DeKALB | A recent study printed in Scientific American suggested the idea of stepping on the scale daily as a good strategy to maintain lost weight.

Participants consisted of 314 successful dieters placed into a control group and two other intervention groups. The study results found that women in the intervention groups who stepped on the scale every day were 82 percent less likely to regain lost weight.

Beverly Henry, assistant professor of nutrition, dietetics and hospitality administration, said stepping on a scale every day may or may not help someone lose weight.

“Some people use it as a motivator,” she said.

If someone does not see the results they want and they’ve been eating right and exercising, it can turn into a discourager, she said.

“You don’t want people to worry about the number on the scale more than they worry about themselves,” she said.

Individuals do not directly control their own weight, Henry said.

“We control if we eat a whole sandwich or a half sandwich, but you have to feel good about the choices you’re making,” she said.

There are other options and ways to help someone lose or maintain weight than stepping on a scale every day.

Ray Binkowski, from the fitness Web site fitworkz.com, does not recommend a daily weigh-in.

“It makes you fixed on the scale,” Binkowski said. “The scale can fluctuate two to six pounds a week, and that can be for any number of reasons — dehydration [or] a large meal.”

Different things can affect weight. People can gain weight that’s fat or muscle, and they can also lose weight that’s fat or muscle, Henry said.

“What works for everyone is gaining muscle,” Binkowski said.

Metabolism doesn’t slow down because of age. Binkowski said that when a person’s metabolism slows down and they’ve lost muscle, it’s because they haven’t given their body a reason to keep it.

“People haven’t kept doing the things they used to do to keep that muscle,” he said.