Why Isn't the Scale Moving When I Lift Weights?

Nikkiey: Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask you to do is leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.

Muscles are pretty special. Think about it like your kids' book bags. They're dense, like the books in your kids' book bags. On the other hand, fat is more like the fluffy stuffing inside of a teddy bear. Muscle doesn't take up as much room as fat does. So as you build muscle, you may not be getting lighter, but you're actually getting tighter and stronger.

What is going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott. Or if this is one of your first episodes of the show, welcome to the show. On the podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott. And welcome to today's episode, episode number 104.

Guys, I am stoked to talk about today's topic. I brought this to our WarriorBabe VIP community last night, and the chat box in Zoom was just going off. Like, "I needed this pep talk more than I even thought that I did. Thank you for breaking it down like this. This is so helpful," all these things. It was amazing. The crew loved it. And now I'm bringing it to all you guys today.

Just to let you know where this thought process on sharing this topic came from, you guys will laugh, but maybe you've experienced this too. I have lately been getting so many downloads from God, from the universe, on things that I should share with my team or with you guys, the community, the podcast, X, Y, and Z, while I'm in the shower. No joke. Shower thoughts are real, you guys. Real. And what's so cool is you get so excited when you have the shower thought, and then you act on it, and you share these things, and it's like, whoa, there was such good feedback. So this topic today is one of my shower thoughts, and I just felt like God, the universe, was telling me that you guys needed to hear this topic.

So today, we're going to talk about three reasons that your weight may not change when you are starting strength training, okay? Hear me out. Stay with me, because I know so many of you guys, when you start the new adventure of wanting to be strong, starting to lift weights, doing all these sorts of exercises, or going into the gym, you start out on this journey and you're waiting to see the number on the scale go down. And some of you are three weeks in, four weeks in, six weeks in, and you're like, the scale is not moving.

Even the comments that I had last night on the VIP call. I pulse-checked my crew, and I was like, guys, how much are you attached to that scale number? If it goes up, you feel defeated. If it goes down, you feel elated. And I had comments going, "I hate the scale. I hate the scale. I hate it. It's not moving." And I was like, ooh, that one.

And then I followed up by asking my community, how many of you guys, is this the first time that you are doing strength training? And doing it the right way, consistently following a program from the coaches that are putting the program together for you, and you're doing these exercises for the first time. And I asked them to give me the muscle emoji. Comment after comment after comment with the muscle emoji. And I was like, let's go.

So if you guys on the other end of the podcast resonate with hating the scale and it not moving, and resonate with, oh, this is really the first time, because you've dabbled in cardio, or you've dabbled in boot camps, or you've dabbled in Orangetheory or F45, or you've dabbled in other things, but not actually a consistent, solid program where your focus is strength training. If that is you, this podcast is going to blow your mind. Okay?

Getting into strength training, getting into weightlifting, doing these exercises, think of it like this. I'm going to pull analogies throughout this podcast to paint it in a way that really is how my brain works. My brain works in pictures and analogies. So if it makes sense that way for me, I know it'll make sense for you guys, because I do better explaining it that way.

So I want you guys to think about strength training as playing a video game. This is how you feel at the beginning of your journey: you expect to be at the top level as soon as you start to learn how to play. Okay? But look, just like it takes time to learn all the tricks to the video game, all the controls to the video game, your body takes time to show changes from all of your hard work.

Next analogy for you guys to think about: think about your body being a superhero in training. Just because you can't see their powers doesn't mean they aren't getting any stronger. The same thing is happening with your muscles. Inside your muscles, inside of your body, there's a lot of awesome stuff happening. They're growing, they're getting ready to lift more, and they're helping you get better and stronger at all of the things that require strength. Walking, balancing, carrying your groceries, carrying your grandkids, running, keeping up with your grandkids. That's the cool thing that's happening with your muscles when you are starting to incorporate strength training.

