Episode 136: What Are Normal Scale Fluctuations (and When Should I Panic?!)

The scale can be our downfall IF we don't understand what it actually is (and what it isn't). Here's exactly what we need to know to ensure we're on the right path...

If you prefer video, you can always watch the podcast on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@mindstrongfitness2541

Transcript

Becoming MindStrong: Ep 136: What Are Normal Scale Fluctuations (and When Should I Panic?!)
00:00
Welcome back to the becoming mind strong podcast. My name is Rachel, and I am the founder
and CEO of mind strong, where we have been helping Peri and postmenopausal women not just
heal their metabolisms, but understand how to keep them healthy for life and relevant to
today's episode, not freak out about the scale for almost a decade now, perhaps the most
referenced podcast when we're working with a member inside mind strong Ignite, our signature
12 week program. Perhaps the most referenced podcast that we always come back to is, I think
it was in my first five or 10, and it's called The Ultimate mind game, the scale what it is or what
it isn't. And by popular request. This one actually came from my coaches. I was asked to do an
episode that expands on that original episode. So in that original episode, we talk about what
the scale is or isn't, how to use it so it stops messing with your head. In today's episode, I'm
going to break it into four parts. In the first part, we're going to talk about that, what the scale
is or isn't so we have a good understanding, so we can stop messing with our head. Number
two, we're going to talk about what impacts the scale. You're going to hear me say that
fluctuations are normal. We're going to get much more in the weeds about that, and we're
going to talk about what's impacting those normal fluctuations. Number three, we will dive into,
if you are a worker outer how that's going to impact what you see on the scale. And then
finally, we will wrap this episode up with how to use the scale so that it stops messing with your
head. Check it out.
01:42
Welcome to the becoming mind strong podcast, the official podcast of mind strong fitness. My
name is Rachel, and I'm the CEO of mind strong and we are here for two things. We're here for
hope in a stage of life where it feels like we are doing everything right and nothing is working. I
am here to tell you you are not broken. This is fixable, and I promise there is hope. And number
two, we are here for truth in an industry that is designed to keep us confused with shake
systems and point systems and frozen meals, I promise you it doesn't have to be that difficult.
Someone can teach you the skill of riding a bike. Someone can teach you the skill of knitting,
and I can teach you to master the skill of nutrition. So are you ready? Let's rock and roll.
02:40
So parts one and two of four in this conversation I'm going to kind of tie together here. We're
going to start with what the scale is and isn't and then that will naturally lead into what causes
these normal fluctuations that you're going to hear me talk about in a second. We are so
brainwashed. Is the word that I will forever use, because that's what I believe it is. I believe diet
culture has brainwashed us, right? If you think about what brainwashing is, it's saying
something over and over again until someone believes it as capital T truth. Whether it is capital
T truth or not, diet culture has brainwashed us to believe that the scale is the ultimate measure
of success, right? If the scale is going up, I am gaining fat. If the scale is going down, I am
losing fat. And one of the toughest pills for people to swallow, especially at this this stage of
life, where we've been living life for a while now, is that that is simply not true. I'm going to say
that again, it is simply not true. What a scale does not measure is how much fat is on your
body. That is not the only thing that it's measuring. Here's my my favorite analogy for this that
you may have heard me use before, and I want to take it and take one step deeper. Okay, let's
say you go on the scale right now, and it says 180 pounds. You get off the scale, you chug
three glasses of water, you get back on the scale, it now says 182
04:04
Did you just gain two pounds of fat by chugging those glasses of water? Or is it possible that
what a scale is actually measuring? If we think about what a what is how a scale works, right?
We step on it, it pushes down, and then the number on the scale goes up. Is it possible that
what the scale is measuring is the force of gravity? So when we have more in our body, in this
case water, there is more gravity being pushed down, and the scale number goes up. I think we
can all agree that we did not gain two three pounds of fat by chugging a couple glasses of
water, we have more matter in our body pushing down on the scale, making that number go
up.
04:49
This scale, I'm going to say this until it's annoying. This scale does not solely measure fat on
our body. That's point 1.2
04:59
and.
