All About Weight and Weigh-Ins
- justinrgtyler
- Dec 20, 2023
- 2 min read
Scale weight, weighing yourself, and weigh-ins are an important tool and gauge for measuring progress, but there are many variables that can affect the number on the scale. Hence, it’s important not to get caught up on your weight day-to-day as it can be demotivating but to look at it on a weekly average basis. Variables that can cause fluctuations in weight within 24-48 hours include:
1. Carbs: Our bodies can store between 400-800g of glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrate in our body) in our muscles and liver. For every gram of carbohydrate that we store, we retain 2.5-4g of water in our body. This could result in a fluctuation or increase of 2kg on the scales.
2. Training (Inflammation): In the short term, training can increase water retention through inflammation. The healing process of inflammation which may result from a bout of training, can increase water retention by up to 8%.
3. Muscle Mass: Muscle weighs more than fat, but pound for pound muscle takes up less physical space than fat. This is not reflected in scale weight. Hence why progress photos are important when assessing progress.
4. Hydration: Our bodies are roughly 50-65% water, so our hydration levels will have a direct impact on scale weight.
5. Bowel Movements: The frequency of your bowel movements and when you last had a big number two will have a direct impact on scale weight.
6. Salt: A very high salt meal will likely result in more water retention. We know from experience that indulging in a takeaway pizza (like Dominos) or a Chinese can often see an increase as much as 2kg due to more water retention.
7. Menstrual Cycle: Women will retain most water around the luteal phase, thus increasing scale weight. Comparing scale weight with the same point in the menstrual cycle from previous months would be a more reliable measurement to understand progress.
Whilst doing weigh-ins are an important tool, combining these with progress photos (front, side, back and taken in same light/time of day), and with the use of a tape measure or body fat callipers can give you a more complete picture of your body composition.