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When should I avoid stepping on the scale?
Answered by Nikkiey Stott and her guests · Updated
The short answer
Nikkiey says to skip the scale after a high-sodium night, after a leg or back day, after a bad night's sleep, and after traveling. Those all push the number around, and on those days it hits harder emotionally and can send you into a spiral. She also avoids weighing at the end of the day.
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Nikkiey lists the exact days you should never step on the scale
Plays from 26:19 · Ep. 332: Scale Not Moving? 5 Better Ways to Track Fat Loss
Why the scale reflects water, sodium, sleep, soreness and travel, not just fat
Plays from 4:19 · Ep. 332: Scale Not Moving? 5 Better Ways to Track Fat Loss
How often to weigh and why weekly averages beat single weigh-ins
Plays from 25:45 · Ep. 332: Scale Not Moving? 5 Better Ways to Track Fat Loss
The full answer
On Ep. 332 of The WarriorBabe Show, Nikkiey explains why those days are traps: the scale measures your total body mass, not fat loss. That number includes water retention, sodium, carbs stored as glycogen, inflammation, food volume, stress hormone shifts, menstrual cycle shifts, sleep quality, training soreness, constipation and travel. She says that if she stepped on the scale after her last two weeks of travel, it would definitely be up. None of that means you gained fat. It means you weighed on a day the scale was always going to be loud.
She also doesn't weigh at the end of the day, because by then the number is reflecting everything you ate and drank since morning.
If you do use the scale, Nikkiey's approach is to treat it as a data point, not a judgment:
- Weigh daily if you can stay neutral with it, or two to three times a week if daily weigh-ins trigger you.
- Compare weekly averages, not single days. If those averages trend down over about four weeks, you're making progress, even though the day-to-day line goes up and down.
- Skip the days listed above so one noisy reading doesn't derail you.
Nikkiey is honest that she had to break her own emotional relationship with the scale. These days she says she has stepped on it about once in the past year and goes by how she feels and other progress metrics instead. Her point is that a frustrating number on the wrong morning isn't a sign you're failing. The truth is in the trend, and how you weigh matters as much as what it says.
From Nikkiey Stott and WarriorBabe's coaching. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.
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The Scale & Tracking Progress
How often should I weigh myself?
Daily, if you can stay neutral about the number. Nikkiey suggests weighing every morning and comparing weekly averages, or weighing two to three times a week if daily weigh-ins trigger you. Guests Susan Niebergall and Paula Ciarniello also favor daily weighing, because a single weekly weigh-in can land on a water-retention day and mislead you.
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The Scale & Tracking Progress
Why does the scale go up when I'm doing everything right?
Because the scale measures total body mass, not fat. Nikkiey explains that water retention, sodium, glycogen from carbs, inflammation from hard training, stress, your cycle, poor sleep, constipation and travel can all push the number up overnight. None of that means you gained fat. Watch weekly trends, measurements and photos instead of single weigh-ins.
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The Scale & Tracking Progress
How should I measure my waist to track fat loss?
Measure your waist once a week, on the same day at the same time, first thing in the morning after you've gone to the bathroom. Not midday, not at night. Nikkiey explains that if your waist is trending down, you're winning, even when the scale hasn't moved, because fat loss often shows up in measurements first.
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29 minScale Not Moving? 5 Better Ways to Track Fat Loss
Episode 332 · Jan 30, 2026