13 Tips If You’re Feeling Discouraged By The Scale

It’s happens to almost everyone at some point during a fitness journey no matter how much we claim we don’t care what the scale says. You’re feeling leaner, you jump on the scale in search of proof that your hard work is paying off, only to be discouraged and derailed when the scale hasn’t moved, or maybe has even gone up. Man, have I been there.

If you’ve read most any of my other fitness posts, you’ll know I believe consistency and sustainability are the keys to achieving fitness goals. Unfortunately, being discouraged by the scale is probably the biggest threat to consistency. I am not a perfect human or a fitness guru. I still struggle with the scale sometimes but through plenty of conversations with my personal trainer and other women in these same shoes, I’ve found some tips that are actually helpful!

Feeling discouraged by the scale? Here are 13 tips to help!

Things To Do:

1. Be Honest With Yourself

I won’t sugar coat it. Often we aren’t seeing the progress we want because we aren’t staying as consistent with our diet and exercise as we should be. You can’t be surprised that the scale hasn’t moved (or has gone up if weight loss is the goal) when you skipped a couple of workouts and didn’t stick to your nutrition for a few days. Let me be clear, I am not saying to guilt or punish yourself, I am just reminding you to be honest with the effort you put in and the results you can expect. To improve your health and physique, you need to be in it for the long haul.

2. Track Your Food

If you feel like you’re doing everything right and still aren’t seeing progress, I recommend tracking your food for a week or two. I wholeheartedly believe tracking calories and macros is the best way to achieve fitness and nutrition goals. I understand it is not for everyone. However, whether you enjoy it or not, it is extremely informational and helpful.

Regardless of the nutrition program you choose, (Keto, Weight Watchers, Intuitive Eating, Beachbody container system etc.) I encourage you to track your normal intake of food on a food tracking app, like My Fitness Pal. This can be absolutely eye opening, especially if you are new to the health and fitness game.

If your goal is to lose weight, you need to be eating in a deficit. This means eating less calories than you burn. That is the premise for all nutrition plans, regardless of if they focus on whole foods, low carb, etc. It’s easy to think you’re in a deficit if you’re not measuring portions or even if you just aren’t fully aware of what is in the food you eat. That protein bar that “feels” healthy, has 250 calories and might not keep you full for long. That salad dressing you chose could be way more calorically dense than you could even imagine. Just because people call certain foods “healthy” does not mean they will fit your calorie deficit. While overeating is more common, under eating can contribute to a stagnant scale too.

If you’re interested in a customized calorie & macro plan, I got mine here!

3. Stop Weighing Yourself Every Day

Much easier said than done, I get it. You wake up and that “morning skinny” gets you all excited. You jump on the scale filled with optimism and then you’re immediately crushed. It’s much harder to stay consistent and focused on your goal when you start the day feeling defeated and discouraged by a number on the scale.

Weigh yourself once a week! And my personal recommendation, pick a day that suits you. Many fitness plans put the weigh in day on Monday. That’s fine except that we may tend to get a little lax over the weekend because ya know… we’re humans! Then you start your week a little heavier in weight and spirit. Change your predetermined weigh in day to Wednesday or Friday, whenever suits your life best.

4. Focus On Non Scale Victories

I hated hearing this when I first started my fitness journey but its so unbelievably true. Make assessments about your health and physique that have nothing to do with the scale. I mentioned above, “morning skinny.” While I was trying to be funny, feeling a little leaner in the morning is a good thing. You’ve been putting in work being consistent. You wake up feeling good and you should! Don’t let the scale take that from you.

Are you feeling leaner? Less bloated? Stronger? More energetic during the day? Did you hate your workout less than normal? Focus on those first. They are the first signs that you’re making progress before the scale shows it. Give your body the opportunity to show you numerical progress by sticking with it when you’re making non scale progress.

5. Performance based goals

I won’t pretend like our appearance and physique doesn’t matter. It does. However, performance based goals are more controllable and when achieved, they give you the confidence and momentum to stay consistent.

Let go of the number on the scale and decide you want to be able to do 10 push ups, shorten your mile time, or squat a certain amount of weight. Whatever works for you and your workout plan.

This is one of the reasons why weightlifting is my preferred form of exercise. You’re able to measure strength gains almost every week! There’s something about lifting heavy things and doing something you never thought you could that’s so applicable in your every day life too.

Related posts: 6 Tips For Growing Your Glutes; Dumbbell Only Leg Exercises; Upper Body Exercises For Beginners; Cable Only Leg Exercises

6. Accountability

When you get on the scale and don’t see the progress you hoped for, you have about 2 minutes before you say “screw this” and skip the gym or eat off of your plan. For times like these, it’s so helpful if you have someone in your life you can turn to for the reminder to keep going.

Accountability partners are best when they are further along in their fitness journey than you, but they don’t have to be. Just make sure you choose someone who will encourage you, not enable you to give up on your goals. It’s tricky because you’ll want the latter, but you need the former.

When you’re feeling motivated and confident in your abilities, write out a list of “things to remember.” I will dive into suggestions for this list down below. But it can include anything that will remind you why you started. If you don’t have someone who will hold you accountable or you don’t want to reach out to someone in times when you’re discouraged by the scale, turn to this list. And if you’re really struggling with consistency because of the scale, consider writing out this list every morning as a form of positive affirmations.

