Finally saying hi — labs moved, scale didn't

Sep 12 1887 views 20 posts

Hi all — been lurking here for a while and finally posting. I'm Jose, 43, live outside Phoenix, and what got me started was a physical this spring where my doctor was not happy with my blood sugar numbers. Twelve weeks in, my follow-up labs came back a lot better and my jeans fit differently, but the scale has barely budged, which honestly has me a little discouraged. Did your bloodwork move before the weight did, or is that just me? Also would love ideas for what to pay attention to instead of stepping on the scale every single morning.

Waist down 1.5 inches in 12 weeks is not nothing. I’d trust that over the scale.

That waist point is key—mine dropped 2 inches before the scale budged. Same pattern for me.

What are you eating and how often? Not asking for a plna, just curious what changed.

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The whoosh thing happened to me too. HOMA-IR 5.1 to 3.0, scale flat, but I was lifting 3/xweek and sleep was awful.

Sleep is the hidden variable for me. Poor sleep weeks = fasting glucose up 5-8 points.

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Did you measure waist same spot/time? I was measuring over clothes at first. Dumb, but changed numbers.

I’ve seen this in my own logs. Fasting insulin is more volatile day to day than weight, yet trends earlier.

Not sure insulin trends earlier is universal. Mine didn’t move until weight came off. n=1 caveats everywhere.

Fair. I shoul’dve said in my case. I was also walking 8k steps and doing 14:10 most days.

14:10 eating window or fasting? I keep mixing those up.

Labs before scale is common when you’re adding muscle. Are you measuirng body fat or just weight?

No body fat measure, just waist and photos. Photos every 4 weeks have been more honest than my scale.

Photos are brutal but useful. My week 4 and week 12 look same weight, different shape.

This thread is making me want to get fasting insulin retested. My last one was 17 and doc only cared about A1c.

A1c lagged for me too. It moved after insulin and waist changed. Not medical advice, just my timeline.

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I’m 51F, started at 191 lbs. Over 20 weeks: fasting insulin 22 to 9, glucose 108 to 97, weight 191 to 178, waist 39 to 35.5. The scale did nothing for the first 7 weeks. What finally showed progress was a monthly average, not daily. I also noticed a weird pattern: my fasting glucose is higher after a poor-sleep night, even when carbs were identical. Has anyone else seen sleep affect fasting glucose more than dinner timing? I ask because the OP’s HOMA-IR change looks real, but the scale may be the worst short-term metric. Also, how are people measuring waist—navel or narrowest point?

Sleep beats dinner timing for my glucose too. Late meal matters less than a 5-hour night.

I track monthly averages because daily fasting glucose swings 10 points for no obvious reason.

12 weeks is early, honestly. Labs and a tape measure tell the story well before the scale catches up.