Many women are still following programmes that have them stepping on the scale every week, in front of a group, to keep them accountable.
That guilt and shame based approach is completely unnecessary, and I'm very much against it.
The truth is that a lot of clients have told me the opposite happens.
What the weekly weigh-in actually does
If you know you're "off track" a few days before a weigh-in, the dread of that number can push you toward drastic behaviour. Skipping meals. Intensive exercise. In some cases, even more extreme measures.
That's not a lack of willpower. That's the structure of the programme doing exactly what it's built to do: create pressure around a single number, once a week, in front of other people.
It's easy to assume the person struggling with this just needs more discipline.
But sometimes the problem isn't the person. It's the model.
Why I don't build my coaching around the scale
I don't run public weigh-ins, and I'm never going to.
Instead, I ask clients to notice and write down their wins each day, and I mean that broadly. Mood. Food choices. Getting out in the garden. Enjoying the sunshine. A walk. All of it counts.
Much better to focus on how you're feeling in your clothes. I ask clients to check in about five to seven days after their period finishes, since that's generally when you're at your lightest and leanest, so it's the best time to get an honest read on progress. If your cycle isn't regular because of perimenopause, or you don't have periods anymore, a 30-day check-in works just as well.
Because the goal was never to obsess over a single Tuesday morning reading. It's steady, sustainable progress you can actually feel: more energy, better sleep, clothes fitting differently, feeling stronger and more like yourself.
What to track instead
If you want an accountability structure that doesn't backfire, try tracking things a scale can't measure.
How many reps you can now do of something that used to be hard.
How long you can hold a position you couldn't hold a few months ago.
How your energy feels by 4pm, compared to before.
Whether you're sleeping through more nights than not.
None of that comes with the same pressure a public weigh-in does, and none of it invites the same drastic behaviour.
It's not about being perfect, or hitting a number by Friday. It's about consistency you can actually sustain.
If a weekly weigh-in has ever pushed you toward something that felt unsustainable, you're not alone, and it wasn't a failure of discipline or having enough motivation.