ratings. Digital scales are considered more accurate than old-school analog (dial) scales. The balance-beam scale in your doctor's office is likely the most accurate. But don't worry if there's a 5-pound difference between your numbers at home and at office visits.

Make it Monday.

People tend to weigh less right before the weekend, and more right after. "Weigh yourself on Monday," Kirkpatrick says. "If you weigh yourself on Friday, you might have the mentality, 'Wow, I lost a few pounds -- I'm really going to blow it out this weekend.'" On Monday, she says, "you're much more likely to be heavier due to bad weekend choices. That kind of gives you more motivation to go a little step further."

Body-fat scales can tell you more.

You may have seen them at the gym -- special scales that measure your body-fat percentages. Less-expensive, at-home versions aren't as accurate, experts say. While these scales are good at detailing body-fat composition for people in weight-loss programs, Cheskin says, he doesn't believe home use "adds a whole lot."

Kirkpatrick says her institute's program uses the scales "because when people are truly trying to lose weight, the goal is to lose as much fat and lose as little lean body mass as possible." These scales provide that detailed feedback.

Graph it up.

Even if you follow a routine, there's still "a lot of individual variability in your weight day in and day out," Ross says. That may come from salt you ate the night before, water in your system or recent heavy exercise. If you're up a tenth of a pound one day and down two-tenths the next, she says, "just looking at the numbers could get really frustrating because they're all over the place." By graphing your weights instead, "you'd see over time the trend is going down."

Sync your scale.

If you like health technology, some devices that track and sync weight (plus other measurements) include Fitbit Aria, the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale and Wahoo Balance Bluetooth Smart Scale. While she doesn't recommend any particular device, Ross says "it's one less step folks have to do" when tracking their weight. For instance, it's easier to graph daily weights when you can go paperless and not do it by hand.

Go naked.

"You should always weigh yourself naked," Kirkpatrick says. "As a dietitian at the clinic, I weigh people before every appointment -- and you should see what people drop with their clothes to get a better weight." Of course, clothing items like bulky sweaters, shoes and belts weigh more than most sleepwear, she says. "But your true assessment is really not having anything on you, and being naked is the best way to do it. And you're not going to get naked at your doctor's office."

Take out your tape measure.

This at-home check isn't about weight -- it's about your waistline. You don't need to measure it often, but when you do, the concern is visceral fat -- a potential health issue for even slightly overweight people with big bellies. Men whose waists measure larger than 40 inches, or women whose waists are larger than 35 inches, are considered to have abdominal obesity or visceral obesity. "That's more dangerous for heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure than if you carry [fat] in the more typically female pattern, which is around the hips, thighs and rear," Cheskin says. "It's medically safer when it's lower-body fat."

Do a potbelly check.

To assess your abdominal fat, wrap a tape measure around the widest point above your belly button, or at your belly button. "You have to be careful -- men do this -- not to measure below or at the belt line," Cheskin says. The problem, he says, is "men may have a potbelly, and they're going to think their waist circumference is smaller than it is." Don't bother sucking in your stomach, he says. Relax and breathe normally.

Lisa Esposito is a Patient Advice reporter at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at lesposito@usnews.com.