A Better Weigh Way

Girls are striving—and starving!— for unattainable goals. But here’s the thing: the numbers on the scale mean *a lot* less than you think.

- Amanda Forr

Girls have numbers on the brain—and it has nothing to do with algebra: Nearly 33 percent of teen girls admit they weigh themselves “frequently.” But at a time when one in five kids is obese, is watching your weight (literally) such a bad thing?

As it turns out—yes. Studies show that girls who regularly step on the scale are more stressed out about their bodies than those who step aside. It’s time to stop being weighed down by digits—and instead, start taking positive steps to feeling amazing.

DITCH THE SCALE

WHAT GIRLS DO You jump out of the shower and onto that bathroom scale like clockwork.

THE WEIGH-IN Stop that! Why? Because girls who weigh themselves frequently are far more likely to use diet pills and laxatives, skip meals, binge eat and vomit, shows a recent University of Minnesota study.

And, get this: Those girls who weigh themselves often are actually also three times *more* likely to be overweight than teens who don’t focus so much on the scale (ironically, stressing about weight leads girls to seek comfort in, yes, food).