How Often Should You Weigh Yourself?

By Craig Ballantyne

I know you hate to look at the scale. Some trainers even suggest throwing the thing out. But the truth is, keeping an eye on your weight can help you meet your weight-loss goals.

To see if frequent self-weighing helps - or discourages - weight-loss efforts, researchers reviewed 12 studies. Eleven of the 12 indicated that more frequent self-weighing was beneficial. Folks who'd been weighing themselves weekly or daily for at least several months tended to lose more weight (and prevent subsequent weight gain) than folks who didn't do regular self-weighing.

The researchers admit the studies weren't perfect, but there doesn't seem to be any reason not to weigh yourself frequently. Through my experience with clients, I've found that weighing yourself every couple of days does help keep you on track for fat loss and for keeping the weight off. (It also helps to have your body fat estimated and take your limb, hip, and waist circumferences every four weeks.)

However, you need to understand that weight can fluctuate up or down based on the salt content of the foods you eat, the phase of the menstrual cycle a woman is in, and the previous day's activity. So don't hit the panic button if your weight jumps up one day. Just make sure the general trend is downward.

It's Good to Know: Are You Allergic to Christmas Trees?

Ah, the joys of trimming the Christmas tree: hanging decorations, untangling strings of lights, sprinkling tinsel... and sneezing, itching, and tearing up?

That's right. For some people, a Christmas tree brings not just holiday joy but also an allergic reaction.

A recent study by St. Vincent's Medical Center in Connecticut found that most people who experience symptoms aren't allergic to the trees themselves, they're allergic to the mold that grows on them. They found that a live Christmas tree kept indoors for two weeks gives off a large amount of mold spores - enough to raise the "normal" mold level in a home by five times.

(Source: About.com and U.S. News and World Report)

Word to the Wise: Ephemera

"Ephemera" (ih-FEM-er-uh) - from the Greek for "lasting only a day" - are items designed to be useful or important for only a short time. The singular form of the word is "ephemeron" (ih-FEM-uh-ron).

Example (as used by J. Courtney Sullivan in a New York Times review of Parrworld: Objects and Postcards by Martin Parr): "'I have a very strong collecting gene,' says the British photographer Parr, whose trove of ephemera... includes dozens of Sadam Hussein wristwatches."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2537, 12-12-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.