Scale not moving
schnarfo
Posts: 764 Member
I am tracking everything, weighing food to ensure that it’s accurate. Working out 6 days a week - mixture of weights, kettle bells and spin. Yet, the scale isn’t moving 😭 what am I doing wrong?
My clothes are fitting better and I can see a different in the mirror but the scale just isn’t budging
My clothes are fitting better and I can see a different in the mirror but the scale just isn’t budging
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Replies
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For how long have you been trying to lose weight? And how often do you step on the scale and when in the day? Maybe you need a bit of hard love here, but your clothes fit better, you look better and thus you're losing weight. That's fantastic, isn't it? So ignore the grumpy scale and just accept you're doing fine.
Why is the scale acting up: water weight? Happens with new exercise, with increased stress, high temperatures, losing too much weight first and then the body recalibrating, certain points in the menstrual circle, etc... it's not fat, but it hides fatloss on the scale. Happens to all of us.
The scale is not on a flat, solid ground? Yeah, scales hat that trick and bite back
New batteries needed?
Weighing only every now and then and hitting a day when it's flood (higher water weight). Weight constantly fluctuates, like ebb and flood. You just might be unlucky and get the wrong day.
Weighing in the course of the day instead of in the morning naked before breakfast but after loo? Yeah, the food and fluids you take in have a weight, and it differs massivelhy. As have clothes.5 -
a few thoughts.
first, most digital scales have a memory feature, and they don't talk about it. it means if you lose 1 or 2 pounds, it will keep showing you the same weight until you lose the minimum amount their memory requires. mine actually did this for up to anything below 5 pounds - every day, i weighed the same to within a tenth of a pound. so i pulled the battery, and i weighed 4.8 pounds less. now i pull and replace the battery before i weigh.
a few months ago, i lost no weight for a couple months, however i moved into a smaller pant size as i lost 2 inches from my waist, and i also found my leg strength had increased. i'm more than fine with that, btw.
last, many of the MFP database entries are incorrect. it might be worth checking each of your regular entries to make sure the calories match the manufacturer or FDA info. there was a guy here a few years ago who chose a random potato salad entry that was 50 calories for 8 ounces. he ate 8 ounces of potato salad every day, and he only logged 50 calories per day. it turns out real potato salad is around 360 calories per 8 ounces, so changing that and a couple other entries that were too low fixed his problem.
good luck sorting this out. you can do it!
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I only weigh once a week, any more than that I start stressing whether it's moving or not.
If you're exercising a lot, creating muscle may be balancing out loosing fat so it may not be a bad thing if you're looking about the same. Don't fixate on the numbers when you're hitting a flatline, focus on other aspects: are your clothes fitting the same, have you built muscle/tonned up, how are you feeling physically, how are you sleeping, where are your energy levels? These other things can be indicators of healthier lifestyles taking effect.
Also, are you doing the same routine every time you work out? Maybe you just need to mix things up a bit? Try a new work out routine, focus on a different muscle set etc... If you're stuck in a rut, it might be time to mix things up. Sometimes our bodies become too used to things and while that's great for sleep, it isn't always the best for diet/workouts.
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You need to check out the NSV thread over on the Success Stories board.
Tales of Non Scale Victories buoyed me along when I felt stalled. Still do. I treasure each and every post.3 -
You may also be adding muscle, which adds healthy weight. When I was not getting results, I re-checked my food choices, and became more regular in exercise. I swim and walk. So far, I've lost 23 pounds, and am thinking of adding some biking to the list. Don't give up. Log in daily, and maybe only weigh yourself weekly.1
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In the short term (but we need more info on the precise timeline) muscle gain is unlikely. However, exercise can lead to water retention for muscle repair, masking fat loss on the scale.7
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How long have you been doing this and how much did you have to lose?
As others said, could be sticky scale or broken scale. Pull out the batteries and put them back, see if that gets it moving. Or try another scale next time you can, maybe at the grocery store or a friend's house. Bearing in mind that could be several pounds heavier due to time of day plus clothing.
