Daily Scale Weight Tracking Is Useless... and Necessary (Signal-to-Noise) | Ep 276

Try MacroFactor free with code WITSANDWEIGHTS - download on Apple/iPhone or Google/Android

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Should you weigh yourself daily?

Learn about an engineering concept called Signal-to-Noise ratio to explain why daily weight tracking is both meaningless AND essential.

You'll discover how your body's water balance, glycogen, sodium, and other factors create "noise" that masks the true "signal" of fat loss or gain.

Learn how to use the power of trend weight to get clarity on your progress while maintaining a healthy relationship with the scale. Plus, discover how this same principle applies to all aspects of your fitness journey.

Main Takeaways:

• Daily weight fluctuations are normal and can be 2-5+ pounds due to water, glycogen, digestive contents
• Research shows daily weighing improves outcomes but only when viewing trends vs individual weigh-ins
• The 20-day exponential moving average filters out "noise" to reveal true body mass changes
• This principle applies beyond weight - use trends for nutrition, training, recovery tracking

Episode Resources:

• YouTube video about the research on daily weigh-ins
• Try MacroFactor free with code WITSANDWEIGHTS - download on Apple/iPhone or Google/Android

Timestamps:

03:27 - Does daily weighing increase anxiety?
04:56 - Understanding how water weight and digestion affect the scale
07:43 - How to filter signal from noise
11:21 - How to detach emotionally from daily numbers
14:27 - How to implement tracking systems
15:51 - The mindset shift in data-driven tracking

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