Went back through 61 weeks of my weight log — what should I actually measure?

One thing I'd add: with only weekly points, a single 4.8 lb drop can make the mean and median lie to you. I'd plot a 4-week centered moving average, or even just average each calendar month, and look at the slope between those points.

In the trials, loss tends to be front-loaded and then plateau, while week-to-week water, glycogen, and gut contents dominate. Also worth logging waist at the navel and a monthly photo in same light.

Sharp question: do those 4+ lb weeks come right after a 2–3 week flat spell, or after higher-sodium/higher-carb weekends? That pattern would tell you it's mostly water, not fat.

Honestly, median over average, every time. I also track waist and how jeans fit.

94 lbs is huge—congrats! I’d watch the trend line, not the weekly whooshes; the noise lies.

Honestly, 94 lbs is huge—congrats. Weekly rows are weirdly deceptive; a Saturday-to-Saturday compare can hide a whole whoosh.

I weigh daily and only care about the 7-day average (plus a 30-day slope). I also log waist and a few non-scale things: sleep, sodium, strength sessions.

My 3+ lb weeks almost always follow a high-sodium/travel week, then a bounce. Sharp question: for those 4.8/4.1/3.9/3.6 weeks, what did the 3 days before weigh-in look like? That pattern might tell you more than the average.

Girl, the scale-only thing will drive you nuts. I started tracking the boring stuff: waist at the navel, hips, upper arm, and how many notches I move on my belt.

Also energy on a 1–10 and whether I can walk the hill by the courthouse without stopping. My weekly average looks like a staircase with flat spots, then a random 3-pounder. Did your four big drops come after a stretch of flat weeks? That’s my pattern — body holds, then lets go.

I still weigh same time, same jeans, at the pharmacy scale on errand day. The tape measure tells the truth when the scale is being dramatic.

fwiw every one of these threads ends the same way — the big drops land right before a flat patch 😅

I stopped trusting single weeks after an old thread here sold me on rolling averages. Sanity saved.

That shape thing hits hard. I stopped trusting weekly numbers and just track monthly photos + how jeans fit.

Hi, brand new here and only on week one, so I’m mostly lurking and taking notes. This is already helpful. Besides weekly weight, I’m tracking waist at the navel, a monthly photo in the same outfit/light, and how my rings and clothes fit. Those feel less noisy than the scale.

Did your 4+ lb drops come after a stretch of flat weeks, or were they random? I’m trying to learn what my own pattern looks like. Also, have you tried a 4-week rolling average instead of just weekly median?

That would smooth out the whooshes and stalls. Sorry if that’s obvious—still figuring out my spreadsheet.

I’d add a couple of “life” columns, not to replace the scale but to explain it. For me: number of 30-minute walks, dinners cooked from scratch, and a 1–5 energy score after lunch.

My scale sat still for six weeks last fall, but my walk loop went from needing a bench break to not needing one, and my grocery cart looked completely different. That kept me going when the weekly rows felt boring.

Sharp question: if you had to pick one non-scale number to track for the next 61 weeks, what would actually be easy enough to keep? I’d probably pick walk minutes.

For what it's worth, do you weigh at the same time/day each week, or is it just whenever? I switched to daily weigh-ins and only track a 7-day rolling average — it made those 3–4 lb drops look much less like fat loss and more like water/sodium noise.

The average-vs-median gap you’re seeing is probably outliers. I’d also add one waist measurement at the same spot monthly and maybe a monthly photo.

What did the big-drop weeks have in common — travel, higher sodium, fewer carbs, or did they just follow a plateau?

For what it's worth, one column that changed how I read mine: "weeks since last new low." My longest was 5 weeks basically flat, then a 3.8 drop, then flat again for 3. So the whoosh wasn't extra progress, it was the plateau finally getting recorded.

I also log a 4-week rolling average and a 13-week delta; my quarterly numbers went 14.2, 11.8, 9.6, 7.4, so I saw the slowdown about 6 weeks before the weekly rows made it obvious. Did your 4.8 and 4.1 land right after flat stretches?

Mine almost always do, which is what finally stopped me panicking over the flat weeks.

Congratulations on 94 lbs — that is a huge body of work. I keep a 4-week rolling average and a 10-week trend line in my own sheet; it smooths out sudden drops and stalls.

I also track waist at the navel, how clothes fit, and sleep/steps, because the scale alone doesn’t show composition or energy. What did those four big drops have in common — travel, sodium, hormonal cycle, or a change in routine?

If they clustered, that pattern may be more useful than any single weekly number. I’d measure consistency and trend, not the outliers.

I’d stop judging single weeks and switch to a 7-day rolling average plus a waist tape at the navel. My scale will sit flat for 10 days, then dump 3 lbs after a heavy squat day, high sodium, and trash sleep — so those 4+ lb weeks are usually whoosh, not fat loss.

What did your four big drops have in common: travel, alcohol, illness, deload, or a refeed? For recomp I track weekly avg weight, waist, and top set on bench/squat.

If waist drops and strength holds while scale stalls, that’s still progress. Also log protein hit rate and sleep hours next to the weight.

Those four big drops — did the next week bounce back? That pattern was my tell: huge whoosh after a dorm-food sodium bomb, then a fake rebound.

I started adding columns for “dining hall meals,” “hit protein?,” and a 7-day rolling average instead of trusting one weigh-in. Also monthly: waist, stairs without dying, jeans button.

The scale is loudest when my cheap-protein rotation is canned tuna and regret. What did the week after each 4+ lb drop look like?

That’s probably where the real story is.

The shape matters way more than any single week—old log threads called those drops the whoosh trap. Hang in.

Those 3.6–4.8 lb weeks look like water/glycogen shifts, not fat. In the trials, week-to-week scale weight isn't a clean fat-loss signal.

What I'd add to the sheet: sleep hours, sodium/alcohol, and whether it was a high-stress/travel week. My own whooshes almost always followed a salty restaurant meal plus short sleep—not a sudden 4 lb fat loss.

Also track how many days you actually logged, because missing data can make the average look smoother than the experience. Sharp question: did those four big drops share a trigger, or were they random?

If they cluster around something, that's a more useful column than the headline number.

I'd add a column for boring inputs next to the scale number — protein hit, steps, sleep, whether I lifted. My dros show up 2–3 weeks after a green streak, so the scale is a lagging indicator of behavior, not a report card on the week.

I also counted my flat/up weeks: 19 of 61. Felt like way more until I actually tallied them.

Sharp question though — what did the 10 days before each of those 4+ lb drops actually look like? Mine were almost always after a stretch of bad sleep and salty food, so the whoosh was retention clearing, not fat vanishing overnight.

Might change what you decide to measure.

One metric I’d add: weeks since last new low. It separates actual stagnation from noise.

Also log a cheap adherence score—protein hit, steps, sleep, tracking streak—instead of only weight. When I did that, weekly delta correlated way more with the prior 10–14 days than the current one.

Dry version: scale is lagging; habits are leading. What does your log look like if you plot 4-week slope instead of weekly delta?

That’s the line I’d trust for decisions.