It sounds like you've successfully recomp'd and definitely made progress. If you didn't have much to lose, you're probably going to see the results better via mirror and measurements than scale anyway.
If you've recomp'd (gained muscle and lost fat) and are in fact the same weight, then it means you've been eating at maintenance calories. As someone said, the weight of your food item may be accurate, but the database entry you use for that food may not be.1 -
Thank you all! To answer some questions
I’m 5’6 and 142lbs so I don’t have a huge amount to lose, I do have a high percentage of body fat however (35%)
I mix up my work outs, I track everything through bar codes where possible so I know it’s accurate and use a food scale. I’ve been sticking to my calorie goals and working out for a month solid (1500 calories) it maybe too high but I’m not wanting to go below this at the moment so recomping might be all I get?
Thank you to everyone that replied, I really appreciated it.
In terms of non scale victories my clothes are definitely fitting better, my stomach, arms and legs have more definition but I still have a long way to go.
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zebasschick wrote: »a few thoughts.
first, most digital scales have a memory feature, and they don't talk about it. it means if you lose 1 or 2 pounds, it will keep showing you the same weight until you lose the minimum amount their memory requires. mine actually did this for up to anything below 5 pounds - every day, i weighed the same to within a tenth of a pound. so i pulled the battery, and i weighed 4.8 pounds less. now i pull and replace the battery before i weigh.
This!
Try removing your batteries and trying again. I found this exact same issue with my scale. "Oh, you again? Here you go! Here's the figure from last time. You're welcome!"
Make sure the scale is always on a hard surface and ALWAYS in the same spot! It matters. But try taking out the batteries and let us know if that did the trick.
Good luck!3 -
Another thought, apart from the scale: do you compare the nutritional information on the products that come up when you scan with what's on the packaging? When I scan I get so many completely wrong nutritional information, similar products from different manufacturers, or even completely different products. Also, do you check the amount you log?3
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If you try the TDEE calculator here, 1500 is probably about your BMR.
https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
So you should definitely be losing weight, probably at least one pound per week. And it sounds like you are, despite what the scale says. Speaking of, is that how you're getting your body fat % estimate? Because most methods of estimating bf % have issues, especially scales. It's hard to rely on them. You'd be better off tracking measurements over time.
You may have benefited from noob muscle gains too, and maybe you're retaining some water due to the exercise, but it's still hard to believe you've gained the same amount of muscle and water retention for muscle repair as the fat you've lost, especially while in a deficit. That doesn't add up. Sort your scale out.
Or it could be your logging is off somehow, and you are in fact eating more than you think. Opening up your diary for others to view could help there.1 -
Retroguy2000 wrote: »Or it could be your logging is off somehow, and you are in fact eating more than you think. Opening up your diary for others to view could help there.
@Retroguy2000 is right. Not casting aspersions on your efforts, but it's an obvious first place to examine.
I love this old thread:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1
Give your food logging a fresh look, open up your food diary for others to give it a look. Wouldn't it be a relief to catch some big misfire and get on with the progress you are so clearly putting in the work to achieve?2 -
Thank you all! To answer some questions
I’m 5’6 and 142lbs so I don’t have a huge amount to lose, I do have a high percentage of body fat however (35%)
I mix up my work outs, I track everything through bar codes where possible so I know it’s accurate and use a food scale. I’ve been sticking to my calorie goals and working out for a month solid (1500 calories) it maybe too high but I’m not wanting to go below this at the moment so recomping might be all I get?
Thank you to everyone that replied, I really appreciated it.
In terms of non scale victories my clothes are definitely fitting better, my stomach, arms and legs have more definition but I still have a long way to go.
Bad news: Bar-coded food database items are user-entered like all the others, just the first entry someone associated with the bar code, so they can be as inaccurate as any other entry. They're not a direct pipeline to the manufacturer. On first use, always the best practice is to check against the product label or an authoritative source, so good data gets into your recent/frequent MFP foods.