05:00
This is one of the most important things that I can drive home, points one and two, even if you
do this, and if you're not watching the video, I'm putting it in air quotes right now, even if you
do this perfectly in our world, the goal is never perfect. I would always rather someone do this
80% than 100% because 80% is sustainable. 100% is a recipe for burnout. Pun intended, and
we're not going to stick with it. And if the points to make it a sustainable lifestyle. Sustainable
lifestyle, 100% is not sustainable, even if we were, even if you were super type A and you you
hit your nutrition plan 100% every single day. Guess what? You're not doing it perfectly.
Number one, you've heard me talk about in past episodes, if you've listened before, nutrition
labels can be up to 25% inaccurate. So we can drive ourselves nuts all day long. We're not
doing it perfectly. Let's put all of that aside. Let's say you could do it perfectly. Let's say that if
you got your your macros, your carbs, fat, protein, to 000, every day, not the goal, but let's say
you did, and it wasn't a truth of the society in which we live that nutrition labels could be 25%
inaccurate. We're going inaccurate. We're going to pretend that both of those aren't factors
here, the scale would still fluctuate not a little bit a lot. One to six pounds every single day.
That's a big number, right? Hearing me say that might not sound that big, but I want you to
like, visualize yourself. You've been doing the work, you've been getting your workouts in right.
You've been tracking your macros, quote, unquote, perfectly in this hypothetical example. And
then you get on the scale, and it went up four pounds, if we have not thoroughly pun intended,
digested what the scale is or isn't. Nobody is sticking with the path, because a four pound
increase overnight. Of course, if we haven't done this work, our brain is going to go down the
rabbit hole. This isn't working. What am I doing? I'm working so hard. I spent all this money. I'm
spending all this time, and this scale is moving in the opposite direction. Hear my words. Write
it on your bathroom mirror, tattoo it on your forehead, even if you do this, quote, unquote,
perfectly, putting aside the fact that there's no such thing, this scale is always going to
fluctuate one to six pounds in a few minutes. We're going to talk about, well, what do I do with
the scale then, right? How do I know if it's working? We're getting there for right now. Let's talk
about what impacts those fluctuations, and the answer is, a lot of things. I'm going to give you
a better answer in that, but I think a lot of times I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. We're going
to talk about workouts after this, but a lot of us have heard the muscle weighs more than fat
thing, right? I think a lot of times when women hear things like muscle weighs more than fat or
the scale, a lot of things inflate this influence the scale fluctuations. We tend to think those are
just things we say to make us feel better. They are not. Those sayings. Are sayings because
they are science. This is, this is capital T, truth, right? If you are on, if you're someone who's in,
let's say, perimenopause, you haven't totally lost, lost your cycle yet, but it's it's erratic. Your
cycle is impacting the scale. For a lot of women, when they're on their cycle, that scale is going
up closer to the six pound. That's how my body is, is when I'm because I'm in a perimenopausal
stage right now, when I'm on my cycle, that scale is going up five, six pounds, and again,
getting ahead of myself. But I know that I'm staying off the scale that week. For some women,
on the other side, it dips down, hooray And side note, if we're going to celebrate, if we're going
to celebrate when it dips, we got to embrace what it is on the other side, right? It can't be a one
sided conversation. So if you are someone who still has your cycle, your cycle is going to
impact the scale significantly. Salt intake impacts the scale significantly. When our body is
dehydrated, or when there's a lot of salt in our body, it holds onto water, right? It's a survival
mechanism. Our body needs water if it's dehydrated, if there's lots of salt, we're going to hold
on to water. Guess what? Let's go back to our original visualization of chugging glasses of water
and getting on a scale when your body's holding on to water. Guess what the scale is going to
do if you do an intense workout the day before, the night before, the morning before, right?
