Over the last few weeks, a common theme has been coming up in conversations with retreat guests and coaching clients: frustration with the scale. So many people are feeling confused by overnight weight changes or discouraged when the number doesn’t reflect how hard they’ve been working.

Because of that, I wanted to share a few helpful reminders, a simple breakdown of the weight-loss equation, and some resources you can return to anytime you need reassurance or clarity. Some of this may be review, but I hope it gives you a sense of peace, direction, and perspective.

Think of this as a supportive guide—not something you "have to" follow, but something that may help you feel more grounded in the process.

Factors to Consider Before Stressing About the Scale

Before assuming something is “wrong,” here are the most common reasons the scale may jump overnight (or throughout the week), even when you're doing everything “right”:

Hydration
Sudden increases or decreases in water intake can move the scale by several pounds in a day.

Sleep
Are you getting enough sleep and recovery?
Just one poor night can cause an immediate (temporary) scale increase due to cortisol and fluid shifts.

Eating Out at Restaurants
Restaurants often use more oil, butter, salt, and sugar than we realize—making it hard to know exactly what you’re consuming.

Sodium
Foods with a high salt content can cause water retention which can lead to a sudden rise on the scale.

Whole vs Processed Foods
The more whole, unprocessed foods you eat, the easier digestion, absorption, and metabolic responses tend to be.
These foods naturally support satiety and micronutrient intake.

Adequate Nourishment
Are you eating enough?
Undereating can slow metabolism, increase cravings, disrupt mood, and make weight loss harder—not easier. Restriction isn’t the path to sustainable progress. Your body needs nutrients to thrive.

Tracking
Are you tracking your food at all, or going by the eyeball method?
Eyeballing can easily swing your intake by hundreds of calories. Tracking—even temporarily—can give you clarity.

Stress
Stress raises cortisol, and cortisol affects water retention, hunger, sleep, and fat-loss rhythm.
How well are you managing stress right now?

Food Still Stored In The Stomach
It takes time for the food you ingest to move throughout your system. This can lead to what looks like weight gain or a stall on the scale.

Waste Not Yet Eliminated
If you’re having trouble moving waste through your body, this can lead to no change or a rise in the numbers you see when weighing in.

And believe it or not, there are other factors too including hormonal fluctuations, medications illness and more.

The Weight-Loss Equation (Simplified)

Let’s zoom out for a moment and look at the bigger picture:

1 pound of fat ≈ 3,500 calories

To lose 1 pound per week, you need an average deficit of:

500 calories per day, or
3,500 calories per week

This isn’t meant to encourage restriction—just to frame expectations.

This means:

You will not see weight loss overnight.
If you don’t consistently create a weekly deficit, progress will stall.
Weekend meals alone can easily erase a full week of consistent effort.

Losing 2 pounds per week would require ~1,000 calories per day of deficit (≈ 7,000 calories weekly). This is doable for some people for short periods, but not ideal or sustainable for everyone.

And yes—it's not only “calories in vs. calories out.”
Hormones, stress, digestion, sleep, cycle phases, and fluid retention all play a role.
But a caloric deficit is still required for fat loss.

The reverse of this is also relevant for weight gain. It would take 3500 calories (over what you burned in a day) to gain 1 pound. Realistically, you can recognize that most overnight gains are just fluctuations.