If the whole eating/activity routine is new around month ago, and especially if you're shooting for slow loss, it's still possible that after a month there's still increased water retention (for muscle repair from the new exercise, maybe plus some other factors like where you are in your menstrual cycle if you have those, how hot it is where you are, whether you have seasonal allergies kicking up, or lots of other things). That can mask fat loss on the scale. Eventually, the water retention will stabilize or drop off, and fat loss - if it's happening - will start showing up on the scale.
That'd be my best bet, with logging issues in second place. That's not a diss - logging is a surprisingly subtle skill, and most of us who've been doing it a long time have had some major forehead-slap moments along the way. I think someone else already mentioned that if you make your diary MFP-public, and say so here, some of the old hands may be willing to take a look and see if anything jumps out.
For perspective on the possibility of muscle mass gain: A quite good rate of muscle mass gain, under ideal circumstances, would be 1-2 pounds of new muscle mass per month.
Ideal circumstances include relative youth, relatively male hormone profile, a good progressive strength program faithfully performed, good overall nutrition including but not limited to adequate protein, good genetics, and a calorie surplus. It's not that no one can gain muscle mass without all of those factors being perfect, but it would likely happen at an even slower rate than the 1-2 pounds per month.
It's very unusual for any realistic rate of muscle mass gain to outpace and thus mask any reasonably satisfying rate of fat loss.
I wish it were otherwise, sincerely.
But significant strength increase and some firming up or definition can happen even before muscle mass gain, and those are useful in themselves. (The initial strength increase is from better recruiting and utilizing existing muscle fibers. We have to mostly tap that out before our bodies will start adding mass, and even then it's a patience-requiring process.)
BTW, if you haven't seen it yet, this contains some really good info on water retention and body weight, plus related issues - especially read the article linked in the first post.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
Hang in there, good things are happening for you already, and more are on the way . . . it may even be more than recomp, once the predictable initial water weight weirdness settles down.
Best wishes!4 -
On logging being subtle—it even pays to re-check things you were certain were correct once upon a time. There’s a snack I love that used to be 100 calories per pack and 7 g of protein, but the new packaging now says 110 calories per pack and 6 g of protein. (Who knows where that gram of protein went.) It’s a de minimus change, but I’m sure there are larger ones out there as well that could add up over time.2
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Thank you all! To answer some questions
I’m 5’6 and 142lbs so I don’t have a huge amount to lose, I do have a high percentage of body fat however (35%)
I mix up my work outs, I track everything through bar codes where possible so I know it’s accurate and use a food scale. I’ve been sticking to my calorie goals and working out for a month solid (1500 calories) it maybe too high but I’m not wanting to go below this at the moment so recomping might be all I get?
Thank you to everyone that replied, I really appreciated it.
In terms of non scale victories my clothes are definitely fitting better, my stomach, arms and legs have more definition but I still have a long way to go.
Did MFP give you the 1500 as a goal? I know everyone is different so I’m not making assumptions, but at 5’5” and 138 lb, because of my job that leads me to sitting quite a bit, my maintenance was actually 1600. So if you happen to have a lower maintenance like me, your deficit may be tiny.
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How much are you trying to lose? How many calories are you eating? How much time are you spending working out each day?I am tracking everything, weighing food to ensure that it’s accurate. Working out 6 days a week - mixture of weights, kettle bells and spin. Yet, the scale isn’t moving 😭 what am I doing wrong?
My clothes are fitting better and I can see a different in the mirror but the scale just isn’t budging
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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You've gotten lots of good input here --- How did you calculate your body fat %? If you're using a bluetooth scale ... it's totally possible it's not an accurate measurement. You can use the data re: body fat % from your scale to see the trend... but it may not be true that your body fat is 35% exactly. Either way, if your clothes are feeling loser/fitting better and you SEE more definition and changes in your body - you are losing fat.
The number on the scale could be something mechanical/technical with your scale and others have already talked about that. Could be water weight (did you start this 6 day week workout recently?).
You stated you don't have much to lose. The ability to create a deficit as you get closer to your goal weight will always be tough - and the deficit will be small - leading to very slow recomp/weight loss and making it much easier to actually not be in a deficit due to poor logging (or the entries used being wrong).