Intense workouts cause some inflammation in the body. We just pushed our muscles do what
they can't yet. Do we practice progressive overload that leads to a bit of inflammation? This is
why recovery is so important. We have to eat, we have to hydrate, we have to rest, maybe do
some stretching. Maybe take an Epsom salt bath. We're reducing inflammation in the body
because guess what inflammation does? It makes the scale go up
09:30
big meals. This kind of goes hand in hand with salt, but it's also a separate conversation on its
own. Think about chugging those glasses of water, right? If you put more food in your body,
guess what? There's more mass pushing down on the scale. There's more gravity taking a toll.
And if that big meal was going out to eat, there's usually more salt in there. So big meals the
night before, typically not for everyone, not every time, but typically result in the scale going
up. Right? We could keep going. There is a laundry.
10:00
List, if you were someone who naturally has a lot of inflammation in your body, as we tend to in
menopause. Menopause is a time of life that as estrogen drops, inflammation naturally rises.
That leads to the scale going up. If we've got some gut health issues, along with gut health
issues come inflammation. With inflammation comes the scale going up real quickly. As a
former teacher, differentiated learning is real. So if right now you're listening to this episode as
a podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, iHeartRadio, wherever you get your podcasts, know that it
also exists in video form on YouTube. Similarly, if you're watching me right now on YouTube,
know that this episode also exists as a podcast on all the platforms. So however you take in
information, best know that we've got you the podcast exists both in podcast form and video
form. We'll link both in the show notes below so you can learn however you learn best. Now
let's get back to the episode. If we let's go down every rabbit hole. Right? If you're not sleeping
enough? Not sleeping enough is raising your cortisol levels. High. Cortisol levels lead to more
inflammation in the body. More inflammation in the body leads to the scale going up. Are you
seeing the pattern here? There are a lot of factors that lead to the scale fluctuating one to six
pounds every single day. Now, before we get to the you're making the problem worse, Rachel,
you're pushing on the bruise. And now, now I feel like all hope is lost. I promise it's not. We're
going to talk about how to use the scale efficiently in a second here. Last point that point
number three, before we get to the how to use the scale, if you are a worker outer if you're
someone who practices resistance training, weight training, pushing your muscles to do what
they can't yet do, it's rare. I use the word must. I'm going to use the word capital M must. Here
it is a must that we wrap our brain around this scale conversation, or you're never going to
stick with it. For people who, especially menopausal women, who are into the workout part of
this, there is a very solid chance again, I will, I will never say everyone, because it varies person
to person. For most Peri and post menopausal women who are super into workouts, that scale
may never change. I'm going to say that again, because we need to hear it, and I'm not going
to sugarcoat that scale may never change. For most women in Peri and post menopause who
are super into the workout parts your body is going to do what we call a recomposition. We call
it a recomp, which means you are going to see and feel all the changes your clothes are going
to fit differently. If you're taking measurements, you're going to see it there. You're going to
see your muscles tighten and tone. You're going to see and feel the impact everywhere, except
on the scale, because it is a capital T truth that muscle weighs more than fat, and I have seen
so many women drive themselves bananas because they're like, I'm putting in the work I've
worked out for all these years now I have my nutrition in check. Why isn't the freaking scale
moving? And what I've learned over my years of coaching, is to be blunt, it may never and
usually my follow up question is, what does that mean to you? Right? Why is that so important?
I don't say that in judgmental way. I've been doing this long enough to know why. The answer
is the brainwashing of diet culture, right? We believe that's a measure of success. But if you
can sit here and tell me, my clothes fit better. My energy's through the wazoo. My sleeps
better. My measurements are better. You are checking all the boxes. Your body is changing. It
is working. Hallelujah, it's working. Why do we feel like it's not because the scale isn't moving?
And the answer is because that's what we've been told, is the measure of success, and I am
here to wipe the slate clean and tell you it is absolutely not, especially if you are a worker
outer. So with all that said, how do we use the scale? I'm going to give you a few options,
because there's no right, wrong, better best. There is a better best depending on your mindset.
