Week 5 stall? Scale ghosting!

Not necessarily a stall — my cheap $15 scale did 9 flat mornings at 204.6, then dropped 2.1 overnight after I finally stopped eating tuna packets + lentil soup back-to-back. Concrete check: same time, post-bathroom, naked, scale on hard tile, not carpet, fresh battery.

I tested mine with a 10-lb dumbbell; it read 11.2 till I swapped batteries. Also compare 7-day averages, not single mornings. Are you weighing on dorm carpet? That plus salty soup can ghost you for a week. What’s your sodium looking like?

Week 5 stalls are practically a forum rite of passage—deep breath, you’re in good company.

Honestly, nine identical readings on a cheap scale would make me side-eye the scale before my body. Try a gallon jug of water on it—should be around 8.3 lb—and see if it budges.

Dorm floors are sneaky too; carpet or a flexy tile can hide small changes. I mark one hard tile with painter’s tape and weigh there every morning after the bathroom, before coffee or water. Then I only care about my 7-day average, not the daily number.

Lentil soup and dining hall eggs can also mean a sodium/carb bump that holds water for a bit. What’s your 7-day average doing compared with last week?

Daily scale is a garbage week-to-week signal. I keep a tab and my cheap scale froze at 202.4 for 8 mornings, then dropped 1.9 overnight. The 7-day rolling average was already sloping down.

Check the boring stuff: same hard floor spot, same time after bathroom, before coffee/food. Also, dorm lentil soup can be a sodium bomb if it’s bouillon-based. Mine flattens for 4–5 days after salty mug soup, then whooshes. What’s your sodium/restaurant-meal pattern, and are you tracking waist or only scale?

Ugh, week 5 is such a mind game. One concrete thing: is your scale on dorm carpet? Mine was, and moving it to the same hard bathroom tile made 2 lbs of weirdness disappear.

Also, 9 mornings at 206.2 screams water/sodium to me—mug lentil soup can be a salt bomb, and dining hall eggs might be cooked in oil or butter. Try tracking a 7-day average instead of the daily number, or take waist/hip measurements.

What non-scale thing changed—energy, jeans, rings? If those are moving, you’re not stalled, just fluctuating.

Hey, been here since the old stall threads. Week 5 is classic “scale stuck” territory, especially in a dorm. Two concrete things: put the scale on a hard, level floor—not carpet or tile grout—zero it, and try a fresh battery.

Cheap scales can genuinely hold the same number if they’re dying or uneven. Also, log the mug size for that lentil soup once, since sodium/carb shifts can mask fat loss for a week or two.

Sharp question: are your clothes or measurements budging at all, even if the scale isn’t? If yes, you’re probably fine.

Honestly, been there—lost, regained, back at it. Week 5 scale drama is a classic; mug lentil soup is a flex.

I’m brand new here (day 4), so take this with a grain of salt—literally. Dorm scaes are so weird on carpet. I moved mine to

Cafe owner here: my scale ghosts me after every pastry tray, week 5 plateau is real—hang in!

newbie here but the ghosting scale made me laugh—dorm scales are so dramatic. Rooting for you!

Been there, dorm-mate. My week 5 looked almost identical, and I was living on lentil soup and tuna packs too.

Those are sneaky salty for me, so I can hold water for days even when I’m doing everything the same. What saved my sanity was a cheap tape measure: waist once a week, same morning, plus a mirror pic. The scale finally caught up after my sodium settled.

Are you tracking anything besides the number, like how your jeans or rings fit? That kept me from spiraling at 206.2.

Nine flat mornings at 206.2 after a 7 lb drop is more likely water masking than fat regain. Tuna packets and mug lentil soup can easily push 2–3 g sodium/day; dining hall eggs if salted add more. Lentils also mean fiber/carbs/glycogen, and glycogen holds water.

Did your soup batch, portion size, or dining hall rotation change this week? If not, stop trusting daily readings—use 7-day averages plus waist tape. The scale will gaslight you

Are your lifts trending up or just holding? That’s my first check when the scale gos flat. After a quick 7 lb drop, I’d look at waist tape and gym numbers before calling it a stall—recomp can hold weight while shape changes.

Dorm lentil soup can also be a sodium bomb, which masks scale progress for a few days without being fat gain. What’s your actual daily protein look like between tuna, yogurt, eggs, and lentils?

If that’s low, I’d tighten protein and sleep before changing anything else.

For what it's worth, stalls are usually a measurement problem before a metabolism problem. Two cheap checks: (1) weigh your dry lentils and any oil/butter the dining hall adds to eggs; “scrambled” can be 150–300 hidden cals. (2) take a waist tape at navel weekly.

My scale sat at 206 for 10 days while my waist dropped 1.25" — water was masking fat loss. Also, are you eating the same lentil soup batch? If sodium swung up, the scale can hold water for a week. What does your 7-day waist trend say?

Mechanism nerd here. One thing I’d check before blaming the scale: salt/carb load. Lentil soup + tuna + dining hall eggs can swing sodium a lot, and water retention can hide fat loss for a week or two. In the trials, early plateaus often aren’t true fat stalls.

Are you eating about the same volume and walking the same amount as weeks 1–3, or did your schedule change? I started measuring waist at the belly button once a week and it caught changes the scale missed. If that’s trending down, you’re likely fine.

Nine mornings at the same 206.2 is almost suspiciously steady—my cheap dorm scale did that when one foot was on a tile grout line. Try zeroing it on a hard floor, same exact spot, and put a full water bottle on it to test repeatability.

Also, tuna packets + lentil soup can be sodium bombs; I can gain 2–3 lb of water after a salty dorm-food day and it hangs for a week. Are you comparing weekly averages or just daily? If your weeky average is flat for another 2 weeks, then I’d look at portions and oils in the dining hall eggs.

Scale stall isn’t always fat stall. If you started lifting 3–4x or bumped protein, you’re probably holding glycogen/water while repairing muscle.

Track weekly average, waist at navel, and gym log instead of nine daily weigh-ins. Also test that dorm scale: same spot, zero it, weigh a gallon of water (8.34 lb).

Are you doing any resistance training, or mostly diet/cardio? If lifts are climbing and waist is flat/down, that’s recomp doing its thing.

week 5 is such a troll. One thing I’d add: dining-hall eggs and your mug lentil soup can hide a ton of calories in oil, butter, or bouillon if you’re eyeballing.

I measured my olive oil for one week and my own flatline finally moved. Also, are midterms wrecking your sleep?

My weight sits still when I’m running on 5 hours and stress-snacking. You’re not doing anything wrong—7 lbs in 3 weeks is a huge win.

Scales are the worst travel companions—mine gaslights me in every hotel 😂