It's also very much like when you're trying something new for the first time. Maybe it's macronutrients that you're trying for yourself for the first time. At first, you don't know much. It feels like a huge learning curve. With practice, you get better and better and better. Same thing with strength training: you get better and better and better. The more that you practice, the more that you show up, the more that you do it consistently. Your muscles are learning too. And even if the scale doesn't show it, your muscles are becoming super muscles that are stronger and can do more. Okay?

So to highlight the North Star of this conversation right now: it's not just about the scale. It's about all of the amazing changes happening on the inside of your body and how you feel on the inside. Okay? I've used this before and I've said it before: you are healing your body from the inside out. And while these processes are manifesting and changing and you're going through this, the internal changes that are happening, that's going to take time. And it may not always show on the physical side.

But if you keep up with it, if you're consistent, if you understand what I'm going to talk about today, why the scale isn't budging and why you shouldn't give up after week four, then if you keep going with it, all of the physical results will come. It's not as quick as the quick fixes you're used to, or jumping on an all-in trendy diet and experiencing results in the first week. You will experience results in the first week, but you will notice it in terms of your energy. You will notice it in terms of your mood. You will notice it in terms of sleeping better. You'll notice it maybe in terms of the strength that you have inside the gym. Right? So it's not all physical, but it's all of these things that are happening internally that are making you stronger. And soon, if you just keep going with it, you'll see it on the physical side.

That's what I love to say, man. If you can just accept that your journey is going to take you six to 12 to 18 months to see the physical results, once you just accept that, your journey gets so much more enjoyable. You can start to learn that it's not just all about the scale. And you can find love in the process that you're experiencing, because you feel so much better. And that feeling is way better than a scale victory. Okay?

So let's dive into these three reasons why that weight is not budging, and why it may not be budging for you, especially when you're starting to focus on strength training exercises, and more so when it's the first time you're doing them consistently and following a routine. Okay? The first and most important one that I want you guys to grasp is...

Hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to this show. It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it, and there's so much more to come. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons. And it would also help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too.

The concept of your body building more muscle. Okay? When you start lifting weights or you start doing exercises like pull-ups, squats, push-ups, your body is really busy building muscle. Now, muscles are pretty special. Think about it like your kids' book bags. They're dense, like the books in your kids' book bags. On the other hand, fat is more like the fluffy stuffing inside of a teddy bear. Muscle doesn't take up as much room as fat does. So as you build muscle, you may not be getting lighter, but you're actually getting tighter and stronger. Kind of like how a sponge gets super heavy when it soaks up water, but it doesn't get bigger. That's exactly what's happening with your body.

I've talked about this in one of the early, early episodes of the podcast, the difference between weight loss and fat loss. Because what you guys are experiencing, especially you guys in the community of WarriorBabes, in the macro and strength training world, the result you get is fat loss. It's fat loss. It's not weight loss. Okay?

You are decreasing the body fat around the muscles that you are building and preserving. When your muscles touch weight and do exercises, you're building them, and they start to get more dense. They start to get more solid. They start to get stronger. While at the same time, you're decreasing the body fat around them.

So that is how you could be next to somebody who's 150 pounds that doesn't have any muscle mass, and you could weigh 150 pounds with muscle mass. Me, for example. I weigh 150 pounds. However, you put me next to somebody who is my same height and structure, female, who weighs 150 pounds with less muscle mass, and we look drastically different. That is because muscle takes up less space, but it is more dense than fat. They weigh the same, but one is way more dense and takes up less space, like the books in a book bag. And the fat has more volume to it and takes up more space, like the stuffing in a teddy bear, like I said. Or think of muscle like a sponge you soak up: it gets heavy because it's filled with water, but it doesn't actually get bigger. That's exactly what's happening here.

And here's a cool fact. Think about a tiny square of muscle and a tiny square of fat. The muscle square is going to be heavier because it's packed in there more tightly. Right? That's why you will weigh the same on the scale even though you're gaining more muscle. It's because what's inside your body is changing. It's not just about getting lighter. It's about all the awesome stuff that's now happening with your muscles.