So I'm going to give you options based on that
13:59
if you are someone this is, this is the boat that I'm in. I have been doing this for a very long
time. So when I say science is always going to science, biology is always going to biology, that
is a very easy pill for me to swallow, because my brain has a ton of proof that it will always
work, right? If I spend less money than I save, I will get wealthy. Because math is always going
to math. I know that if I'm tracking my macros, or eating intuitively. After tracking my macros
for a period of time and training my body, which is my story, I know what to do. I know that if I
eat a certain amount, then I'm going to gain weight. If I go under that amount, I'm going to lose
weight. If I'm pushing my muscles in the gym, the scale is going to go up and my muscles are
going to get stronger. If I stop working out, I'm going to get a little flabbier. I'm going to lose
muscle mass, and I'm not going to feel and look as tight and in tone like I know it to be true,
just like I know if I spend less than I save, I'll get wealthy like it is just a fact of biology in this
case. So for me, I have not owned a scale in eight to 10 years because I don't need one. I don't
even take measurements because I know when I put on my clothes, I.
15:00
Know how I feel in my body. I know which direction I'm headed in, and I know what to do about
it. And that is a very realistic goal. You don't have to have done this for 10 years to get there.
You can put in some time and consistency, and you will get there. You can read your body.
Especially, I think as women, we we tend to be more that's a big generalization. I apologize to
any men listening for in my experience of working with a lot of women, a lot of women are very
intuitive. We tend to be tapped into our bodies. We can feel and see these things, and it is
accurate. A lot of times we gaslight ourselves, but with time, that will go away. So if you are
someone who has complete faith in the process, which not everyone does, because it takes
time to trust right, hashtag, bigger life saving throw away your scale. You don't need it, right?
Math is always good. Math, Science, gun science. That's not comfortable for a lot of women. If it
is, that's the one that I suggest, because your life will be a lot easier. There is when I talk to
even my friends, and they're like, I go on the scale every single day. I'm like, that sounds
exhausting. Like, why would I put that stress on myself? That sounds like I'm hyper focusing on
something, and I don't mean that judgmentally to them. I know why they do it again. I won't
keep repeating myself, but you know the answer there. But it's just it is not a thought that
takes up space in my head, because I've mastered this skill, so I don't need to think about that
now. It doesn't mean I don't ever think about how my clothes fit or my weight, right? There's
definitely times I'm like, ooh, we've been going out to eat a lot like maybe we, maybe we calm
it down. Maybe I track for a few days, right? It's not that my head lives rent free of all this stuff,
but getting on the scale every day is not a thought that crosses my mind and that frees up a lot
of mental capacity. And that takes time, right? That it takes time to trust, and I've been doing
this long enough to recognize that's not for everyone. What we suggest for our members who
are kind of in the gray area is get on the scale once a week, pick the same date and time. So
Monday morning, after you've gone to the bathroom, before you put anything in your body, do
it. Then what we're looking for is long term trends, right? If we see one number on Monday, the
first of the month, and then the next Monday at the start of the next month. Then we do it.
Then we're looking from one month to the other right. You could do it weekly, just again, same
time, same day, after the bathroom, before you eat. We're looking for long term trends, meaning monthly trends. Typically, in fact, inside ignite on our weekly check ins. There's a part,
part that asks for weight, and we literally say in our check ins, if this is messing with your head,
don't answer this question. Put your scale in the closet. Don't answer this question. We use it
because what our coaches is do are doing is in their notes, they're looking for trends. They do
not care week to week if there's those one to six pound fluctuations, because we know there
will be. What we're looking for is, at the end of each month, which direction are we headed in?
