Fluctuating Weight
Lessons Learned from Tracking Weight Daily
A little over 200 days ago, I started yet another weight loss journey. Since 2011, I’ve been on and off various diet and exercise plans. Generally, it starts with calorie counting using the MyFitnessPal app. Eventually, I hit a roadblock and start exercising again.
In 2020, I went to the extreme with calorie deficits and running. I was eating anywhere from 1,300 to 1,500 calories — mostly salads — and running an average of 4–6 miles a day, with longer runs reaching 9–11 miles. I worked my weight down from 237 to 180 pounds.
Then, I started developing hip pains that kept me from running so I switched to lifting weights.
I was lifting regularly and started gaining weight. But as the weight increased and I got comfortable eating 2,800–3,300 calories a day, the lifting stopped — yet the eating continued. By last fall, I found myself back above 210 pounds and decided it was time to pursue a more balanced approach. I also set out to track some specific metrics — the same philosophy that eventually inspired me to build the free Uncredible Fitness Tracker, a simple way to stay consistent without overcomplicating things.
Here are three things I discovered that may help you in your own health and fitness journey.
1. There’s No Immediate Correlation Between Effort and Weight Loss
Have you ever had a great day of dieting, a personal-best weightlifting session, or a long cardio workout, and gone to bed feeling like you absolutely crushed it?
You wake up the next morning feeling rested and ready to tackle another day. You step on the scale expecting an “atta boy” — only to find your weight has gone up.
“How could I gain weight? I burned 1,200 calories and only ate 2,000! This is bullsh*t,” you think to yourself.
Here’s what I used to do in this situation:
Let the scale reset and try again.
Pick up the scale, clean the top and bottom, and step on again.
Grab a second scale to compare results.
None of it yielded different results. One of the most frustrating aspects of weight loss is that your body doesn’t give instant feedback. For me, there’s actually a 2–3 day delay (sometimes longer). It might be different for you, which is why it’s important to learn how your body responds to different circumstances.
In fact, I noticed the opposite was often true: if I skipped a workout and ate like crap, I’d lose weight the next day. But if I strung together three great workout and diet days, the scale would go up — at first.
What was actually happening is that my body was responding to those good days — just not immediately. The same goes for the bad days. When I ate poorly and skipped workouts, the weight gain didn’t show up until a few days later.
This is a huge challenge in a society built around instant gratification. If you stick to a plan for a week and weigh yourself on the wrong day, you might see weight gain and give up. Worse, if you eat poorly, weigh yourself, and see a drop, you might think you’re not eating enough. While that can be true, it’s probably not the issue.
Which brings me to the next point...
2. Consistency DOES Yield Results... Over Time
Over the last six months, one of my top priorities has been tracking results honestly and consistently. If we’re not honest in our tracking, we can’t trust our data — and without good data, we make bad decisions.
To help me track the “long game,” I printed a sheet with three columns, each covering around 40 days (about six weeks). That low-tech system worked so well that it became the template for what I later built into the free Uncredible Fitness Tracker — designed to help visualize progress and patterns over time, the way apps never could.
I struggle to see the big picture. I think most of us do.
When someone asks how our diet or exercise plan is going, we usually think about the past week or two. But when we zoom out, the story often changes.
At one point, I went two weeks without losing a single pound. I was a little discouraged and wondered if I needed to adjust my diet or workouts. Then I looked at my sheet and thought:
“I’ve lost 20 pounds. I’ve stayed consistent. Let’s just keep doing this.”
A few days later, the scale dropped three more pounds. That’s when I realized I was on the right track — and that my perspective needed to change more than my plan.
Now, when the scale “lies” to me, I laugh. I sometimes even say out loud, “We’ll see about that in a few days.” Instead of feeling discouraged, I get motivated — because I know that spike likely means a dip is coming, if I stay consistent.
3. Weight Gain May Not Correlate to Eating or Exercise… Ibuprofen?
It’s been over 200 days since I started consistently tracking my weight, calories, protein, and exercise. I’ve built a solid routine and I’m currently training for my first 5K in May and my first half marathon in July.
In April, I ran almost 130 miles. Admittedly, I was overdoing it. To avoid injury, I took a few rest days. Someone also recommended I take Ibuprofen consistently to reduce swelling around my knee.
I adjusted my calorie intake to match the reduced exercise and still hit all my goals. But after two days of taking Ibuprofen, something strange happened: my weight jumped from 181.2 to 186 pounds.
A nearly 5-pound gain that I can only attribute to adding a steady dose of Ibuprofen.
I don’t usually take medication. Beyond a daily multivitamin and vitamin C, I avoid over-the-counter and prescription drugs. So this sudden spike caught me off guard. If I hadn’t known how my body typically responds, that jump could’ve completely derailed me.
Keep in mind, 181.2 was my lowest weight since 2021. I was two pounds away from beating my lowest recorded weight in almost 15 years — 179.4. That spike to 186 could’ve made anyone want to quit.
But I knew what had changed — and I knew it was temporary.
Two days later, I was back to 181.2.
Conclusion
If you’re on a weight loss or health journey, keep this in mind:
Your weight will fluctuate.
Progress won’t always show up when you expect it.
Stay consistent — and don’t let the scale shake your mindset.
There are no shortcuts. But if you’re honest, consistent, and patient, the results will come. That’s been my experience, and it’s exactly why I created the free Uncredible Fitness Tracker — to make it easier to stay on track when motivation fades.
Author’s Note:
If you want a simple way to track your fitness journey — no gimmicks, no algorithms — check out the free Uncredible Fitness Tracker. It’s built for people like us who just want to do the work and see real progress.
The preceding article was first published on Medium.com on May 23, 2025
Music for voice over by Jeremusic70 on Pixabay.