Real Weight Loss Progress Chart: What Weight Loss Actually Looks Like

I was putting together a weight loss progress chart for one of my clients the other day and suddenly felt to urge to soapbox… So I decided it would be a good idea to share these with the public as well.

Why?

Here’s an example of a real weight loss progress chart from a real person making real progress. One of my biggest struggles as a coach is communicating to clients that they are making progress despite what the scale says.

Notice how sometimes you can still be making progress even if the weight loss progress chart doesn’t show a trend immediately (or even for weeks)?

I know it’s not an easy mindset shift to make, and even I still struggle sometimes with not letting the scale get to me. But folks, it plays mind games with you if you let it dictate your day. Of course, track your progress, but understand all the factors at play so you don’t set yourself up for failure by expecting the impossible.

Here’s the reality. Sometimes it takes just a few days and other times a damn month to see clear progress on paper. And that’s normal because your body is complicated and it doesn’t exist in a vacuum!

And sometimes, even after you’ve “fixed” whatever it is that was slowing down your progress (like poor sleep in the weight loss progress chart above), your body still may have to go through a week of readjustment and recovery to drop the weight again.

I hope that by seeing some of these real-life examples, people can develop realistic expectations of what weight loss looks like on a week-to-week basis.

Hormones play a big role in what you see on your weight loss progress chart. Most menstruating women I know (including myself) see a spike in weight around our periods. Sometimes it’s before our periods, sometimes during. It varies from person to person.

If you have a hormonal issue that PCOS, then expect even slower weight loss than the average person. This means rather than 1-2 lb/week, expect 0.25-1 lb/week on average (we cover what this means more in our video below).

Finally, weight isn’t everything…

Here’s an example of a client who’s gaining muscle while losing fat. On the scale, it seems like she’s plateaued. But if we look at her waist measurements, she’s losing inches week over week!

A lot of people claim they want to lose weight to “look better” or “be healthier.” Yet despite being able to fit better in pants and seeing their blood test numbers get better over time, they still let their entire day be destroyed by the scale number alone.

If I can’t convince you not to revolve their world around the scale number, at least I can try to teach you to be aware of all the variables at play so it minimizes freak-out when you read your number today, and tomorrow, and the next…

Because this process is LONG. And that’s okay.

To hear Richa & I explain these charts in more detail, watch this video: