Stoptober 2012

[El Gordo]

Oh yeah, I forgot the other detail -- 2 black bombers as soon as you wake up, plus another after lunch....

Weighing myself is a revered ritual, though even I don't advocate twice a day. Here's what I do:

Once a day, shortly after I get out of bed. After any necessary loo visit, but before breakfast, and before any drink or nibble.

I log my weight in a spreadsheet, natürlich, but that day;s figure isn't the be-all and end-all. Over the week, I have 7 readings. I remove the highest and the lowest, to reduce the risk of a rogue measurement, leaving 5 readings. These are divided by 5 to get the week's average. This is the figure I compare with other weeks.

Each daily reading is also automatically compared in adjacent spreadsheet columns with the previous day, 7 days earlier, 30 days earlier, and with the day the whole campaign started. This allows me to quickly see how much progress (or otherwise) is being made over a period.

I also have 3 different metrics... er, but that's enough for the moment. You get the idea. In fact, I should send you a sample spreadsheet to help you along.

As for scales, avoid the old-fashioned needle-and-dial variety, which aren't accurate enough for me. Get a digital scales, and one that shows you your fat percentage, muscle mass, and all that. These used to be dead expensive but are now becoming pretty standard and relatively cheap. But buy decent scales. I bought some 'bargain' scales from Sainsbury's before I left the UK but I could never get two successive readings to match. So I spent a bit more on a Swiss version, and it's very consistent.

Don't bother weighing yourself before going to bed. Readings are likely to vary greatly, depending on when/what you ate, whether your metabolism is racing post-run, etc. Don't do it.