Could weighing yourself regularly help you to drop the pounds?

With so many health and fitness plans out there all about listening to your body and ignoring the scales, it's surprising to hear that weighing yourself regularly could actually be beneficial.

A recent study published by the Public Library of Science showed that people who weighed themselves more frequently while dieting appeared to drop more pounds. The study tracked the daily habits of 40 overweight adults who were trying to lose weight, taking note of how many pounds they dropped during the study and how often they stepped on the scales.

Those who checked their weight more often actually slimmed down more than those who left it more than a week to do so.

Of course, stepping on the scales is not going to aid your body's fat-burning capabilities (we wish), but by frequently tracking your weight you are more likely to make healthier choices to keep things in check.

While it might seem like a great idea to check your weight once or even twice a day, it's important to remember that our weight can fluctuate by around 3 – 5 pounds depending on what time of the day we weigh ourselves, where we are in our menstrual cycle, and if we have eaten any high salt foods which can cause water retention.

If you do plan on checking your weight daily, to jump on the scales at the same time every day, so that you have a regular benchmark by which to track your weight changes.