Scale Stress Syndrome
ninerbuff
Posts: 48,941 Member
The scale is the one tool that the majority of people use to gauge their progress on weight loss/gain and physical transformation. Unfortunately there are so many variables, scale weight can fluctuate so much that people are so dismayed that they quit their weight loss attempt when they see 3-5lbs gained after busting their butts on a single day or week. So I'm here just to let you know that weight loss isn't linear.
You can do the same exact routines, with the same exact foods, the same exact sleep patterns, etc. and lose weight one week and gain the next. Why? Because the body is complicated. There are lots of things we don't control such as hormonal balance, water fluctuation and body repair. These all play a part on the number that's displayed on the scale every time you step up on it.
It's really not hard to gain some water weight either. Step on a scale. Get off drink 8 oz of water. Step back on and you'll have gained 8 oz. in weight. Was it fat weight? Muscle weight? Of course not. Yet so many people freak out when they weigh so many pounds one day and then the next day after a good workout out weight 3 lbs more even after being in calorie deficit. Or only slept 4 hours instead of their regular 7-9 hours. Again no muscle or fat gain, so the obvious answer is that water retention upped the weight.
Remember that the scale is only a tool. It gives current weight of what's on it. It cannot distinguish if it's someone with clothing on or off. Tall or short. Fat or fit. So don't let it define your total progress either. Yes the number going down is an indication of weight loss, but what if that weight loss was more lean muscle than fat? Would that be good?
Just remember, if you look the way you want, can wear the clothes you choose and people are applauding your look to you, does it really matter what that number on the scale shows?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
You can do the same exact routines, with the same exact foods, the same exact sleep patterns, etc. and lose weight one week and gain the next. Why? Because the body is complicated. There are lots of things we don't control such as hormonal balance, water fluctuation and body repair. These all play a part on the number that's displayed on the scale every time you step up on it.
It's really not hard to gain some water weight either. Step on a scale. Get off drink 8 oz of water. Step back on and you'll have gained 8 oz. in weight. Was it fat weight? Muscle weight? Of course not. Yet so many people freak out when they weigh so many pounds one day and then the next day after a good workout out weight 3 lbs more even after being in calorie deficit. Or only slept 4 hours instead of their regular 7-9 hours. Again no muscle or fat gain, so the obvious answer is that water retention upped the weight.
Remember that the scale is only a tool. It gives current weight of what's on it. It cannot distinguish if it's someone with clothing on or off. Tall or short. Fat or fit. So don't let it define your total progress either. Yes the number going down is an indication of weight loss, but what if that weight loss was more lean muscle than fat? Would that be good?
Just remember, if you look the way you want, can wear the clothes you choose and people are applauding your look to you, does it really matter what that number on the scale shows?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
64
Replies
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Same everything except scale results.
I now fit into my 34" waist Wranglers, which I haven't worn for more than 20 years. Even before I put on all the extra fat I just got rid of, I was wearing 36".
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This is exactly why I like to weigh myself daily. It was upsetting at first, but I felt I really needed to get past the place where the number on the scale had an emotional charge, and reach a place where the number on the scale is just a data point that is also informed by things like how I feel and how my clothes fit (among others).
That doesn't mean I'm not happy when I see sustained weight loss, but for me seeing a steady downward trend has become far more important than seeing what a given day's weight is.
I'm the same way. Weigh and log each day, and I'm happy to hit a milestone weight, but if I'm up a bit from the day before I'm not stressing about it. I also periodically take body circumference measurements to plug into the body fat formulas, again to monitor the trend.6 -
Thanks for your post.0
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Just giving this a bump.4
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This is exactly why I like to weigh myself daily. It was upsetting at first, but I felt I really needed to get past the place where the number on the scale had an emotional charge, and reach a place where the number on the scale is just a data point that is also informed by things like how I feel and how my clothes fit (among others).
That doesn't mean I'm not happy when I see sustained weight loss, but for me seeing a steady downward trend has become far more important than seeing what a given day's weight is.
Same for the first several months. I now weigh myself only once a week--I know I'm doing well logging, I know when I will have water weight, I know my losses are slow, so what's the point?0 -
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Personally myself I weigh everyday, but only as a gauge to see how what I may have eaten the day before and what activity or event I participated in may have affected it. There was I time when I was stressing out about winning a fantasy football ball game that the next day, I was up 3lbs having met my calories and not exceeding. The day after (I won), the 3lbs were gone.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Bump so more ppl will see this. Awesome information.2
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bump2
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Thanks for this -- it was a timely reminder for me today.
