Seeing progress when the scale doesn’t move.
The scale gives you one number for everything at once. When it doesn’t move, it’s easy to decide nothing is working. Often something is, and the scale just isn’t the thing that shows it.
One number for everything
Your weight is water, food on its way through, muscle, fat and bone, all added together. Water alone can move it a fair way from one day to the next. And training can build muscle while you lose fat, so your shape changes while the total stays put.
Watch the trend, not the day
If you weigh yourself, do it at the same time, in the same way, and look at the average over a week or two rather than any single morning. One high reading is not a step back.
Photos, taken the same way
Photos show shape, which the scale can’t. They only work if each one is taken the same way: same spot, same light, same camera height, same pose. The progress photos guide goes through it step by step.
A tape measure
Measure the same places, like your waist, hips and arms, at the same point each time, at the same time of day. Write the numbers down. A few centimetres can show up here long before they show up anywhere else.
What you can lift
If you train, the weights and reps you manage are progress too. Lifting a little more, or the same weight for more reps, counts, whatever the scale says.
How your clothes fit
A belt notch, a looser shirt, jeans that do up more easily. It isn’t precise, but it’s real, and it’s often the first thing people notice.
Give it time
Most of these move over weeks and months, not days. Check them every week or two, compare them a month or more apart, and look at them together rather than one at a time. If you’re changing your weight for your health, your GP or a registered dietitian can help you plan what suits you.
In Alterio
You can keep a photo timeline and number timelines, such as your weight or your waist, side by side, each on its own rhythm. Workouts you log keep your sets, so you can see your lifts climb.
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