It seems like in the healthcare setting we always hear “losing weight is healthy” and “gaining weight is unhealthy.” It seems like there is this thought that the best predictor of if someone is healthy is their weight and what number shows up on the scale.

But the thing is, there are so many factors that come into play when it comes to the number on the scale. So many different things can impact it and make it change week to week or even day to day- whether it be fluid status, whether or not you’ve gone to the bathroom, or anything else.

Throughout this episode of the Myth Busters series on the Fresh Focus podcast, we dive into the many myths surrounding the scale as well as things the scale can definitely be useful for, and things the scale is not really useful for at all.

The scale can’t tell you anything about body composition. In other words, the scale can’t tell the difference between muscle, fat, water, bone, organs, etc. Since muscle weighs more than fat does, someone who is muscular is going to weigh more. Similarly, someone who has been going to the gym and feels and looks great may not even see a change on the scale.

Additionally, a number that quantifies how much gravitational pull we have towards the earth can’t tell us anything about our health. And this is why using the scale as a sole indicator of health can be a problem. The scale doesn’t know anything about your labs, your blood pressure, your resting heart rate, your blood sugar levels, or anything else. There are so many ways that we can measure progress in health improvement without using a scale.

If you find yourself wanting to weigh yourself, that’s totally fine! This episode will give you some tangible tips for weighing yourself more accurately without some of the factors that contribute to fluctuations. But if you get anything out of this episode, walk away from it knowing that the scale will never be able to tell you the full picture, and will never be able to tell you anything about your worth as a human being.