Why the Scale Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story of Your Progress

For many people, stepping on the scale is the first thing they do to measure progress. We’ve been programmed through generations of diet culture that weight equals health - that a lower number means success. But the truth is, the scale doesn’t tell the whole story.

Your weight alone doesn’t show how much of your body is made up of muscle, fat, bone, or water - it only indicates total body mass.

It is important to understand that the ratio of muscle: body fat is far more than the number staring back at you on the scale in your bathroom.

If you’ve ever felt frustrated by slow scale changes, this article will help you understand what’s really happening inside your body — and why body composition is a much more powerful indicator of health and long-term success.

What Body Composition Really Means

Body composition is the breakdown of what your body is made of - and the two types of tissue we are particularly interested in is the ratio of body fat to muscle - this ratio is one of the best ways to assess overall health.

Two people can weigh exactly the same, yet have completely different body compositions - one with more muscle and less fat (leaner, stronger, healthier), and another with less muscle and more fat (weaker, higher risk for metabolic issues).

That’s why scale weight alone can’t tell you if you’re healthy - it measures everything in your body together, without context. 

SO … we want to emphasize that it is completely normal for your weight to fluctuate - sometimes daily - even when you’re on track. The scale can go up for reasons that have nothing to do with body fat gain - this image highlights them:

These are normal, short-term fluctuations - not signs that your progress has reversed. That’s why it’s so important to zoom out and look at trends over time and other indicators of progress as you embark on your body composition journey.

The above graph is a client who has lost 14lbs - as you can see this did not happen in a linear fashion, which is why looking at weight loss TRENDS is more impactful, as well as being patient from a mindset perspective - one week or one weigh in with an increase in weight does NOT mean you are not making progress!

Other indicators of progress to consider include how your clothes fit, how you FEEL in your body, how your strength training sessions are going, as well as various biofeedback markers such as your hunger and energy levels!

Another important thing to remember - if you are focusing on BUILDING MUSCLE while losing body fat, the scale SHOULD trend down slower because you are building one tissue (muscle), while losing another tissue (body fat ) - this is called body recomposition - see our Body Recomposition Blog for more about this strategy!

Healthy Body Composition: What It Looks Like

The above ranges represent more than aesthetics — they reflect how well your hormones, metabolism, and energy systems are functioning (3).

A healthy body composition supports stable energy, strong immunity, balanced hormones, and a flexible lifestyle. We often categorize levels of leanness into two general groups: “Athletic Lean” and “Lifestyle Lean.”

“Lifestyle Lean” 

Represents a healthy body composition with a slightly softer appearance — typically around 15–20% body fat for men and 23–28% for women. This is a sustainable level of leanness where you can look, feel, and perform your best without constantly fighting your body or your habits.

“Athletic Lean”

Describes a leaner, more muscular appearance often associated with higher levels of physical fitness. Body fat percentages are generally around 10–15% for men and 18–23% for women.

However, maintaining this level of leanness can be more challenging for some individuals. Whether it’s sustainable for you depends on several factors, including:

• Biofeedback: How you feel at this level — energy, hunger, cravings, mood, and stress.

• Gym performance and recovery: Are you able to train effectively and recover well?

• Menstrual cycle health and hormone status: Are your cycles regular, and are your thyroid and sex hormones optimized at this body composition?

• Lifestyle and mindset around food: Can you maintain a flexible approach to nutrition and a positive relationship with food?

On the flip side, there are two types of unhealthy body composition - one that is over fat and one that is under muscled - both result in an elevated body fat percentage.

Why Muscle Matters More Than Weight

Muscle is anti-inflammatory, while excess fat is inflammatory.

Building and maintaining muscle helps regulate blood sugar, reduce chronic inflammation, balance hormones, and protect against metabolic diseases. It also supports posture, joint health, and overall mobility.

On the other hand, carrying too much body fat — especially with low muscle mass — can lead to what’s known as sarcopenic obesity, or “skinny fat.” This means you might have a normal weight on the scale, but still an unhealthy ratio of fat to muscle.

This imbalance can increase the risk of insulin resistance, fatigue, and hormone dysregulation — even if you don’t appear overweight (2).

The takeaway: muscle is protective. It helps your body function efficiently, recover faster, and even process the food you eat more effectively (instead of storing it as fat).