And more on that scale, because so many emotions go around that thing. It's a bit of a freaking tricky tool, right? It's like it has a secret code that it doesn't want to tell us. But listen to me loud and clear: it shows us how heavy we are, but it doesn't tell us what we're made up of. That is such an empowering statement, and I want you guys to play that back over and over again for yourself. It shows us how heavy we are, but it doesn't tell us what we're made up of.

It can't tell the difference between the weight of our muscles, the weight of our fat, the water in our bodies, or the density of our bones. That's why you could be getting super, super strong with muscles of steel, and that scale number might not budge. It's not being mean to you, right? It just doesn't know any better. It's literally just telling you how heavy you are. Not what you're made up of. Not that you have more muscle than fat. Not that your bones are stronger and more dense because of the muscle that you're building. X, Y, and Z, right?

And usually when I bring this up, people ask, "Well, Nikkiey, what are ways that I can track my body fat a little bit better?" People use calipers. People use fancy machines like DEXA scans. People do InBody scans. People just take progress pictures, right? Those tools are way more of a detective to help solve the mystery of what's going on in your body when the scale isn't giving you the full story. Think of it like that.

So remember, when you're working out and getting stronger, even though the scale isn't moving, it's not about the number. It's about how you're turning your body into a muscle-building, fat-burning, super strong machine. And that's what really counts.

So just remember that muscle is more dense than fat, okay? If you have more muscle mass on your body, the scale could show the same number as somebody who doesn't have enough muscle mass and has more fat on their body at 150 pounds. You can weigh 150 pounds with more muscle mass than somebody who weighs 150 pounds with less muscle mass. The scale is just telling you how heavy you are. It's not telling you your muscle-to-fat ratio. So step one, reason one: that is why the scale might not be budging. However, you could be seeing tremendous results internally from building more muscle. And physically, at some point, you could weigh the same as when you started your journey, or maybe a two or three pound difference, but you could look completely different. Because you're strength training. You're building muscle. It's more dense, okay?

So, number two: water retention. Hear me loud and clear when I say that when you strength train, you retain water, not fat. I'm going to elaborate and explain. Imagine your muscles are a tiny team of construction workers. Think about a construction site with a team of tiny construction workers. When you lift weights, or you do strength training, or you do push-ups, for example, it's like giving these workers a big job to do. Your muscles are the tiny workers, and you're giving them a big job to do.

Sometimes they have to work really freaking hard. And this causes tears in their outfits, their jeans, they get scraped up, all of that. That's the muscle fibers breaking down while you are strength training, okay? Your muscles get these little tiny tears. Your body sends in help, kind of like a repair crew with lots of water to help fix everything up. That water is like healing juice for your muscles. It helps them grow back stronger so that you can work harder and longer. And because of this water rushing in, you may feel puffy. And when you step on the scale, it might say that you're a bit heavier.

For example, think about it like this. Go do a leg day. Go do a back day. Those are the biggest muscles of our bodies. Then step on the scale the next day. I guarantee you the scale will probably go up a pound or two. It is not fat. You did not gain two pounds in one day. Your body is pulling in water weight to help the repair process of those muscles that have just been broken down during that workout. Those little fibers are broken and need repair. So the crew is coming in to fix it, and they bring water to fix it, because water is a huge, essential part of all nutrition. That's going to help the recovery process to build your muscles back stronger.

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Along with the water retention, there's this thing called inflammation, which is your body's way of putting up caution tape around the construction site. It's telling everyone to be careful and let the repair people do their job. This can make you hold on to even more water, just until these repairs are done and your muscles are ready for more fun, more lifting. This kind of inflammation is not something you need to worry about. This is good inflammation. This is not bad inflammation, like the kind related to chronic diseases and things like that. It's just your body's way of getting stronger and getting ready for the next time you go and exercise. So even if the scale doesn't move, you're still doing amazing things for your body. Okay?

