Scales, Inches, and Plateauing Weight: Three Secrets to Understanding Weight Loss Plateaus

Discover the truth behind certain weight loss plateaus and unleash your success!

Here's a very common scenario we see with weight loss clients:

A woman in her late 30's wants to lose 40 or 50 pounds. Her coach teaches her about eating clean, the effects of preservatives, sodium and sugar, about her basal metabolic rate and how to control her calorie. She teaches her how to track, cleanse, fast, and about proper macronutrient ratios.

Client goes all in, does exactly what the coach lays out for her, and begins to increase her daily movement. She even begins doing some body-weight resistance training. She hasn't done any kind of resistance training before, ever.

The first week, she drops 8 pounds. She's amazed! The second week, she drops 3 pounds. Again, very pleased!

The third week, she only drops a pound. Same in the fourth week. Now, she's four weeks into her 30-day Reset, and she's feeling amazing. But she's getting worried about the scale. Its not moving like it should! Is her weight loss plateauing??

The Solutions

FIRST: Since she's focused on the scale, she needs to start weighing in every morning, at the same time, after she's gone to the bathroom, in nothing but her underwear. The problem with weighing in once per week is that water fluctuations can cause a 1 to 4 pound swing in weight, even just overnight. If you're only weighing in once per week, there's no way to know if that fluctuation is happening the day before you got on the scale...even if you do it the same day every week.

One thing that frequently happens is that someone will write or call me and say, "Wow, my weight barely moved for three weeks...and this morning, suddenly, I was down three pounds!" Almost without fail, what actually happened was that they were getting fluid swings on the previous three weigh-ins, and for some reason, on the fourth one, they didn't...so they got the "pre-swing" weight, which registered the four pounds they'd lost in the past few weeks.

So: Weigh in daily, in the morning, with consistent conditions. Then, take the average of those weigh-ins over the course of the week. THAT will show you the consistent weight loss you're experiencing...and whether your plateauing weight is real or not.

"If you're only weighing in once per week, there's no way to know if that fluctuation is happening the day before you got on the scale...even if you do it the same day every week."

SECOND: The other thing that happens very frequently is that someone that hasn't been exercising starts adding lean muscle and organ tissue as they re-develop their bodies through the new movement they've added. That, along with feeding the body the nutrition it needs, can easily cause new, lean, desirable mass (weight) to come up at about the same rate that fat is burning down. This is especially true for women that have spent years suppressing their calories, and have lost a ton of lean tissue as a result. When they start eating again, and moving, they add good lean tissue rapidly.

This can go on for months. I've seen it last six months. And for six months, I've had to work hard to convince these poor people that it was actually a GOOD thing that they weren't losing weight...and that there was other evidence that they WERE losing fat, and considerable amounts of fat!

That brings me to the third and last point I want to make:

THIRD: Measurements matter more than the scale! The way convince clients that have to watch the scale flatline for months that all is well is by showing them the INCHES they are losing each month. So, know this: If the scale doesn't move, but the tape measure goes down, you ARE losing fat!

And, even better, you're adding metabolically active, healthy tissue so fast that its keeping up with the fat loss. That is an AWESOME result.

Remember that we're not just trying to "lose weight." We're trying to lose FAT weight, and EXCESS FLUID weight. We want to keep, or better, ADD the "good" weight.

Also: We're not working toward becoming a "naturally lean person." We're working toward becoming a "naturally lean AND HEALTHY person"!

You can't improve and maintain health if you starve your body, drop good, lean muscle tissue, and shrink your organs. That results in suppressed metabolism, reduced hormone function, low energy, bad skin and hair, a suppressed immune system...very bad things.

[When] you're adding metabolically active, healthy tissue so fast that its keeping up with the fat loss...that is an awesome result.

The moral of today's story is: Use the scale, rely on the scale, but understand its limits! Take your measurements and use them as your true baseline. The tape measure won't lie to you like the scale can. Together, they're very powerful indicators of your progress.