Thriving through Menopause Podcast

42. Don't Obsess Over the Numbers - How Often Should You Weigh Yourself?

• Host Dr. Enaka Yembe • Season 1 • Episode 42

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Ever wondered why traditional weight loss methods seem to falter during menopause? Join us in this episode of Thriving Through Menopause as we debunk myths and share expert insights on effectively navigating weight loss during this life stage.

We discuss the pros and cons of daily weighing and highlights the importance of viewing the scale as part of a broader trend rather than a definitive measure of success.

We look at practical tips like weighing yourself at the same time each morning and emphasize the power of mental preparation in achieving your weight loss goals.

But that's not all—this episode is also about embracing menopause as a time of growth and self-care.

Instead of viewing it as a challenging period, we should see menopause as an opportunity for renewal.

Tune in for an empowering conversation that promises to guide you towards a healthier, more fulfilling menopausal journey.

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Speaker 1:

You know, one of the things that happens when we embark on a healthy lifestyle change is we ask ourselves how often do we need to hop on that scale? For those of you who don't know me, my name is Dr Inaka Yembe. I am a board-certified family medicine physician currently specializing in obesity medicine here in Louisiana.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Thriving Through Menopause podcast. Dr Inaka Yembe, your host, is dedicated to helping you navigate the transformative journey of menopause and perimenopause, particularly focused on achieving menopausal weight loss and reducing belly fat. As a post-menopausal physician herself who has helped thousands of women experiencing the significant life stage, she understands the unique challenges you face. Listen in as we explore a wide range of topics aimed at supporting you in your health and wellness journey. Hopefully, the practical tips and strategies offered potentially help you adopt an empowering approach towards menopausal weight loss and belly fat reduction. And now here's your host, dr Inaka Yembe.

Speaker 1:

You know, one of the things that happens when we embark on a healthy lifestyle change is we ask ourselves how often do we need to hop on that scale and check our progress? Now, the answer is not always that simple. Should we weigh ourselves every day, or every week, or every month? Should we even weigh ourselves at all? I have several patients who come to the clinic. They don't weigh themselves at home. They say I was just waiting to come in here and weigh myself, so what's the correct answer? Now, the answer is just not that simple. It is a little bit tricky. Now, the main thing to remember is that the scale, the number on the scale, is not the only way that we can gauge whether or not we are headed in the right direction. The scale simply, to me, is a tool that can help us move towards our goal. Now, what does the research say? The majority of the research, actually. There was a study presented in the American Heart Association in one of their recent scientific sessions that said that suggested that we need to weigh ourselves daily, and that research actually tracked about a thousand adults over a year and they found that people who weighed themselves once a week or less did not lose the weight. However, those who weighed themselves six or seven times a week actually averaged about a 1.7 weight loss. Now, tracking your weight actually gives you some degree of accountability, I think, because when you step on the scale, you actually have some mental feedback to yourself that says, hmm, this is the direction in which I'm going. It can be a source of motivation. It can tell you oh wow, oh gosh, you know what. I am starting to see some change. What do I do personally? Now, my lifestyle story for those of you who know me, of you who don't know me is that I used to. I was born at 10 pounds and it seems like I was destined to be overweight right from birth. At a certain point, my weight blossomed over 300 pounds and I struggled and struggled. One of the things that helps me, personally, to give me that mental feedback is that I step on the scale every single time that I see one. It doesn't matter to me what time of the day it is, but, again, that's what works for me. There is no one size fits all when it comes to losing weight and staying healthy. But back to our question what really is the ideal schedule for weighing oneself, Because there can be some drawbacks in stepping on the scale too often for some people.

Speaker 1:

Some people get so creeped out by the number that they see, and I dare say that it's not only the number that they see that creeps them out. It's actually what you're telling yourself when you see that number on the scale. So here's my advice I advise you to focus on the trends that you see. Is your weight trending up or is it trending down? Why do I say that? Because your weight can vary depending on the time of the day, on the period of the month, on whether you ate something or whether you didn't eat, on how active you were. It just depends on so many things. It even varies from scale to scale. So what that means is you may weigh yourself at home and come to the doctor's office and the scale is different. What I want you to do is focus on a trend. Now get your own scale, weigh yourself around the same time every single day, and I suggest that it's best to weigh yourself in the morning, first thing in the morning, because your weight is most consistent first thing in the morning. Now, it may vary from day to day, but I recommend that you follow a weekly trend. What was your weight last week? What is your weight this week? Focus on a trend and not the specific number variation from day to day to day. So what I tell my patients in the clinic is that I want to see if you are in my weight loss clinic. I want to see an average weight loss of one to two pounds overall per week and not that daily variation. Now it is helpful, if you're not too creeped out or if you're not too discouraged, to weigh yourself every day Again. It reminds your mind that you are on a specific lifestyle change and helps you to stay in momentum.

Speaker 1:

Another thing that I learned recently, Also during my personal journey, was to make up my mind before I step on the scale. So when I wake up in the morning, I already know what I weighed last night because I stepped on the scale before I went to sleep. But in the morning I know my weight is more accurate and I start to tell myself, before I step on the scale, I make up my mind how I'm going to react based on that number. I think ahead of time what I'm going to tell myself what feedback I'm going to react based on the number. I think ahead of time what I'm going to tell myself, what feedback I'm going to tell myself in case my weight went up. Then I start to think I put in some measures and tell myself okay, so this is what's happening now and this is what I'm going to do. The last thing that you want to do is to discourage yourself based on the number that you see at the time.

Speaker 1:

Why do I say that?

Speaker 1:

Because your weight is not only the indication of progress. In fact, there are several other indicators of progress or of success that you may want to think about. For example, how are your energy levels? Are your energy levels getting better now that you are on a healthy lifestyle change? How do you feel? Do you feel better now that you're eating more healthy foods? How do your clothes fit? Are your clothes fitting better? That's an indication of progress. How are you sleeping? Are you sleeping better? What about your numbers at the doctor's office, For example, your blood pressure, your blood sugar, your blood cholesterol? If those are getting better, that's actually a great indication of success, that you're heading in the right direction.

Speaker 1:

What about your body fat percentage? Is that getting better? What about your waist measurement? Is that getting better? What about your waist measurement. For men, we recommend that your waist circumference should be less than 40 centimeters and for women, less than 35. Are those getting smaller? These are all indicators of success and not only the scale.

Speaker 1:

Why do I say that?

Speaker 1:

Because you may lose one pound of fat and gain one pound of muscle.

Speaker 1:

So in the meantime, you may lose one pound of fat and gain one pound of muscle. So in the meantime, you may actually be slightly heavier just because you gained that much muscle. So, bottom line, different things work for different people. But again, my message to you today is use the scale as an indicator of progress that you are headed in the right direction, but don't let the number on the scale completely discourage you. Look at all other non-scale victories. I hope some of these tips really resonate with you and help you along your healthy lifestyle journey. I do wish you the best of success in your healthy lifestyle change. Listen, if you want to hear more tips like this, or if you have any other suggestions, put them in the comments below and I will come back and bring you some of the information based on the research that I'm doing and based on the information that I've gained from the Association of Obesity Medicine. All right, thank you, and I wish you all the success in your health and wellness journey.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Thriving Through Menopause. We hope you found valuable insights and practical advice to support your journey. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast, share it and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Remember, menopause doesn't have to be a challenge. It can be an opportunity for growth, renewal and self-care. Connect with us on social media, where we share additional resources, tips and advice to help you along your path. Once again, thanks for listening in and we hope you'll join us again on the next episode of Thriving Through Menopause. Until then,