Eight Reasons Not To Trust Your Weight Balance
And why it should not be your daily “happy-meter”

You have been on track with your plate and your workouts all week long. Then, you get up, hop on the scale in your bathroom to “certify your progress,” and see you jumped 500 g, or even 1 kg 🤯 🤯 🤯 🤯 since …. yesterday!?????!!
First thought: “How could I gain 1 kg fat? What the hell was that possible?!”
For many people, that is their daily morning “happy-meter,” their nightmare version of “Mirror, mirror on the wall, how should I feel today?”
-500 g? Happy day!
+500 g? Get ready for a crappy, cranky day!
Sadly enough, this is the daily relationship many women sustain with their bodies, even when there is not a gram of fat to lose.
Can we really gain 500 g-1 kg of fat in one night?
NO. That is impossible; it cannot be fat. The fat building in our body takes a bit longer; 2–3 days approx.
However, our body weight can fluctuate overnight.
Here you have eight factors that influence our weight from day-to-day 👇.
EIGHT REASONS WHY OUR WEIGHT FLUCTUATES ON ANY GIVEN DAY

- We consumed more salt the day before: Sodium increases water retention.
2. We didn’t drink enough water: Our body also increases water retention if there are signals of dehydration.
3. We are about to start menstruation: the hormonal changes towards the end of a menstrual cycle also lead to water retention.
4. We overexercised the day before: Muscle cellular inflammation also causes water retention and apparent weight gain.
5. We are constipated: Visualize several meals -yes, several — piling up on the last part of your intestines…
The total intestinal contents can easily add up to 2–3 kg — even if we are NOT constipated!
6. We ate later than usual and went to bed immediately after: Our body spent most of the night digesting that meal.
Yes, your guess is correct: your intestines did not likely finish their tasks.
7. We are stressed: Hello, cortisol! In the short term, cortisol counteracts inflammation but also leads to water retention.
In the long run, this hormone hinders fat loss by blocking the fat catabolic pathways, i.e., it promotes fat gain.
8. We didn’t sleep enough/well enough: Repetitive or continuing sleep disturbances are also a stressor.
And the list goes on and on.
HOW TO KEEP A MORE RELIABLE TRACK OF YOUR PROGRESS?
Here, a gentle reminder: Your weight loss journey is not only about kg fat loss, and it well deserves another toolkit to assess the progress.
Our health is far more complex than the oversimplified “I want to lose X or Z kg of fat” equation.
Many health-related symptoms come with excess weight, and we often do not pay attention to them, as “they’ve been there with us for years.”
Keeping an eye on these “biomarkers” is more reliable proof of walking in the right direction than a mere scale number.
A more realistic and gentle way to assess your weight loss and health journey should include asking yourself the following questions:
- Is your sleep quality improving?
- What about those skin rushes you had? And your dry skin?
- Did your digestion improve? More regular? Are you less bloated?
- What about that back/knee pain?
- Are your lower legs and hands less swollen? Do you feel lighter? More flexible?
- Do those pants fit you better?
- How is your energy throughout the day?
- What about your mood? Crucial!
There are situations in life when the qualitative component, i.e., the “feeling” part, must prevail over the raw numbers. The way we relate to our body regarding weight and health is one of those.
A practical note
For those trying to lose a significant amount of weight, keeping track of the scale numbers every now and then is fine. Nothing wrong with it.
However, for those embarking on a daily fight to conquer “that last-2-kilos mile”, I would recommend following one of Marie Kondo’s decluttering strategies:
Take your balance in your hands; say: “Thank you for all the moments I shared with you,” and let it go to the nearest recycling point in your neighborhood.
You will declutter your bathroom and generate space in your mind to let the magic happen.
If only I could share one message with you, it would be this:
Let the “how you feel in your body” be the happy-meter of your day.
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