Also, I'd suggest you think very intentionally about *why* the number on the scale no moving bothers you if you have multiple other types of evidence of weight loss? It sounds like you're doing good...but maybe are just stuck on that number being important when it really isn't as important necessarily as other things/sources of info.0 -
To clarify, the reason people are suggesting that new exercise can cause weight to remain stable or even go up…..
When you begin new exercise, you create micro tears in your muscles, which causes the duck-walk soreness we’ve all experienced at some point. Sounds bad, right? Nope, those micro tears heal, stronger each time. That’s how muscles develop.
Why would this contribute to retention or weight gain?
Your body will retain water and direct it to sore spots or injuries for healing purposes. When it’s no longer needed, you’ll relinquish all that water and temporary weight gain will go away.
I work out regularly, but even now if I try something new, I can easily gain three or four pounds for a couple of days and then it’s gone. YMMV depending on how long and how sore you are
Learning this was a revelation to me. I felt like the harder I worked, the more weight I “gained”. Nope, it’s just temporary water weight, and people who are gung ho at the start of a new diet plan are often shocked and quit, because they think “this isn’t working for me”. It IS, but you have to be patient and tbh give it a while to wee it out and bring things back into whack. 😇
Imagine how many people might still be here if they’d taken a moment to read the boards and learn this!2 -
springlering62 wrote: »
(snip great post)
Your body will retain water and direct it to sore spots or injuries for healing purposes. When it’s no longer needed, you’ll relinquish all that water and temporary weight gain will go away.
I work out regularly, but even now if I try something new, I can easily gain three or four pounds for a couple of days and then it’s gone. YMMV depending on how long and how sore you are
(snip more goodness)
If sore muscles, there is almost certainly water retention (whether it's dramatic enough to show on the scale in a particular context or not - usually is).
But if new exercise, there can still be water retention, possibly observable on the bodyweight scale, even if not particularly sore.
The two are possible symptoms of the same underlying cause, but can potentially occur independent of one another.
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Hi, am new to losing weight, but have been told that all calories aren't equal and that you should eat a gram of protein for every centimetre of height, so 171g for you, this would mean less fat and carbohydrates. Thus kickstarting the weight loss, that is if you are counting calories and eating to a deficit.
Also taking creatine alleviates muscle soreness.2 -
craigneal42 wrote: »Hi, am new to losing weight, but have been told that all calories aren't equal and that you should eat a gram of protein for every centimetre of height, so 171g for you, this would mean less fat and carbohydrates. Thus kickstarting the weight loss, that is if you are counting calories and eating to a deficit.
Also taking creatine alleviates muscle soreness.
Hi there, welcome! Why don't you start an own thread instead of hitchkining another one with a completely different theme? You could for example go here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/general-diet-and-weight-loss-help and post a new thread.1 -
craigneal42 wrote: »Hi, am new to losing weight, but have been told that all calories aren't equal and that you should eat a gram of protein for every centimetre of height, so 171g for you, this would mean less fat and carbohydrates. Thus kickstarting the weight loss, that is if you are counting calories and eating to a deficit.
Also taking creatine alleviates muscle soreness.
losing weight is much simpler than that. eat less calories than you burn, and your body will use its stores. all calories - for weight loss purposes - really are the same. i've lost 98 pounds as of today, and i eat cheese, candy, pudding, chips (er... crisps), pizza. whatever fits in my calorie goal. as long as i eat at a deficit, i lose weight.
the formula you give - eating a gram of protein for every inch or centimeter - is for muscle building.
i repeat this a lot, but years ago, i had a bf who pretty much lived on snickers and other candy bars and potato chips (that may be crisps for you) - he munched them all the time, yet he was thin as a rail. he didn't drive, so he did a lot of walking and skateboarding to get around, and voila! was it a healthy diet? not even close. but if we're only talking calories/weight, remember CICO (calories in, calories out).0 -
All calories are created equal. If you had a gallon of milk or a gallon of water, it's still a gallon. Calories are a unit of energy measurement. Whether from fat, protein or carbs, 10 calories is 10 calories. Now how they are utilized by the body will make a difference on variable scenarios.craigneal42 wrote: »Hi, am new to losing weight, but have been told that all calories aren't equal and that you should eat a gram of protein for every centimetre of height, so 171g for you, this would mean less fat and carbohydrates. Thus kickstarting the weight loss, that is if you are counting calories and eating to a deficit.