We already know the answer to that, because biology is going to biology. But my point in
sharing this is that we even say in our check ins, if it's messing with your head, put it away. So
to get back on track here, if it messes with your head, do it once a week before, before you eat,
after you go to the bathroom, boom. Jot it in notebook. Put it away, use it for long term trends. We do have women and this always, this always impresses me, because I just think it's rare we
have women who can get on the scale every day, and because they've done this work and they
fully embraced those fluctuations, they can stay in a place of curiosity and use it as data. I'll
give you one of the clearest example of this is years and years ago, back when ignite was a one
woman show, one of my best friends at the time went through the program, and she's a very
data brain human. So she was like, I actually like getting on the scale every day, because it's
reinforcing. Check out this mindset shift. It's reinforcing what leads to those fluctuations, so she
would have conversations with herself and with me, because I was her coach back then. Of
interesting. Yeah, the scale went up three pounds today. And that makes sense because I went
out to eat last night and I had a cocktail, and I know that alcohol can be super inflammatory,
plus restaurant food. So yeah, it makes sense that it went up three pounds. Let me stick with
my macros. Drink some extra water today. Boom, sure enough. Next day, there it is. It went
down right. So she was reinforcing the brain wiring that the scale is always going to fluctuate
by and you can't always do this, but most times she could figure out the reason why. Oh, scale
went up today. Interesting. Yeah, I did legs yesterday. I did an intense workout. There's
probably inflammation, and then there's always those nice surprises, sticking with this
example, the same person, she went to Mexico on a family retreat, family vacation for, I think it
was four or five days, and this was pretty early on in her program, so she was nervous about it.
She's like, I'm going to take time off tracking. You know, when I'm just getting going, she'd had
maybe, like, a month of solid tracking, maybe three weeks. And I had the conversation we
always have. If you you've heard this on the podcast, if you listen before, of like, I love when
people go on vacation, because you're building trust with yourself. She went to Mexico. She
drank tequila, which or mezcal, was her drink of choice. Didn't track. Came back. Scale,
dropped a few pounds. Boom.
20:00
Because when you're doing this consistently, your body will respond. So I share that story to
say there are women who have fully wrapped their their brain around the fact that there's
always going to be fluctuations, and that becomes really powerful. Talk about stepping into
your power and rewiring your brain. Now it becomes, huh? Yeah, that makes sense. If I track
what I did yesterday. Of course, the scale fluctuated, right? The the caveat to that, I'll add is it's
not always perfect, right? There will be those days where it's like, I don't know, like, I feel like I
did all the things yesterday. Why is this happening? We can't measure everything going on in
our body. So all that to say there's no right, wrong, better, best. If you're someone who's really
stuck on the scale, the biggest takeaway is use it for long term data. Understand that the scale
fluctuating one to six pounds every day. It's always going to happen. There is no such thing as
perfect here. Even if there was, it would still happen, because there are so many things going
on under the surface that are impacting that from salt to workouts to bloat to inflammation to
everything we talked about. At the end of the day, the scale does not solely measure fat. I will
always come back to this water visualization, because I think it's a powerful one. You step on a
scale, the force of gravity goes down, the number on the scale goes up. How explain to me
how, scientifically that is pulling out, how much of that is fat, how much of that is muscle? Side
note to that the scales that you get on at home that claim to pull those apart, not true. The as
the time I'm recording this, the closest I've seen are those like inline body scans that some
gyms, some doctors have. They are not 100% but they can show you trends. Right? Is your
muscle mass going up or down? Is your body fat going up or down. But these at home scales
that you step on explain to me how that's working. Right? Those are not accurate. Take them
with a very, very light grain of salt. When you step on a scale, it is measuring the force of
gravity pushing down. There are 100 things that we could list. We listed about 15 of them here
that are impacting that force of gravity. When we can fully embrace that fact, we can start to
emotionally separate from the scale. Math is always going to math. Science is always going to
science, and the scale is always going to fluctuate. So the work becomes and we do this
individually with our members or coaching, and each member have this conversation, what do I
need? Here's the Holy Grail. What do I need to stay consistent? If getting on the scale every
day is causing me to second guess myself, and am I wasting my time? And is this working? We
need a different relationship. We need a different pattern with how we're getting on the scale.
22:36
Throw it away. Get on it once a week and use it for long term data. Or if you really want to get
serious about this, do the mindset work? So we can start to rewire our brain to see those
patterns that are impacting the scale. At the end of the day, there are a million signs from our
body that will show us this is working. The number one way to self sabotage is to be hyper
focused on this scale. We have to get away from diet culture, the scale is not an indicator of fat
on your body, not solely, and it is always, always, always going to fluctuate
23:17
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