The new year is here, and improving your health and wellness—including losing some weight—may be on your list of resolutions. Keeping yourself accountable can be easier with the help of an accurate bathroom scale. Just in time, Consumer Reports is here to help with some of the best scales from their recent tests and some tips on the best time to weigh yourself.
If you’re starting a weight loss plan, CR says studies suggest you should weigh yourself every day, not just occasionally. And when you do it matters, too. Weigh yourself in the morning after you go to the bathroom but before you eat or drink anything.
Doing it in the morning is best because that’s when you’ll get the most accurate weight. Your weight fluctuates during the day, so weighing yourself at the same time gives you more consistent results. And in the morning your body has had time to process the food and drink that you had the day before.
Where you weigh yourself also matters. CR says to place your scale on a hard, even surface, not on a rug. Make sure to stand still, with your weight distributed evenly on both feet.
If it’s time for a new scale, you don’t have to spend a lot to get one that earns high scores in CR’s tests.
The Vitafit Digital Body Weight VT1703U scale is a bargain at $26 (U.S. and Canada). It gets excellent scores for accuracy, consistency, and ease of use.
And if you’re looking for something a bit more high tech, consider the FitBit Aria Air scale for $50 ($70 Canada). It can be used with Bluetooth or WiFi to connect to the Fitbit smartphone app to track all your progress.
Consumer Reports says January is the best time to buy a bathroom scale because retailers discount them to help people stick to their resolutions.
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