Tips on Deit: Obsession with weight

Human weight varies over a 24-hour period, from day to day and from month to month. Variations in body weight of up to three kg per day are perfectly possible and most people are not even aware of the fact that they weigh two to three kg more in the evening than when they got up in the morning.

But those of you who jump onto a scale once a day or even more often, are going to expose yourself to unnecessary stress. If you are trying to lose weight and discover that you suddenly weigh two to three kg more than yesterday, you are going to get agitated.

You might think that your efforts to lose weight are not succeeding and resort to some other obsessive behaviour, such as purging or starving, or doubling up on your exercise routine, or rushing out to buy pills and potions to 'correct' this change in your weight.

Body weight is particularly sensitive to water balance and anything that affects your water intake or excretion can affect your body weight. Unfortunately many women are prone to water retention caused by fluctuations in female hormone levels.

Some women gain appreciable amounts of weight before, during or just after menstruation, due to water retention. Once the hormones have settled down, this weight 'disappears', and in some cases it may be a good idea to ask your doctor to prescribe a mild diuretic for those times of the month when you retain water.

Conversely those of you who 'lose' weight by inducing diarrhoea with laxatives are fooling yourselves. When you start drinking liquids again, that weight will reappear and while you are dehydrated you may be doing your body harm.

The golden rule when slimming is to weigh yourself only once a week at more or less the same time, wearing more or less the same clothes. This simple rule will save you a great deal of anxiety and give you a more balanced picture of your progress.