Things To Consider:

1. Fluctuations While In A Deficit

Fluctuations in your diet can result in bigger scale fluctuations when you’re in a deficit, than when you’re maintaining or gaining. For the majority of 2019 I was in a surplus. This means I was trying to gain more muscle by intentionally gaining weight (muscle and fat.) In January 2020, in an attempt to lean out before my wedding in March, I went back into a deficit plan. For the whole month of January, I absolutely crushed it. I ate within my calorie goals and never missed a workout. I reached out to my personal trainer explaining that I was frustrated and discouraged because I was eating 3-400 less calories per day than my bulking plan and yet the scale wasn’t reflecting it.

He explained to me that fluctuations in your diet while you’re in a deficit can cause much more dramatic weight fluctuations on the scale than when you’re maintaining or gaining. For example, if you eat higher salt and lower fiber the day before. Or higher carbs than normal. The retained water will result in a bigger weight fluctuation (weight “gained”)

The solution? Weigh yourself less and try and remember the scale is not everything. Your body is not used to you trying to lose weight or changing up your daily nutrition and exercise. Give it time. Consistency will always be king. By the end of February, I had lost 5lbs and was no longer fluctuating so dramatically.

2. Body Recomposition

You know that old saying, “muscle weighs more than fat”? Well, we all know that’s not true. However, muscle is leaner/more dense than fat. If you are lifting weights and trying to build muscle, it’s very possible that you begin looking and feeling leaner with less change to the scale than you might have anticipated or even hoped for.

Losing fat and gaining muscle is called body recomposition. This is often what is occurring when you see pictures of athletes and weightlifters and they weigh the same in two different pictures, yet their physique is vastly different. This is why scale related goals should not be your only focus. The majority of people desire a strong, lean physique even though the term “skinny” is used more often. The way to that goal is through growing muscle. It’s hard to see past the number on the scale, but if you’re attaining strength/performance based goals, you’re well on your way to recompositioning your body.

3. Stress/Sleep

My intention with “things to consider” is to remind you of factors that may affect the scale that you didn’t know or haven’t been considering. The scale not moving or moving in the wrong direction could be directly caused by stress and/or lack of sleep. So before you get discouraged by the scale and worry that your efforts are for not, I encourage you to really look at your stress level and whether or not you’re getting adequate sleep.

We want fast results and we look for immediate solutions like slashing calories or increasing exercise. While adjustments may ultimately need to be made to your diet and exercise plan, don’t do anything hasty if you haven’t yet considered your stress levels and sleep.

Many of us are no stranger to leaning on unhealthy behaviors and food choices when we are stressed. But even if you’re sticking with your nutrition plan, when we are stressed our bodies release Cortisol which slows our metabolism.

And when we are experiencing a lack of sleep, our ghrelin and leptin hormones are directly affected. These hormones are responsible for telling our body when to eat and when not to, respectively. With a lack of sleep, we have higher levels of ghrelin and lower level of leptin. In addition to the affect on hormones, lack of sleep results is a slower metabolism as well.

Things To Remember:

1. You Probably Didn’t Gain 3lbs In One Weekend

It’s highly unlikely that you actually gained 3 pounds (or whatever ridiculous amount) in a weekend, even if that’s what the scale says. You would have had to have eaten roughly 3000+ calories over your maintenance calories to gain one pound. Instead, you may be retaining water, haven’t gone to the bathroom normally, or a whole host of other things.

Yes you may have undone your deficit from the week over the weekend if you went a little wild, but don’t panic. Yes, if you are trying to lose weight it is important to stay “on plan” as much as possible. But, you are allowed to live. And you’re allowed to indulge a little. The way you actually make progress is by getting right back to your regularly scheduled programming. If you’ll be discouraged by the scale come Monday morning and ruin the potential for a “good” week ahead, then don’t even do it.

If I have an untracked weekend, I try not to weigh myself on Monday or Tuesday. I like to give my body and mind a couple days of exercise, adequate water intake, and normal eating to reflect my “true” weight.

2. One Day At A Time

Don’t let the number on the scale overwhelm you into worrying about how long it will take. When it gets daunting and you want to throw in the towel, forget everything you’re worried about and focus on the single day ahead of you. If one day feels overwhelming, focus on the next best decision, whether it’s your next meal or the next rep.

Related post: Motivational quotes for achieving long term goals.

3. The Goal You’re After Is On The Other Side Of Consistency

The difference between you right now and the future you that achieved the big goal, is current you sticking with it. Future you will be so thankful that current you didn’t give up. You’ve seen other people achieve your goal right? The only thing they did differently is they didnt give up. That’s it. Use them as proof that it can be done.

4. Life Is Meant To Be Lived

No number on the scale will magically make you happy or confident. Consistently showing up for yourself, prioritizing your health even when it’s hard, AND enjoying food and experiences…. that will bring you happiness and confidence. You are more than a number on the scale. And I encourage you to surround yourself with people (whether in real life or online) that prioritize the same.

Health and fitness is not linear. You will have ups and downs in your weight, confidence, strength and progress. I can write all of this out to you, know its true in my heart of hearts and still struggle with the scale sometimes too. If you’ve been struggling, I hope you found these tips helpful. Please don’t get discouraged by the scale or let it dictate your momentum towards your fitness goals. If you ever need a reminder or a pep talk, I am right here. Shoot me a message via email or Instagram DM, friend.

-The Relatable Red