The Truth About the Scales – Why They Can Motivate or Destroy Your Progress

Let’s Talk About the Scale…

We all have that love-hate relationship with the scales. One day, you step on feeling great, and it shows a lower number—you feel amazing. The next week, despite working hard, the number goes up, and suddenly, it feels like all your efforts have been wasted. Sound familiar?

But here’s the truth: the scale doesn’t just measure fat loss—it measures EVERYTHING in your body:
✅ Water weight – Can change massively based on sleep, stress, hydration & hormones.
✅ Inflammation – High stress or poor sleep can cause you to retain water, making you heavier.
✅ Digestion – If you’ve not gone to the toilet properly, that weight will show up.
✅ Muscle mass – If you’re getting stronger, the scales might not drop but your shape changes.
✅ Bone density – A healthy, strong body will hold more weight in muscle & bones.

Why Weighing Once a Week Can Be a Problem

Many people think weighing once a week is the way forward. But let me ask you this:

👉 What if that weigh-in day happens to be the day your body is holding onto more water?
👉 What if you had a poor night’s sleep, causing stress hormones to rise and fluid retention to spike?
👉 What if you had a meal with a bit more salt the day before, making you feel heavier?

This is where people go wrong. They look at the one number on the scales, assume it's all fat, and get disheartened, even though their body is still burning fat and changing shape.

The reality? Your body weight fluctuates DAILY—so weighing once per week gives you a completely random result. It’s like taking a photo of the sea at one moment and assuming the tide never changes.

The Two Best Approaches to Using the Scales

Instead of weighing once a week, I always suggest one of two options:

1️⃣ Weigh Every Day

Yes, every single day. Why? Because instead of seeing one random number, you’ll see patterns over time.

One day, your weight might be up. The next day, down. Over a week or two, you’ll start to notice the overall trend—which is what actually matters.

🔹 Metaphor: Imagine tracking the weather based on one day per week. One Friday might be sunny, the next rainy, and you’d assume the whole climate is random. But if you track it every day, you start to see the bigger picture.

2️⃣ Don’t Weigh at All

If you know you’ll obsess over the number and let it affect your mood, ditch the scales entirely and focus on:

✅ Clothing fit – Are your jeans feeling looser?
✅ Energy levels – Do you wake up feeling more refreshed?
✅ Illness & recovery – Are you fighting off colds faster?
✅ Skin & digestion – Is your skin clearer, and are you less bloated?
✅ Strength & movement – Do you feel stronger and more mobile?

These are far more reliable indicators of progress than a number that fluctuates daily based on things out of your control.

The Science of Why Weight Fluctuates

The human body is an incredibly adaptive system, and the scales can shift daily due to:

🔸 Conventional Carbs & Inflammation – Processed carbs like bread, pasta, and wheat-based foods don’t just store water in the muscles (like good sources of glycogen do). They also cause water retention in the stomach and trigger inflammation in the gut. This bloating and swelling can add several pounds overnight, making it seem like you’ve gained weight—even when it’s just your body reacting to the food.

🔸 Cortisol & Stress – High stress levels increase cortisol, a hormone that makes the body retain water. If you’ve had a stressful work week, the scales might go up even if you’ve been eating perfectly.

🔸 Sleep & Recovery – Poor sleep raises inflammation and disrupts hormones, leading to more water retention. A bad night’s sleep can make you weigh more—even if you’ve done everything right.

🔸 Menstrual Cycle & Hormones – Water weight fluctuates throughout the month, especially around ovulation and before your period. Many women retain 5-10lbs of water weight at different points in their cycle.

Your Body is NOT a Straight Line—Neither is Your Weight Loss

🔹 Think about the stock market. The price of stocks zigzags up and down, but over time, good investments always trend up. Your weight loss journey works the same way—it won’t be a straight drop. There will be ups and downs, but the trend matters.

🔹 Muscle weighs more than fat—so if you're training and getting stronger, you may lose inches while the scale doesn’t move. That’s a WIN, not a failure.

The Takeaway – How to Actually Track Progress the Right Way

💡 If you use the scales, weigh daily to get an average trend—not a random number once per week.
💡 If the scales demotivate you, ditch them and focus on other markers like energy, clothes fit & strength.
💡 Weight fluctuations are NORMAL. Don’t let them define your progress.

📢 Final Thought:
If you’re still relying on the scales as your ONLY measurement of success, you’re missing the bigger picture. Health, strength, and fat loss are about what your body can do and how you feel—not just the number on a screen.

💬 Have you ever felt disheartened by the scales? Let me know—what’s your experience? 👇