Why does the scale go up when I'm doing everything right?

On Ep. 332, Nikkiey explains that the number includes everything in your body on that day: water, sodium, carbs stored as glycogen, inflammation, food volume, stress hormone shifts, menstrual cycle shifts, sleep quality, training soreness, constipation and travel. A late night, a salty meal, a hard leg day or a weekend out can show up as two pounds by morning. On Ep. 100 she adds that saltier or more sugary foods can make your body hold on to weight that isn't necessarily fat. She also avoids weighing at the end of the day, when all of that is even more pronounced.

If you've just started lifting, the rise is expected. On Ep. 395, Nikkiey describes water retention from the new training stimulus, glycogen stored in working muscles and inflammation that helps repair muscle fibers, like the swelling around a cut. It adds weight temporarily and resolves only if you stay in the process. Women who quit at week three or four, she says, quit in the exact window their body was rebuilding. On Ep. 407 she puts the visible shift around weeks four to six, sometimes not until day 90, when the scale starts moving more predictably.

Members have lived this. On Ep. 255, Kristi says she learned the scale can swing five pounds in a day depending on food and sodium. On Ep. 158, Lisa shares that her period can add two or three pounds, and that poor elimination or a high-sodium meal moves it too, while her measurements didn't change at all.