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Thread needs more bumps.2
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Personally myself I weigh everyday, but only as a gauge to see how what I may have eaten the day before and what activity or event I participated in may have affected it. There was I time when I was stressing out about winning a fantasy football ball game that the next day, I was up 3lbs having met my calories and not exceeding. The day after (I won), the 3lbs were gone.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Huh, that's something I haven't thought about before. My weight has been steadily climbing recently, but I also have become very lax about logging (and I've been binging a lot). But, I've also been under a ton of stress at work (doing the workload of 3 people for a few weeks). Here's hope that at least some of my gain is water weight due to stress levels.
And at least I know what I need to do to clear up the actual weight gain...1 -
Had to look this up because I forgot to add it to my useful links. Giving it another bump for the afternoon crowd.3
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Stress does create more cortisol release and any disruption of hormones will usually have an effect on fluid balance levels in the body.Personally myself I weigh everyday, but only as a gauge to see how what I may have eaten the day before and what activity or event I participated in may have affected it. There was I time when I was stressing out about winning a fantasy football ball game that the next day, I was up 3lbs having met my calories and not exceeding. The day after (I won), the 3lbs were gone.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Huh, that's something I haven't thought about before. My weight has been steadily climbing recently, but I also have become very lax about logging (and I've been binging a lot). But, I've also been under a ton of stress at work (doing the workload of 3 people for a few weeks). Here's hope that at least some of my gain is water weight due to stress levels.
And at least I know what I need to do to clear up the actual weight gain...
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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bump1
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LOVE this and really needed it today.1
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Came in to find out what Scale Sphynx Syndrome is. I am disappoint.
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I going to edit it. Now that I look at it, it sounds dumb.Came in to find out what Scale Sphynx Syndrome is. I am disappoint.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
1 -
This is exactly why I like to weigh myself daily. It was upsetting at first, but I felt I really needed to get past the place where the number on the scale had an emotional charge, and reach a place where the number on the scale is just a data point that is also informed by things like how I feel and how my clothes fit (among others).
That doesn't mean I'm not happy when I see sustained weight loss, but for me seeing a steady downward trend has become far more important than seeing what a given day's weight is.
I think weighing regularly is important as long as you remember that you are going to bounce around a bit. One of the largest things I found is how certain foods affect my weight which helped make intelligent choices. I would usually look at 2 days prior when weighing myself and see what i consumed. This would show me trends of certain types of foods and how they affected my body. Again, this isn't for everyone but it has helped me. I am a techy though and love number crunching.0 -
I weigh daily bc it encourages me no matter what the number on the scale is. Then I log weekly. It's hard not to become obsessed with the scale.0
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Personally myself I weigh everyday, but only as a gauge to see how what I may have eaten the day before and what activity or event I participated in may have affected it. There was I time when I was stressing out about winning a fantasy football ball game that the next day, I was up 3lbs having met my calories and not exceeding. The day after (I won), the 3lbs were gone.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Huh, that's something I haven't thought about before. My weight has been steadily climbing recently, but I also have become very lax about logging (and I've been binging a lot). But, I've also been under a ton of stress at work (doing the workload of 3 people for a few weeks). Here's hope that at least some of my gain is water weight due to stress levels.
And at least I know what I need to do to clear up the actual weight gain...
One thing that helps me is to pack a lunch and always have some extra healthy snacks with me in case i work over. That way its easier to manage my weight when having to work crazy hours.... hope this helps0 -
shawnmstout wrote: »Personally myself I weigh everyday, but only as a gauge to see how what I may have eaten the day before and what activity or event I participated in may have affected it. There was I time when I was stressing out about winning a fantasy football ball game that the next day, I was up 3lbs having met my calories and not exceeding. The day after (I won), the 3lbs were gone.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Huh, that's something I haven't thought about before. My weight has been steadily climbing recently, but I also have become very lax about logging (and I've been binging a lot). But, I've also been under a ton of stress at work (doing the workload of 3 people for a few weeks). Here's hope that at least some of my gain is water weight due to stress levels.
And at least I know what I need to do to clear up the actual weight gain...
