Are you struggling to use the scale to appropriately lose weight? If you are, you’ve stumbled upon the right article. I encourage most people to weigh themselves multiple times per week preferably every day.
This gives you the most accurate weekly average weigh-in. But there are also 5 other things to bear in mind.
What I’m telling you in this article is what I use for myself and my clients.
It works.
The picture of me below is at 10-12% body fat. The scale helps me maintain a lean physique.
The Main Points Are:
1. Daily Fluctuations Are Normal
2. Make Sure You Weigh Yourself Under The Same Circumstances
3. Don’t Weigh Yourself After A Bad Day Of Eating
4. The Scale Isn’t The Only Way To Track Fat Loss
5. Don’t Have Unrealistic Expectations
Firstly let’s start with point number 1.
1. Daily Fluctuations Are Normal
Most noteworthy is that weight loss isn’t linear. Meaning that during the course of a week you’ll have some higher weigh-ins and lower weigh-ins.
8 Reasons Why Your Weight Flutuates
Firstly, Weight fluctuations are perfectly normal. Seeing as though you’re made up of up to 75% water.
Secondly, your digestion of foods and drinks also plays a part in your weight fluctuating.
Thirdly, If you have a higher intake of sodium this results in slightly more water retention. Resulting in a higher weight on the scale.
However, the stress hormone cortisol has the same effect and makes you retain more water.
That is to say, for women going through the menstrual cycle, the stress hormone cortisol increases alongside other hormonal changes that can make the scale fluctuate.
But If you’ve eaten a considerably larger meal than normal, and you’ve deviated from your normal meal frequency your weight is most likely going to be a bit higher the next day.
This is also the case when weighing yourself before you’ve been to the toilet. You will be slightly heavier.
But this isn’t fat gain. Above all, the real way to use the scale isn’t to completely focus on individual days. It’s to take a weekly average or a bi-weekly (every two-week average) average and this will give you a much better indicator to see if you’ve gained, maintained or lost fat.
Moreover, to do a weekly average you simply add each one of your 7 weigh-ins and divide them by 7. This will give you your weekly weigh-in. And this is the number you should pay attention to. Not daily weigh-ins.
Here is an example below.
166.6
166.8
166.4
166.0
167.2
168
168.2
Weekly Weight 167.02
And remember if you just focus on reaching that calorie deficit through healthy whole foods and eat enough protein. Your weight loss on the scale will follow suit.
What Matters The Most Is The Downward Trend
But what ultimately matters ( if your goal is weight loss) is that there is a downward trend. which you’ll see when you take a weekly average.
For example here are some weekly weigh-ins from my previous. fat loss phase.
Previous weekly average weigh in- 189.65 pounds.
New week weigh in data:
Monday -188.8
Tuesday – 188.4
Wednesday – 187.6
Thursday – 185.8 (low day)
Friday – 188.8
Saturday – 189.4 (high day)
Sunday – 188.4
New weekly average – 188.17
As you can see I lost 1.48 pounds from the previous week.
Between The Highest Weigh-In and Lowest Weigh In There Was A 3.6 Pound Difference
So hopefully now you can see that those individual weigh-ins don’t matter.
Its the weekly average that counts.
Because can you imagine if I only weighed myself on Thursday (the low day) I would have thought that I lost a total of 3.85 pounds that week.
Which would obviously be wrong.
On the other hand, imagine If I weighed myself when I had a high day. I would have thought that I had only lost 0.25 pounds.
But notice how I had some high days and low days although the downward trend led to me losing weight.
Weigh Yourself A Minimum Of 3 x Per Week To Get An Accurate Average Weekly Weigh In
Ideally, you should weigh yourself every day. But for some people that isn’t feasible. So for you, I say weigh yourself at least 3x per week On a Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
2. Weigh Yourself Under The Same Circumstances
When you weigh yourself every day you want to be weighing yourself under the same conditions every time so that you can gauge a good understanding of your progress.
Because if you don’t, it will be very hard to gauge your progress.
Weigh Yourself Every Day Under These Conditions
- Firstly you want to weigh yourself in your underwear after you’ve been for a number 1 and 2 (pee and poop).
- Secondly, It’s important for you to not eat or drink anything before you weigh yourself on the scale.
- Thirdly you must always weigh yourself upon waking.
- Finally, It’s important that you use the same scale every time and on a hard, solid floor.
Once you’ve gotten the hang of doing this you must record every weigh-in somewhere. This could be on an app like the fit bit or my fitness pal app or a spreadsheet. It’s up to you.
I use the notes app on my iphone.
3. Don’t Weigh Yourself After A Bad Day Of Eating
If you’ve gone to a family birthday party or slightly indulged over the weekend. And you know it.
Don’t weigh yourself the next day.
Because the day after eating too many calories isn’t an accurate representation of your weight. Because you tend to store more water weight. Anyway, its only one day so don’t sweat it.
Fitness isn’t meant to take over your whole life. Its meant to enhance it. And a big mistake that I made was being too neurotic about my diet and training when I first started.
You don’t have to be like this.
Just make sure you’re consistent. You don’t have to be perfect.
4. The Scale Isn’t The Only Way To Track Fat Loss
The scale is great and its a great indicator of fat loss when used properly.
But it’s just a tool, and there are other tools that are also useful to measure fat loss that you should use as well as the scale.
3 Other Ways To Measure Fat Loss
Alongside the scale, I like to use progress pictures (front picture, side picture and back picture) I also like to use body fat callipers and take waist measurements. Although when other people start to compliment you on your progress that’s a nice indicator that what you’re doing is working.
1. Body Fat Callipers
Not all body fat callipers are the same. I like to use the one by accumeasure . The main purpose of a body fat calliper is to measure the thickness of your skin.
Because the more fat you have the thicker that skin fold measurement will be.
That’s why if you measure your skin fold and eat in a calorie deficit and do all the right things to lose fat you’ll notice that your skin fold is decreasing. Meaning that you’re losing fat.
2. Progress Pictures
Progress pictures are a great way to tell if you’re losing fat or not. Because the further you get on in your fat loss journey you’ll start to realise that your face is looking leaner and that your abs are becoming more prominent.
3. Waist Measurements
If your waist measurements are getting smaller you’re losing fat, period. This is because most people tend to store a lot of fat in their abdominal region this is called visceral fat.
It’s Best To Use All of These Tools Together For The Best Results
5. Don’t Have Unrealistic Expectations
If you’re losing one pound per week that’s great progress. But I know many of you think that’s slow. It’s actually not. if you lose one pound of fat, every week for one year then you’ve lost a total of fifty-two pounds of fat. Which is a lot to lose. Not everybody needs to lose that much.
So I urge you not to get frustrated when you only lose one pound per week. That’s great progress.
And if you don’t look like the guy on your favourite fitness magazine cover. Remember that guy is probably on a boatload of steroids, and that picture is probably taken under ideal circumstances.
The Bottom Line
- Firstly the scale is a great way to measure progress as long as you use it alongside other indicators of progress such as your waist measurement, calliper reading and progress pictures.
- Secondly, your weight will fluctuate. It’s just part of the process, but the general trend should be going down if your goal is to lose weight. If it’s not you’re not eating in a calorie deficit.
- Finally, weigh yourself under the same conditions daily, don’t have unrealistic expectations.
Thanks for reading
Let me know what you think. By sending me an email at henrypaget@hotmail.co.uk or commenting below.
If you like this post give it a like and share. And comment below about anything I could do better or any other topics you’d like me to write about in the future.
If you don’t know how to set up your calories for fat loss, then you want to read this fat loss guide I wrote. Linked below.
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