Scale stuck 23 days but waist down 1.5 inches?

Tape > scale when lifting is in the mix. I stalled 4 weeks, then dropped 3 lb overnight after a high-carb day.

High-carb day? Like more rice or just overall calories?

For me it was mostly rice and potatoes, not a free-for-all. I kept protein the same and added maybe 80-100g carbs. The scale jumped 2 lb for two days, then whooshed 3.5 lb by day four. Could be glycogen and water, not fat. I'd keep calories steady and watch weekly averages. If your waist and lifts are trending well, the scale is lagging, not lying. But if weekends are loose, that can hide a small surplus too. That was my pattern for two months, and it only made sense once I compared Saturday weigh-ins to Monday.

Sleep 6.5 would wreck my appetite. Any chance lifting volume is holding water?

I'd track waist same spot, morning fasted, plus photos every 2 weeks. Scale is noisy.

Weekly average is the only thing that kept me sane. I had a 19-day flatline while my squat went up 20 lb and waist dropped an inch. I wasn't recomping magically; I was retaining water from new lifting volume and eating more salt than usual. Once I logged sodium for a week, I saw the pattern. Not saying that's you, but the scale isn't giving you the full story. Keep the tape and maybe add a monthly photo. If the trend is still flat at 6 weeks, then I'd look at intake.

I disagree that it's always water. If calories crept up, 23 days is enough to mask a small surplus.

Fair, but OP listed 1,700-1,800 and 130g protein. That's not a huge creep unless weekends are wild.

Weekends are the wildcard. Mon–Fri the food log sits around 1,800, then Sat–Sun lands at 2,600 and I barely notice it happening.

This. I started weighing Saturda yand Sunday, not to restrict, just to see. My 'plateau' was a 900-calorie daily average gap I couldn't see. Once I logged two weekends honestly, the scale started moving again at the same weekday intake. It wasn't a metabolic mystery. But if your waist is truly down, you're still changing shape. Maybe give it another 10 days before changing anything.

If lifts are up and waist down, I'd keep going another 2-3 weeks before cutting. Sounds like recomp, not failure.

23 days is nothing when your waist is dropping — tape beats scale every time. What's your sodium been like this week?

6.5 hours is probably doing more than you think. I slept like that for a month and my scale froze for 26 days while my waist dropped an inch; got to 7.5 hours and a 4 lb whoosh hit within a week. Bad sleep keeps water and inflammation hanging around even in a real deficit. I'd fix sleep before touching your calories.

Same jeans fitting looser is the real data point — the scale is just the loudest, dumbest roommate in the house.

More tracking won't fix impatience, and you already have your answer: 18 lb in 14 weeks is solid. If it were me I'd weigh once a week, same morning, post-bathroom, pre-coffee, and log top-set reps instead of daily scale drama. Recomp while lifting 3x tends to stall the scale 3-6 weeks at a stretch. You're not stuck, you're just early.

My scale stalled 26 days after a whoosh, ten dropped 3 lb overnight. Tape and lifts are your real scoreboard.

I’d log weekly waist, hip, and arm measurements, plus a Saturday morning weight after a normal Friday. Weekends hid my 400-cal surplus.

Lifting 3x can mask 2-3 lb water for weeks. I added a rest day and dropped 2 lb by Monday, no calorie change.

Your 1,700-1,800 may be maintenance some weeks. I’d weigh food for 5 days, not forever, to check oils and bites.

Your sleep at 6.5 is the one I'd poke at. I bumped mine from 6.5 to 7.5 for a month and the scale still flatlined, but my waist kept creeping down and my resting HR dropped 4 bpm. Sometimes the tape and gym numbers are just ahead of the scale. If sleep is trash, the whoosh might not show up for weeks.

Progress pics in the same underwear and lighting every 2 weeks are brutal but way more honest than the scale.

My stall broke after I stopped eating back my walking calories. Those 8k steps add up.

If your lifts are still progressing at week 14, that's not a stall, it's recomp. I'd track reps at the same weight instead of adding new metrics. My scale sat for 26 days while I added 10 lb to my deadlift and lost an inch off my waist. Keep going, but stop expecting the scale to be the first one to notice.

Waist down 1.5 inches in 23 days is the win; scale is just late to the party.

Road warrior here, so I’ll ask the logistics question: were those 23 days heavier than usual on hotels/airports? I track “restaurant meals per week” and “flight days” next to my scale weight, because sodium/altitude/dehydration can mask a whoosh for 2–3 weeks. Also measure waist at the same spot, same time, after exhaling normally—not sucking in. My last plateau broke after a home stretch with my own food and 7.5 hrs sleep; nothing else changed. Are you comparing weights from the same scale and wake time? Hotel scales are chaos.

I’d track a weekly average weight (same day/time) plus monthly photos in the same jeans. Daily numbers lie hard when you’re lifting. With chaotic kids’ meals, I also note my “snack drawer raids”—if I’m grazing on their leftovers while cleaning up, that’s the hidden variable. Sharp question: are you weighing after rest days or after heavy lifting days? Extra carbs or creatine can park the scale for weeks while your waist keeps shrinking. Upper arm/thigh measurements help too.

