The Scale Is a Flawed Instrument

Part 1 of 4 : Photo courtesy of ManorVision

I stepped on the scale this morning and it was up five pounds.
A few months ago, that number would have hijacked my entire day.
Mood shift. Internal commentary. The familiar “what’s the point?” feeling that usually ends with overeating, skipping a workout, and slowly sliding off the plan.

Today?
Nothing.
No reaction. No story. No emotional weather system forming around it.
“Meh”

I just noted it and moved on.
That’s when it hit me … not as an insight, but as a recognition
Something fundamental had changed in how I relate to measurement.

The scale question and the “what do you do?” question are the same psychological shortcut.
They’re both:

• Fast
• Quantifiable
• Socially normalized
• And wildly incomplete

When people ask “what do you do?”, they’re rarely asking out of curiosity.
They’re trying to place you … quickly … so they don’t have to do the harder work of actually seeing you.
The scale does the same thing with health.

• Up? Bad.
• Down? Good.
• Flat? You’re failing.

It’s not that the scale is useless.
It’s that it’s being used as a proxy for something far more complex.
Bodies don’t live in one dimension.
Neither do lives.

This time around, I didn’t set out to “lose weight.”
I set out to build:

• Longevity
• Cardiovascular capacity
• Mitochondrial health
• Deep sleep
• A calm nervous system

The scale was present … but it wasn’t in charge.
Here’s what has changed:

• Resting heart rate: from the 70s into the 40s
• Deep sleep: from ~15 minutes to ~2.5 hours
• HRV: consistently high
• Energy: steady and abundant
• Mental clarity: sharp
• Clothes: noticeably looser

I’ve been in a consistent daily caloric deficit.
I’ve ridden my Concept2 BikeErg in upper Zone 2 every single day for 115 days … averaging about 39 minutes without a miss.

Yes I’ve seen weight loss , but today the scale bounced.
That’s not a failure.
That’s what noisy, lagging indicators do.

Engineers don’t evaluate systems with a single unstable gauge.
They read trends, recovery, capacity, and resilience.
That’s the lens I’m using now.

The scale isn’t evil.
It’s just over-trusted.
It’s a blunt instrument masquerading as precision … the same way job titles, follower counts, or net worth often stand in for actual human value.

The moment the scale loses emotional authority is the moment you stop outsourcing self-assessment to shortcuts.
Now when a number shows up … literal or social … the internal question becomes:
        Is this a meaningful measurement… or a convenient story?

This morning, the answer was obvious.
And the fact that I could see it without irritation, defensiveness, or panic told me something far more important than any number ever could:

I’m no longer operating from threat.
I’m operating from orientation.

Stay Lit

Bob

Next in this series
This post is about a flawed measurement.
The next one is about why this time didn’t collapse …
How identity-based decisions quietly outperform discipline every time.

→ Part 2: Why Identity Beats Willpower (and Always Has)

About Bob Manor 

Bob Manor is the founder of  South Ontario Auto Remarketing , Can-Am Dealer Services , and co-founder of Auto Auction Review. He’s also the creator of  Influence.vin, a branding and communication studio built for the car business. With over 30 years in the automotive world, Bob specializes in wholesale, dealer services, and identity-driven brand strategy. He’s a regular contributor to well-known automotive publications and uses his platforms to help industry pros re-align with who they are, not just what they do

Disclaimer:
These are my own observations and interpretations, based on lived experience inside this industry.
This is not financial, legal, or professional advice ... it is pattern recognition, shared for awareness and strategic consideration only