Ask anyone trying to lose weight and they’ll tell you it’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever have to do. They’ve tried a lot of intense workouts and strict diets but still can’t lose significant weight. To achieve your dream body that you’ve always wanted, you’ll have to do a lot of gruesome workouts and eat tasteless food every day. But what if we tell you that you can lose weight without the hassle of going to the gym four times a week and having to undergo a strict diet plan? Sounds too good to be true, right? But there is actually a study that shows that you’ll be able to lose weight just by going to your bathroom and standing on your scale. Yes, you’ve read that right. Just by weighing yourself every day you’ll be able to lose weight.

The Study

Not all were told to keep track of their weight

A study was conducted by the researchers from Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania with 294 female students as participants of the study. The study made some of the women weigh themselves every day for two years, and the result shows that the women that weighed themselves every day had a noticeable drop in body fat and BMI compared to the students that weren’t told to check their weight. Based on the results the researchers have concluded that just by checking and being aware of their weight, people can actually lose weight. Want to know how?

The Participants Weren’t Told To Lose Weight

A lot of university students stress eat.

As previously stated, the study had 294 female students’ participants of different weights, that weren’t told to lose weight by the researchers. Students were chosen as the participants of the study due to the fact that university students are put under a lot of stress especially during their first year. When people first arrive at university, they tend to get culture shocked and they may not cope up with the stress, and one way people cope with stress is to eat. This tends to happen a lot in university, and there was even a study published back in 2009 which found out that over 70% of students of the first year at university gained weight.

The Weight Loss

The ones that kept track of their weight saw some positive results

The study has shown that the participants that were told to weigh themselves every day during the two years of the study did not gain any weight and were even able to lose a noticeable amount of weight. The participants that weren’t told to check their weight every day weren’t able to show any significant changes in their body fat and BMI, and that is if there were any at all. Some even gained weight. The lead author of the study Diane Rosenbaum, Ph.D. says that “The losses in BMI and body fat percentage were modest, but still significant, especially keeping in mind that these women were not part of a weight loss program.” If you want to know how to compute for your BMI, then check this out.

Psychological Factor?

The researchers didn’t tell any of the participants to do any weight loss measures such as exercising or dieting, but the ones that were told to keep track of their weight were losing weight. The researchers can’t say for certain that the mere fact of keeping track of weight will lead to significant weight loss if there is any at all, but they could say for certain that there is a connection. It seems that by regularly checking on your weight it will give you enough motivation to take good care of your body. An associate professor at the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University, Meghan Butryn, Ph.D. says that “Regularly weighing yourself can motivate you to engage in healthy eating and exercise behaviors because it provides you with evidence that these behaviors are effective in helping you lose weight or prevent weight gain.”

So it seems that by regularly checking if you’re gaining or losing weight, it will motivate you to take better care of your body. People’s weight differs daily, due to a lot of factors such as water retention, when you last went to the toilet, what you ate last, or if you’re on a period for women. Daily weigh-in will let you keep track of your progress which will make you feel better if you are losing weight or will motivate you to do better! So you won’t be able to lose weight just by checking your weight but it will still let you reach the mindset to reach your body goals.