I’ve said it many times before, but it bears repeating: Don’t put too much emphasis on the scale.
Some people are obsessed with the scale, weighing themselves several times daily. This ends up causing a lot of stress and anxiety for every ounce gained or lost.
While the scale can be useful to keep you on track, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
In terms of a tool, you can use the scale to ensure you stay in a certain range, knowing that weight can fluctuate daily. I can go up or down 5 pounds in 24 hours, depending on what I ate, hormones, digestion, and hydration.
And the scale doesn’t account for body fat vs. muscle. Case in point: I’ve told the story of Rob (who is very lean) is considered obese by the scale. His weight is high for someone his height, driving his BMI into the obesity range. If you know him, you know this is ridiculous.
In the same vein, at my very leanest, I was also at my heaviest (on the scale) as an adult. Although I was about 5-7 pounds heavier than I am now, my body fat was actually lower.
The point here is this: you can lose scale weight and actually be fatter.
Our society tends to be preoccupied with scale weight. Many people have recently started taking diabetes drugs (like Ozempic, Wegovy, Monjaro, etc.) to lose weight. And while they are losing scale weight, studies show that a lot of it is actually muscle. So, yeah, they lost weight but are probably less resilient and capable.
In short, don’t rely solely on the scale. You can get heavier and also be leaner, just like you can be lighter and also fatter.
If the scale causes you to stress, you may want to consider throwing it out. Use your clothing, and how you look, feel, and perform as metrics.