One thing that helps me is to pack a lunch and always have some extra healthy snacks with me in case i work over. That way its easier to manage my weight when having to work crazy hours.... hope this helps
Yeah, I pack lunch, snacks, and dinner (yay 11.5 hour work days!). Unfortunately my problems are with skipping the gym because I'm tired and then wanting to decompress with a beer or two. And gelato. It's really that mentality that I've always used food to feel better about things, and it really doesn't help, plus I feel bad about it later.2 -
This is exactly what is happening to me! I'm really overweight and I would've thought that with the amount of weight that I have to lose that it would come off much faster. I typically go to the gym twice a day at least 3 days a week while working out at least five days a week; but my scale just seems to refuse to move. I rarely make it to my daily calorie goal, much less go over and at this point I've began looking into surgery (that's just how frustrated I've gotten). I do cardio, weights and take classes but nothing seems to be helping me get this weight off...the last time I tried to lose weight, it was not this difficult! I'm not sure what else to do!
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The scale is the one tool that the majority of people use to gauge their progress on weight loss/gain and physical transformation. Unfortunately there are so many variables, scale weight can fluctuate so much that people are so dismayed that they quit their weight loss attempt when they see 3-5lbs gained after busting their butts on a single day or week. So I'm here just to let you know that weight loss isn't linear.
You can do the same exact routines, with the same exact foods, the same exact sleep patterns, etc. and lose weight one week and gain the next. Why? Because the body is complicated. There are lots of things we don't control such as hormonal balance, water fluctuation and body repair. These all play a part on the number that's displayed on the scale every time you step up on it.
It's really not hard to gain some water weight either. Step on a scale. Get off drink 8 oz of water. Step back on and you'll have gained 8 oz. in weight. Was it fat weight? Muscle weight? Of course not. Yet so many people freak out when they weigh so many pounds one day and then the next day after a good workout out weight 3 lbs more even after being in calorie deficit. Or only slept 4 hours instead of their regular 7-9 hours. Again no muscle or fat gain, so the obvious answer is that water retention upped the weight.
Remember that the scale is only a tool. It gives current weight of what's on it. It cannot distinguish if it's someone with clothing on or off. Tall or short. Fat or fit. So don't let it define your total progress either. Yes the number going down is an indication of weight loss, but what if that weight loss was more lean muscle than fat? Would that be good?
Just remember, if you look the way you want, can wear the clothes you choose and people are applauding your look to you, does it really matter what that number on the scale shows?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
@ninerbuff Thank you so much for this post! I needed this today. I was so frustrated today when I weighed and for the past 3 weeks I have not seen much progress from the scale's point of view.1 -
I ate a small popcorn and drank a coke zero at the movie theater last week. I bounced up 2 pounds after a month of steady losses. I panicked and got myself my favorite steak dinner from a local restaurant, for whatever reason this meal usually triggers a 5-10lb weight loss woosh...it didn't this time. Still sitting 2 pounds up but I'm not recording it..yet. I will if it is still here after another week. I have to remind myself that even at my lowest weight of 135lbs, I could retain 15lbs of water weight in a day or two and then lose it a few days later. I am still eating at a deficit over all..pushing protein, fat and fiber and keeping carbs and sodium down below limits, it has to be water..maybe some sort of inflammation reaction to the corn or coke zero since I had avoided them for over a month.0
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That whole thought process seems problematic and potentially unhealthy to me. What impact does recording, or not recording, the weight have on reality?StacyJ8888 wrote: »I ate a small popcorn and drank a coke zero at the movie theater last week. I bounced up 2 pounds after a month of steady losses. I panicked and got myself my favorite steak dinner from a local restaurant, for whatever reason this meal usually triggers a 5-10lb weight loss woosh...it didn't this time. Still sitting 2 pounds up but I'm not recording it..yet. I will if it is still here after another week. I have to remind myself that even at my lowest weight of 135lbs, I could retain 15lbs of water weight in a day or two and then lose it a few days later. I am still eating at a deficit over all..pushing protein, fat and fiber and keeping carbs and sodium down below limits, it has to be water..maybe some sort of inflammation reaction to the corn or coke zero since I had avoided them for over a month.
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Thanks for this post! I needed it. I was about to give up tonight because after being very careful logging my food, and definitely being at a deficit with working out, that scale hasn't moved, and went up at one point in the last week. I feel better after reading this. 1
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lol, that damn scale will be the death of me, I swear. But I think I'm learning not to take it as seriously as I used to.0
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Hopefully more people who are "struggling" with scale weight loss will read this. For all the years I've done this, I've seen so many people quit after having a couple of bad weeks on the scale and are resigned to the fact that they aren't "lucky" enough to lose weight.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 1 -
Rationally, I know that what the scale shows is not that important in the grand scheme of weight loss progress, and to obsess over an arbitrary number that can change with the next glass of water or a heavier pair of pants isn't really going to help matters.
But it still ruins my morning when that thing shows a one pound weight gain from the last day.
3
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