Similar here: scale flat 25 days, waist down 1.25 in, lifting 3x/wk. What helped was tracking a 7-day median instead of single days, plus waist at 3 spots — navel, 1 in above, 1 in below — same morning, fasted, after bathroom, before coffee. I also logged training volume and sleep; every time squat volume jumped, scale stalled 2-3 weeks, then dropped 2-3 lb on a rest weekend. Are you measuring waist after a rest day or right after lifting? Post-lift you may catch water/pump. Also watch sodium/carb timing — one big dinner can hide 2 lb for days. Your 14-week trend and tape say recomp, not a true stall.

Three weeks of demo and drywall on my one bathroom, so lifting got crammed into 5am and sleep is a mess. 23 days is nothing when you're lifting anyway — glycogen and repair water hide fat loss. Waist at the same spot, morning, before food or water. Log sleep hours and how sore you are. Waist down while the scale sits still? That's recomp. Mine broke after a low-sodium, lower-carb day plus a real 8 hours, down 3 lb overnight. Water. How's your sleep in this stretch? Broken sleep holds 2–4 lb easy.

I’d look at lifting tonnage, not just scale. My last flat stretch was 24 days: scale ±0.6 lb, waist -1.25", but weekly hard sets were up ~20%. Once I deloaded, scale dropped 2.6 lb over five mornings. If your squat/deadlift volume or soreness climbed during those 23 days, water from repair can easily mask fat loss. Add thigh, hip, and upper-arm tapes to the spreadsheet; mine moved before the scale did. Sharp question: did your weekly hard sets or step count change right when

late night gamer here. when my scale stalled like that it was lifting volume + salty late dinners. what helped was tracking thigh/arm tape once a week and my average step count on rest days, not just the 8k target. if your lifts are going up while the tape shrinks, that's recomp. sharp q: are your 3 lifting days the same, or did you add sets/reps right before the stall? new volume can hold water in muscle and mask the drop.

Curious—are you measuring waist at the same time of day and same landmark? I had a 26-day flat scale where my navel was down 1.2

Scale is a lagging indicator; waist is a leading one. 23 days flat with waist down 1.5” usually means water/glycogen noise is masking fat loss. I’d track: 7-day average weight, waist at navel + widest point weekly, bowel frequency/GI transit, and same-time hydration. The two you didn’t list—bowel frequency and hydration—are my usual hidden 2–3 lb. Sharp question: what’s your 7-day weight average doing, and are you measuring waist at the exact same landmark/time? If the average is flat but waist keeps trending down, that’s recomp, and the whoosh is just a bonus. Don’t optimize the daily number; optimize the trend lines.

Have you measured waist at the same time of day and same three spots? I do narrowest, navel, and widest hip, because one spot can lie depending on bloat. I’d also log a 7-day rolling average instead of daily scale, plus a quick “bathroom regularity” note. My longest flat stretch was 31 days; waist kept creeping down, then I dropped 4 lb over a weekend. That pattern shows up in old “whoosh vs recomp” threads every few months. If jeans are looser, I’d treat the tape as the headline and the scale as a noisy side character. Data-wise: weekly waist, weekly average weight, sleep, and how clothes fit.

I’d add two cheap data points: a weekly average weight (same wake time, post-bathroom) and a mid-thigh/upper-arm tape measure. Waist down 1

I’d stop weighing daily and look at a 7-day rolling average plus waist-to-height ratio. Flat scale + waist down usually means water/glycogen masking fat loss, especially with lifting. Add a compound lift e1RM and same-light photos weekly. If strength is up and waist is down, the scale is noise. One thing to check: are weekends blowing past 1,700–1,800? A 2-day surplus can flatten a 23-day trend. What’s your weekly average weight vs 23 days ago?

Data point nobody’s mentioned: gym performance. If your squat/row loads or rep totals are climbing while the scale is flat, that’s recomp, not a stall. If they’re also flat, I’d work on sleep before touching calories—6.5 hrs is the obvious constraint. I’d track weekly avg weight, waist, and one strength metric (e.g., total reps at a fixed load). Two of three moving = don’t panic. Which lift is most reliable for you?

Scale is a laggy metric; waist is the actual dashboard. Been there.

One thing I’d add: a monthly same-lighting photo in the same shorts, plus tape at three spots—narrowest waist, navel, hip. I had a 5-week scale stall where navel barely moved but hip/narrowest waist did; photos caught it before my trend line. Also worth noting: a salty/late meal or a hard lifting session 24–48h before weigh-in can mask fat loss with water. Are you tracking your 23-day max-min range? If that range is tightening while the tape drops, I’d call it recomp/water noise, not a real stall. Keep going—noise is loud right before patterns show.

