When you’re trying to lose weight, it can feel really tempting to step on that scale every day to check your progress. Unfortunately, your home scale doesn’t give you the full truth. Here are three reasons we think your home scale may be the wrong choice for you… and what you should do instead of those daily weigh-ins!

1. It can cause anxiety

For some, a weigh-in can be a daily call to action to stick to your plan and keep moving towards your goals. However, if you find yourself dreading your check-in at the scale and feeling more anxiety than motivation, it’s not right for you.

2. Scales don’t tell the whole story

Did you know different scales sometimes show different numbers for the same weight? But even if you use the same scale every day, if you weigh yourself Monday morning before breakfast, then again on Tuesday night after a big meal, that number may not truly reflect your progress. Or if you eat a lot of salt one day, it may cause your body to retain water, which you could see reflected as a higher number on the scale. There are a lot of factors with a home scale that you can’t control that could misinform you.

3. Weight loss and fat loss are different things

Just because you see that number go down, doesn’t mean you’re losing fat—you may be losing water after sweating it out in the sauna, or even losing muscle!

Many people set unreasonable weight loss goals for themselves. Truthfully, without going on an unhealthy diet where you risk not giving your body the nutrients it needs, you can only expect to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week at best.

Skip the scale—do this instead:

The InBody Test monitors your weight, muscle, fat and water. It then breaks that data down for you in a printout and can even chart your progress over time. In other words, it will give you a lot more information than your scale at home—in just 45 seconds. And you can do it at most of our clubs—use the app to make a reservation. Look for steady (and sometimes even slow) changes in your weight and body composition every 2-4 weeks.