Weight loss results and scale frustration

Anyone here ever have their morning ruined by the number on a bathroom scale? ‍

​No judgment from me… it makes total sense.

​You bust your ass for a few days or even a week, step on the scale to bask in the glory of your progress, only to suffer that gut punch… the number is up, not down. How is that even possible?!?! You worked so hard.

You’re not alone in this experience or this feeling.

Frustration with the scale is a major contributing factor to why many people give up on their goals. You have to feel like you’re making at least some progress - otherwise, what’s the point?

Recognize though, a single measurement on the scale is of very limited value for assessing your progress.

No… I’m not writing to tell you that the scale is up because you built muscle this week. That’s BS. Over the short period of a few days, you DID NOT put on multiple pounds of muscle. Not possible.

If not muscle, then what? Did you really gain fat? That’s probably not it either.

The number the scale spits out is a lot like that “feels like” temperature. It’s affected by so much more than just body fat and muscle mass.

You have a bladder that fills with fluid, you have a digestive tract that at any given time contains varying levels of excrement and the amount of water your body holds changes by the minute.

The problem is, we don’t think about any of that when we hop on the scale. We just see the number and either celebrate or get bummed.

When you think about it though, a drop in weight might just be due to dehydration. Is that truly a cause for celebration?

On the flip side, if you recently ate, that food is currently being digested, that fact alone will lead to a higher number on the scale, but that’s no reason to get upset, right?

I know things like hydration status and a recently consumed meal may seem small, but they are the primary drivers of those short term weight changes that drive you crazy.

Carbohydrate consumption, sodium intake, stress levels, sleep, alcohol and hormonal fluctuations all affect your fluid retention and can lead to weight fluctuations of 5-10 lbs in most people.

5-10 pounds ?!?!?!

Though these are very real weight changes that show up day to day on your scale, they don’t reflect the underlying fat you’ve lost or muscle you've built.

So, let's go ahead and pump the breaks with that frustration.

Should we throw out the scale then?

I don't think so. Though the scale can be flaky for measuring body comp progress, that doesn’t mean it has no value. We actually use it all the time with our clients. But you have to recognize that it’s a noisy measurement of your progress.

In a given week, you might stand on the scale and see measurements of 175, 179, 172 and 174. Nearly all of those fluctuations are driven by water and the other factors outlined above, not underlying body composition changes.

With large fluctuations like that, how is it possible to track true progress with a scale? There are a few keys:

Scale Tip # 1

Use longer time scales. If you lose 20lbs, that’s going to show up regardless of the fluctuations present. Sure, your scale might indicate you lost 22 or 18 lbs, but enough time has past and change has occurred that a change that large will be clear.

Scale Tip # 2

Be consistent as possible when weighing yourself. That means, don't weigh yourself on a Tuesday evening right after you worked out and then a Sunday morning after a night of debauchery with your friends. Those are all going to be way different.

Pick a couple days, like Monday and Friday. Stick to them. Take your measurement first thing in the morning, right after you use the bathroom, but before having anything to eat or drink. These measurements will still contain fluctuations, but you're doing your best to minimize them this way.

Scale Tip # 3

Use averaging. I’m not going to go too far off in the weeds on this but, instead of caring about the number each day, instead look at the average over a few measurements. This approach provides a much more accurate representation of your actual weight change.

Now, I’m not suggesting you create a spreadsheet and calculate a running average. But you could take an approach like I personally use with my smart scale.

Many people buy smart scales for all the bells and whistles they claim to provide, like the ability to measure body fat percentage. In my opinion, that’s a bad reason to get one of those scales - those measurements are horribly inaccurate. Why a smart scale then? I use it for averaging.

Each morning I get up, half asleep, I empty my bladder, then stand on the scale. Most days I don’t even look at the number. Who cares, right? That’s a noisy representation. At the end of the week though, I get an email that tells me my average and the trend. This is a much more reliable method for tracking progress and you take your day to day emotions out of the mix too.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, the scale is one of the best tools you have to measure progress at home. It is a flawed tool for this purpose though. If you recognize those limitations, understand how to overcome them, not let the day to day noise get you down, then you’ll go far.