I don't know that there is anything quite as soul-crushing as tracking your macros and hitting your workouts, and then getting a disappointing result on the scale when you weigh in for the week!
I encourage my clients to weigh in weekly, because capturing the data is important! But, I'll let you in on a secret--you shouldn't change anything about your workouts or nutrition for 4-weeks.
I'll tell you why...
If you are a woman, hormones are a huge reason why our weight can fluctuate, and it's more than just the hormones that are related to our cycles. Hormones that impact our ability to manage stress, and get restful sleep are often culprits of a "bad" weigh in. We also tend to deal with more water fluctuations that impact weekly weigh ins.
You should be weighing in on a scale that is also tracking your body composition--meaning, how much muscle you have as well as your body fat percentage.
The goal is for your muscle mass to trend up and for your body fat percentage to trend down, over time. Capturing a weekly weigh in means you're able to see those trends emerge. Don't talk yourself out of a weigh-in because you're on your cycle, under slept, or overstressed. It's all important data to collect. Often, there are patterns. If you see a consistent pattern that your weight spikes 5 pounds around your cycle--now you have a more predictable outcome to expect when you're on your cycle. The scale is a TOOL. It has no power over you, but it does have the power to help you identify trends and create strategies that include your well-being as you achieve your goals.
I often tell my female clients that it takes about 90 days to really gather data before we have details that will be helpful in determining if the scale weight was due to a hormone fluctuation, or a genuine "bad" week.
One of my favorite parts of what I do is hearing my client express glee after looking at a weigh-in to see that their muscle has gone up! I am all for that! You worked hard and you should celebrate! But, keep in mind that muscle is your foundation. It takes longer to build muscle, but it also takes longer for muscle to go away (provided you're not in a crazy calorie-deficit, and expending a ton of energy).
Realistically, you are not going to sees percentages gained week to week, in terms of muscle mass. Here is a chart that will give you guidance on how much muscle growth is realistic, based on your fitness level, and gender.
You may notice that the more experienced you are, the less muscle mass you're going to gain month to month. This is totally normal, and expected. When you've been training for years and years, you have to dip in to more advanced training techniques as well as really dial in your macros to continue to see muscle growth.
But, if you're relatively new to building muscle, this is a good indication of what a realistic expectation of muscle gain is, in a month.
I'm going to focus on women, because that is primarily who I train!
It's really important to capture your data on the scale week to week to ensure that you are seeing a trend. A trend in your body fat decreasing, and your muscle mass increasing, over time.
So, how do you know when it's time to make adjustments to your nutrition and your workouts? Well, spoiler--typically, you can use the same workouts whether you're building muscle, losing weight, or trying to do both. Nutrition is going to be your bigger lever in adjusting for fat loss and muscle gain.
My advice? Don't change anything for 4-weeks. Weigh in every week on a consistent day, under consistent circumstances. I always suggest my clients weigh in, in the morning, after they've used the restroom, and before they've eaten or drank anything.
Next, be brutally honest with yourself. If your macros for the month weren't at least 90% consistent AND accurate, it's not enough consistency to get you to your goal. If you can't meet that 90% threshold because your nutrition strategy or workouts are too much--reevaluate that before you change your macros. There is no reason to change anything, if you haven't hit your macros and workouts consistently over the course of the month.
Also, consider your exercise intensity. Are you checking off your workouts and going through the motions when you're resistance training? Intensity and progressive overload matter when you're trying to grow muscle. So, if your workouts were lackluster.....time to find out why.
Which brings me to my next suggestion: sleep! Has your sleep been crummy? Well, that will certainly impact your ability to execute your workouts with intensity and enthusiasm! Sleep also messes with our hunger cues, so if you're under slept and feeling like your nutrition strategy is not working for you--it may just be sleep. Do your best to get more restful sleep and see if that impacts your ability to perform your workouts more intensely.
Finally, hydration!!!! Every metabolic process that happens in our body happens in the medium of water.
Guess what muscle building is? A metabolic process. Guess what weight-loss is? A metabolic process :) Can you see where I'm going with this?! Being hydrated is important to you achieving your results, and being consistent with water intake will also help your scale results be more accurate than if you're dehydrated.
In summary, the more approachable you can make your nutrition strategy and exercise, the more likely it is you'll be consistent. Having a plan is key to taking stress out of your life when it comes to hitting your goals--it's a lot to think about when you're first getting started, and the more streamlined you can make your data collecting, the better.
This is where I come in! My expertise is to help you streamline and capture your data. If you want to make reaching your goals as easy as possible, I am the coach for you! If you'd like to see how I coach, check out my blog on remote training and how it's done!
I look forward to helping you create strategies for success so you can enjoy your fitness and health pursuits with passion and enthusiasm! Start with my 12-week course and that will set you up for success, for life!
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