One thing I track when the scale stalls: my weekly average, not daily, plus whether I raided the kids’ snack drawer after 8pm and how regular I am. Kid chaos = grab-and-go sodium and late dinners, and my weight can sit flat for weeks while my waist catches up. I also notice 3pm energy and how my rings fit. If waist is down and energy/sleep aren’t wrecked, I’d lean recomp, not a whoosh. Sharp question: is your 23-day flat based on same-time morning weighs, or random checks? Switching to 3 mornings a week and only comparing 7-day averages killed a lot of my false stalls.

Travel angle: I’d track sodium, fiber, and bathroom regularity, not just calories. When I’m in hotels/airports for a stretch, the scale can sit flat or jump 2–3 lb from restaurant sodium, less fiber, and dehydration, while my waist keeps shrinking. I keep a boring “travel day” note: water bottles, veggies, whether I pooped, and morning resting HR. If those are off, I ignore the scale for a week. How many of your recent days are hotel/airport food vs your own kitchen?

Three-year vet here. This looks like classic recomp — I’d add progress photos in the same lighting and a monthly thigh/upper-arm tape. My last 5-week stall only showed up in those and in how my work pants fit. Also, how’s your sodium/carb intake been lately? A salty or higher-carb stretch can mask 2–3 lb of fat loss as water. If the waist and clothes keep moving, I wouldn’t change a thing yet. Stalls like this usually resolve on their own; past threads call it the “tape measure wins” phase.

I’ve lost and regained, so I get how a 23-day flat scale messes with your head. I’d track sleep consistency and sodium/carb timing, not just hours. My last stall broke when I logged late salty dinners and a run of 6-hour nights; once I got 7.5+ and kept dinner earlier, the scale dropped 2 lb in two days—clearly water, not fat. Waist down 1.5” is a win. Sharp question: did anything change around day 1 of the stall—new program, creatine, more salt, stress, or sleep debt? That’s the data I’d chase.

One thing I’d add: track your sodium/carb load and hydration for a week, not just calories. When I lift hard and eat salty/higher-carb, I can hold 2–3 lb of water for 10+ days even in a deficit. Waist down + same jeans looser is real fat loss; scale is just water/glycogen noise. Also, are you measuring waist at the same time of day, same spot, fasted? I switched to navel, fasted, before coffee, and it finally made sense. And sleep: 6.5 hrs makes me puffy. Try a couple 7.5-hr nights and see if the scale catches up. Not medical advice, just my experience.

I’d switch to a 10-day rolling average and log water-weight triggers. My last “stall” was 19 days flat, then the average dropped 2.1 lb in 6 days. The culprits: Friday takeout sodium, higher carbs, poor sleep, and DOMS from a hard leg session 36h before weigh-ins. I track sodium, carb grams, bowel movements, sleep hours, and soreness; when 3+ are off, I ignore the daily scale. What’s your 10-day average doing—flat, or down 0.2–0.4 lb/week? That separates recomp from a real plateau better than any single morning.

Same here—scale pouted for weeks while my belt kept moving. Trust the tape.

Same thing happened to me — waist moved first, scale caught up on a random Tuesday.

Night shift here. Scale lies when sleep gets weird. Weigh at the same point in your wake cycle, not the same clock time. Track nighttime peeing. If you're up more than usual, whoosh is close. Also watch sodium. I hold water for days after a salty shift meal. Waist is boss. Give it another week.

One thing that helped me stop spiraling on my new walks: I track a 7-day rolling weight average instead of the daily number, plus a one-line note about salty meals, alcohol, and whether yesterday was lift or rest. My own 23-day flat stretch was mostly water masking fat loss; scale popped after takeout, then settled lower after a rest day. Do you weigh same time daily? If you’re comparing random mornings, a slow downtrend can hide. And how’s your 8k effort—if it’s easier, that’s another progress bar.

What are your lifts doing? That’s the tiebreaker. If squat/bench/row volume is climbing while waist drops and scale is flat, you’re recomping — the scale is just the worst sensor in the system. I’d log weekly total volume or estimated 1RM, waist at navel + narrowest, and sleep average. If strength is also flat for 3 weeks, then it’s not a whoosh setup, it’s intake drift or output drop. Track the leading indicators, not the lagging one.

I’d add two trackers that don’t get mentioned much: lifting volume (sets × reps × load) and sleep consistency, not just duration. When my scale froze for ~3 weeks but my waist kept shrinking, my logged volume had jumped and my resting HR was up a few beats—looked like training water/inflammation masking fat loss. In the trials, short sleep is linked with appetite and fluid shifts, so 6.5 hrs might be part of the picture. Concrete question: did your weekly sets go up in those 23 days, or are you holding volume steady? If volume’s

My scale does the same; waist is the real dashboard. Track weekly avg + tape, ignore daily noise.

Not the usal replies, but I’d add lifting performance as a recomp marker: are your working weights or reps creeping up at the same intake? If yes, that’s a stronger signal than the daily scale. Also tape at fixed landmarks—narrowest waist, navel, iliac crest—same time, post-exhale, no sucking in. I’d log those once weekly. Follow-up: any recent jump in training volume or new lifts? That can bump water/glycogen and hide fat loss for weeks. If strength is flat and waist stops shrinking for another 3–4 weeks, then I’d reassess intake.