Also taking creatine alleviates muscle soreness.
Also you only need .8-1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So a 50kg person would only need 50 grams or a little less a day to be efficient.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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craigneal42 wrote: »Hi, am new to losing weight, but have been told that all calories aren't equal and that you should eat a gram of protein for every centimetre of height, so 171g for you, this would mean less fat and carbohydrates. Thus kickstarting the weight loss, that is if you are counting calories and eating to a deficit.
Also taking creatine alleviates muscle soreness.
At 5'6" and 142 pounds, it's unlikely that OP requires 171g of protein as a minimum, though that amount shouldn't be injurious. (I'm saying that as a 5'5" woman, so similar size, who's tried to research this fairly carefully.)
Research results** suggest something more in the range of 77-155g depending on situation and goals, though the upper end of that is somewhat speculative (i.e., "may benefit"). Certainly height - perhaps especially height irrespective of gender - isn't a great basis for estimating protein needs, since the main reason for protein is maintaining lean mass. People of the same height can differ quite widely in lean mass.
Calories are going to be the main direct determinant of fat gain/loss, but that's not saying nutrition is unimportant. Calories are about energy content, and all calories are equal, in the same sense that a mile of narrow, precarious mountain-goat track and a mile of superhighway are the same distance. That doesn't mean they're equal in other ways. Energy content is one attribute of food, but not the only one that matters across the board.
Research**** suggests that creatine does not help reduce DOMS, though it may aid in recovery in other ways. (I do supplement creatine myself, BTW.)
** https://examine.com/protein-intake-calculator/
Research basis for that explained here: https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/
**** https://examine.com/supplements/creatine/
I'm linking examine.com because they have a good reputation for analyzing recent research and providing consumer-friendly summaries that are neutral and evidence based. I have no affiliation with them except as a user of the site.
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craigneal42 wrote: »Hi, am new to losing weight, but have been told that all calories aren't equal and that you should eat a gram of protein for every centimetre of height, so 171g for you, this would mean less fat and carbohydrates. Thus kickstarting the weight loss, that is if you are counting calories and eating to a deficit.
The amount of protein you should eat is highly debated. You are the first one I've heard suggest eating protein based on height, so kudos for creativity!
If eating high protein makes you lose weight it's because your body has a harder time digesting it, so the calorie content is overestimated. I tend to get indigestion if I go too high in either protein or fat.
But, you're not hurting anyone, so party on, bro!0 -
It's a combo of two things.Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »If eating high protein makes you lose weight it's because your body has a harder time digesting it, so the calorie content is overestimated.
First, the thermic effect. Via examine.com and google:
"Fat provides 9 calories per gram, and its TEF is 0–3%. Carbohydrate provides 4 calories per gram, and its TEF is 5–10%. Protein provides 4 calories per gram, and its TEF is 20–30%."
So that's the energy required to digest it. If you get an additional 60g protein in the same calorie amount as someone else, that's about 50 calories more being burned by you just to process it. Over time, that adds up.
Second, odds are someone deliberately eating high protein is also doing things to grow muscle, and each pound of muscle burns about 4 calories per day more than a pound of fat. If you have about 12 pounds of muscle more than someone else, and you're eating about 60g more protein, on the same number of calories you'll be burning an extra 100 per day.1 -
The MFP calorie data is mostly wrong.
Be sure you're checking calorie counts on package labels, or on the USDA database.0 -
craigneal42 wrote: »Hi, am new to losing weight, but have been told that all calories aren't equal and that you should eat a gram of protein for every centimetre of height, so 171g for you, this would mean less fat and carbohydrates. Thus kickstarting the weight loss, that is if you are counting calories and eating to a deficit.
Also taking creatine alleviates muscle soreness.
Yup, that's pretty much it. That's the secret.0
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