Here are a couple examples:

1. Here is an example of coach Robyn weighing 10 lbs MORE in the second photo with a much improved body composition - this highlights why going by the scale alone would be a disservice since improvements in how her body looks are clear!

   

2. Here is an example of a clients inbody scan that highlights fat loss along with muscle building, which resulted in a significant improvement in her body fat percentage and getting her closer to a healthy body fat percentage!

Building Muscle Early — and Why It’s Harder Later (But Still Worth It!)

Muscle mass naturally declines with age — a process called sarcopenia — starting as early as your mid-30s. Without consistent strength training and adequate protein intake, the rate of loss accelerates over time. (2)

That’s why building muscle early in life is so important. The more lean mass you develop in your younger years, the stronger your foundation as you age.

A healthy amount of muscle supports (2):

• Hormone balance (sex hormones, thyroid, insulin)

• Metabolic health (your ability to maintain a healthy weight and energy levels)

• Bone density and joint stability

• Mobility and independence later in life

  
  

While it becomes more challenging to build muscle as we age due to hormonal shifts, slower recovery, and reduced protein synthesis, it’s absolutely not impossible. With proper nutrition, progressive resistance training, and recovery, you can continue to improve body composition well into your 50s, 60s, and beyond (2).

This is one of the most powerful investments you can make in your long-term health.

Focus on Recomposition, Not Just Weight Loss

When you are looking to lose weight, remember the goal is actually loss of body fat rather than seeing the number go down on the scale, as you have no idea what that number actually represents - we want to maintain as much lean mass as possible in the process for your overall health!!!

Metabolic Screening: Why These Markers Matter

Outside of body composition, certain markers can also offer powerful insight into your metabolic health, which is important to optimize for healthy aging, reducing risk of certain metabolic conditions, and maintaining a healthy body composition

According to international health organizations, the following measures are used as part of a metabolic screening tool (1):

• Waist circumference: > 32–40 inches 

• Triglycerides: >1.69 mmol/L

• HDL cholesterol women: <1.29 mmol/L and men <1.03mmol/L

• Blood pressure: >130 systolic or >85 diastolic mm Hg

• Fasting glucose: >5.6 mmol/L

Meeting three or more of these criteria is considered indicative of metabolic syndrome — a cluster of risk factors that reflect underlying hormonal, metabolic, and cardiovascular strain (1).

THE TAKEAWAYS…

The number on the scale is just one data point — it doesn’t define your health, your progress, or your worth.

What truly matters is your body composition: the amount of lean muscle and body fat that make up your total weight, along with healthy indicators of metabolic and hormone health status such as blood work, blood pressure, waist circumference, and biofeedback and menstrual cycle status.

By focusing on building and maintaining muscle, fuelling your body properly, and living a balanced lifestyle, you’ll not only improve how you look and feel now — but set yourself up for long-term health, strength, and vitality.

So the next time you step on the scale, remember: 

It’s not about weighing less - it’s about becoming stronger, healthier, and more confident in your own body.

This is exactly what we focus on with our coaching clients - in both our 1:1 programs and our Nourish-U group coaching program - helping individuals optimize their overall health and well-being by building lean muscle, maintaining a healthy body fat range, improving key health markers, and creating habits that support them for the long term so they can look, perform, and feel their best.

To learn more about our 1:1 coaching program, here is the link to book a call to discuss your goals and coaching.

If you are interested in our group program Nourish-U, we run this program twice per year - here is the link to see when our next round is scheduled.

Author Robyn Stewart

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REFERENCES

1- Alberti, K. G. M. M., Eckel, R. H., Grundy, S. M., Zimmet, P. Z., Cleeman, J. I., Donato, K. A., Fruchart, J.-C., James, W. P. T., Loria, C. M., & Smith, S. C., Jr. (2009). Harmonizing the metabolic syndrome: A joint interim statement of the International Diabetes Federation Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; American Heart Association; World Heart Federation; International Atherosclerosis Society; and International Association for the Study of Obesity. Circulation, 120(16), 1640–1645 https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192644

2-Haedar, F. (2024). Factors influencing the efficacy of nutritional interventions on muscle mass in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews, 79(3), 315-… https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuad007

3- InBody USA. (2020, August 2). What is a healthy body fat percentage: Complete guide. Retrieved from https://shy-notes-525900.framer.app/blogs/inbodyblog/your-body-and-you-a-guide-to-body-fat/