The Best Way to Track Your Weight Loss

Tracking weight loss can get a little confusing, partly because of questions as to when and how often.

Also, partly because the scale will show a number different than you may have expected.

If you aren’t tracking your weight loss the best way, you may be seeing numbers that don’t make sense to you due to normal physiologic fluctuations.

This can cause not-so-great thoughts that result in negative feelings like frustration, defeat, hopelessness and irritation.

Many times, this can lead you to give up entirely, thinking you’re failing, but in reality, you were progressing nicely.

You just didn’t see the overall progression.

So I’m going to share what affects the number on the scale and what the best way to track your weight loss is, so you can be motivated to keep going.

“It’s Not Just the Number”

I’m sure you’ve heard at least one person say, “It’s not just the number on the scale you should go by.” The good news is, it’s true.

If your primary goal is to just see the number on the scale decrease, then you may be missing some other elements to weight loss.

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For example, if you added any strengthening program to your weekly routine or you’ve added a lot of lean protein to your diet, you won’t see the number on the scale budge as much, even if you’re losing body fat.

The reason for this is you’re most likely increasing your muscle mass, while you’re losing the body fat.

This is a great thing.

It means your body will look more toned and you’ll typically notice your clothes feel a bit looser.

So, remember to take into account the number on the scale AND how your body looks and your clothes feel.

Fluctuating Numbers

The next thing is, there are many different physiologic factors that affect the number on the scale at different times of the day, different days of the week, and even the month.

Hormones

Women’s body weight is affected by their menstrual cycle, potentially gaining up to 5 pounds, which then typically drops again afterward.

A main reason of weight gain around the menstrual cycle is water retention due to hormonal changes.

Stomach bloating can make you feel like you’ve gained weight, but this is typically not try weight gain.

Your appetite can also increase, but you’d have to eat quite a bit more calories to really see an increase in the number on the scale.

Generally speaking though, if you’re about to get your period or are in the middle of it, don’t be surprised if the number on the scale is higher than expected.

It should drop back down after water retention resolves.

Also, you may have heard that menopause (as well as pre- and post-) can cause weight gain. This is true, however these are more long-term changes, rather than frequent fluctuations.

Therefore, menopause itself shouldn’t have too many fluctuation in the number on the scale when measuring day to day, week to week, or even month to month.

Input and Output

The next thing that can significantly affect the number on the scale is your input and output, meaning if you just ate, or if you just pooped.

People generally eat around 4 pounds of food a day. So, if you’re weighing yourself first thing in the morning, expect the number to be lower than if you weigh yourself after lunch or dinner.

As far as output, I just looked up how much the average poop weighs (that’s a first) and it’s anywhere from 1/4 pound to 1 pound for the average poop.

However, for people who tend to be constipated, that weight can increase by quite a bit. Likewise, for people who have diarrhea often, there will be a lot of water weight included.

Glycogen Storage

As a runner and weight lifter, this one is something I understand fairly well.

Glycogen is what your body turns glucose (sugar) into so that it can be stored easily in your muscles, liver, and fat cells. That way, it can be easily utilized for energy.

It’s also stored there with lots of water and some potassium. Calorie (particularly carbohydrate) restriction while trying to lose weight, affects the potassium, resulting in fairly rapid weight loss early on.

Unfortunately, this can result in a significant increase in weight again if you end up loading up on carbohydrates at some point after.

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Salt Intake

Salt, or sodium intake will also affect how much you weight because of water retention. The more sodium you eat or drink, the more water retention you’ll have.

Now, how much water you drink will also play a part, but generally speaking, if you a lot of salty foods one day, you’ll most likely be retaining enough water to affect the number on the scale.

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What You’re Wearing

I’ll state the obvious here, just to be thorough. What you were when you step on the scale will affect the number. So unless you wear the same exact thing every day, it’s best to weigh yourself without clothing, shoes, or jewelry on.

The Best Way to Track Your Weight Loss

Since you can see that there are several factors that affect your body weight, the best way to track your weight loss starts with consistency.

So, making sure you’re weighing yourself at the same time, wearing the same thing (meaning nothing), and doing this over a period of time, so you can account for many of the fluctuations by then taking the average.

Here’s what you do:

#1 Get naked.

#2 Weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you’ve had anything to eat or drink.

#3 Also make sure you haven’t pooped, and ideally haven’t urinated yet.

#4 Record the number.

#5 Use the same scale and weigh yourself every day for a week this same exact way.

#6 Once you have data for the 7 days, add them up and divide by 7 to get the average. That’s your number you’ll compare to next week’s average, and the following week after that, and so on.

#7 If you’re not seeing an overall decrease in the weekly average over the next month or so, you need to do something differently with your eating behaviors. Don’t give up. Just try something else.

Final Notes

Weight loss can be hard, but it can also be easy too. Once you start thinking that it’s hard and you’re “failing,” your results aren’t going to be what you want them to be.

The key is to remember that you’re in control. You can try something different if you want to.

Just be sure you’re using the best way to track your weight loss, otherwise you may be giving up on something that’s actually going quite well.