I need that one to really drive home, because this next one's going to blow your mind. That water is water weight. It's water weight. It's not fat. Okay? Strength training is something your body has never done before. And so after three weeks of doing this consistently and following a new plan, it's more likely than not that the scale will not budge, because of these things I'm talking about happening internally.

This next one, like I said, is going to blow your mind. Increased glycogen storage happens when you start strength training. Okay? Imagine glycogen as your body's special energy sugar that it saves up for when you're lifting weights. Just think about that. Glycogen is your body's special energy sugar, and it saves up for when you're lifting weights.

I'm going to break down that concept. When you eat foods like bread, bagels, rice, fruit, what are those? What macronutrient are those? They are carbohydrates. Your body takes these carbohydrates and turns them into glycogen. Think of it like you're Mario playing the Mario Bros. game, and how he gets bigger, right? It's a power-up. The carbohydrates that turn into glycogen are a power-up for your muscles.

When you start strength training, your body thinks, wow, we need to be ready for this fun lifting stuff. So it starts saving up more glycogen in your muscles and in your liver. Think about it like saving up money for a new workout outfit. You're saving up money for a new gym outfit, and your body is saving up more glycogen in your muscles and your liver so that it can do more of this cool stuff called lifting.

And the cool part here is that when your body stores more glycogen, it also holds on to water, sort of like how the sponge holds on to water. For every little bit of glycogen that your body saves, it also keeps three times as much water. Let that sink in for a second, because I just talked about water retention, right?

So you give your body carbohydrates, and it turns them into glycogen to help you be more powerful with your muscles and lifting. Then you start strength training, and your body's like, whoa, we need to be ready for this really cool lifting thing. So your body starts to store more glycogen in your muscles and in your liver. And when your body does that, it also holds on to water, up to three times as much water. Breaking it down: when you guys eat carbohydrates, this is what's actually happening internally. And this could be the cause of why you feel a bit heavier. It is not fat.

I gotta say, man, hashtag make carbs great again right now. Because carbs get such a bad rep because of this scientific thing that's happening inside of our bodies. I don't expect everybody to know this scientific process. But when people feel heavier or see the scale go up because they're eating more carbs, they immediately attribute it to fat. It is not fat. Carbs don't make you fat. What makes you fat is eating way too much food, or being in a calorie surplus. What is happening here is that your body is just holding on to water. It's just holding on to water, right?

Especially two to three weeks into your journey, you guys, when you're eating more carbs than you've eaten before, paired with strength training, this is what's happening. You are not getting fatter. Your body is doing this process inside to help your muscles get stronger. For every bit of glycogen that it stores to help you power up in your lifts, it's holding on to three times as much water. It's not fat. Carbs don't make you fat. Make carbs great again. Okay?

So even though you may feel a bit heavier, it's not you getting fatter. And even though you may weigh a little bit more on the scale, it's really just a sign that your body is turning into an even better energy-saving machine. Point blank. Okay?

So those are the three reasons why you may not be seeing the scale budge in the first few weeks or few months of getting into the world of strength training, and strength training the right way, with a consistent routine, doing exercises that are challenging your body to make all these processes happen.

So what I want you to do is, the next time you feel defeated four weeks into your journey, let yourself be reminded of what I just shared with you here today: that you actually are making progress. You actually are getting stronger. And that scale is not telling you the whole story. Okay, ladies? Okay, my friends?

I hope this podcast helped you dramatically. And please, can you share this? Because I can positively impact you guys, but I need help to get this message out to all of the other women who have no idea about this podcast but would greatly benefit from it, to help reframe their mind around the scale, around strength training, around building more muscle, around all of the things I just shared with you today. So please, screenshot this and share it with a friend who needs to hear it. Appreciate you. Love you guys. And I'll catch you in the next podcast.

Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask you to do is leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.