As anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows, there are certain strategies involved. The strategies have nothing to do with what you eat or how many laps you run.

The strategies have everything to do with your scale and how you weigh yourself.

Many people may think that the only way to weigh yourself is to simply step on the scale and read what it says; leaving everything to chance. I am here to tell you that you can have the weight of your dreams if you employ some simple strategies.

The first and most basic one is to weigh yourself at the same time every day. For maximum weight loss, I weigh myself first thing in the morning.

When I say "first thing" I do not mean before you use the bathroom. In some cases, that could be the difference of a whole pound. In my husband's case, it could be a difference of 400 pounds.

Of course, you don't want to eat anything before you weigh yourself either. Even if you weighed yourself after you ate every day, you will eat different amounts every day, so you would be weighing the amount of corn flakes you ate, not your body.

Don't shower before you weigh yourself. Your body absorbs water and can skew your weight by as much as a pound, not to mention how much water your hair will retain.

If you have long hair... well, it's not for me to decide, but how much less would you weigh if you cut it? Have you ever wondered how you would look in a stylish military cut?

What about that jewelry you are wearing? Your watch alone could weigh as much as 8 ounces. Every ounce counts when you get on that scale.

Over the years, my routine for weighing myself has changed as I have learned different weight loss strategies.

Now, I wake up in the morning and head for the bathroom. While I empty my bladder, I stare at the scale, hoping to intimidate it into submission. There is no proof that this helps, but it feels right.

Then I stand up and wait another 5 or 10 minutes because I might be able to go more then. In the meantime, I brush the nighttime plaque off my teeth. That could make a significant difference.

Then I take my pumice stone to my heels. You never know...

I look at the dry skin on my legs and decide that lotion will have to wait until after the weigh-in.

I strip my clothes, my jewelry, and the rubber band in my hair. Hearing the theme song from Rocky, I step on the cursed scale: Eight ounces more than yesterday.

Darn! The theme song turns into the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth.

I step off the scale and try to tinkle a little more. I swab my ears and blow my nose. Squeezing my eyes shut and stepping on the scale, I peek down with one eye. Don't ask me what the psychology is behind this. I try not to think about it too much. The scale says I'm still four more ounces than yesterday.

I step off again.

I strip off my nail polish, trim my bangs, and let out all the air in my lungs. I step back on again. Still, two ounces more than yesterday.

I move the scale to a different position, mount it on one leg and spit in the toilet. The scale finally says the weight I want.

Smiling as I step into the shower, I think about all those laps I won't have to run because... I haven't gained a single ounce.

Laura Snyder is a nationally syndicated columnist, author & speaker. You can reach Laura at lsnyder@lauraonlife.com Or visit her website www.lauraonlife.com for more info.