Your body weight only tells you how hard gravity is pulling you down. That’s it. At Kraken Fitness in North Burnaby, near Brentwood, coaches track three metrics that actually predict fitness success: sleep quality, non-exercise movement, and protein consistency. Clients who switch from scale-watching to tracking these three things see better results and stop quitting right before a breakthrough.
Watch: Why Your Scale Is Lying
In this episode of the Kraken Power Podcast, Josko and Brandon explain why body weight is the wrong metric for most people and break down the three things you should actually be tracking for better fitness results.
Why Body Weight Is One Pixel of a 4K Movie
Stepping on the scale and seeing 152 pounds tells you exactly one thing: how hard gravity is pulling you down toward the earth. That’s about it.
Two people can weigh 152 pounds and have completely different body compositions, blood profiles, and health markers. Body weight doesn’t distinguish between muscle and fat, doesn’t reflect hydration, and doesn’t tell you whether you’re actually healthier than you were last month.
Kraken Fitness uses a body composition scanner that cost over $10,000 — it’s similar to a DEXA scan and tracks body fat percentage within 0.2% accuracy. So yes, Kraken’s trainers track body composition data. But the coaches emphasize that even these advanced metrics aren’t the most important things to track for actually seeing results.
Some clients come to Kraken with a history of unhealthy scale obsession. Brandon sees clients who grew up tracking body weight through dance or developed disordered eating because they were hyper-focused on a number. The coaching team gives these clients something healthier to obsess over — metrics that actually drive progress without the emotional baggage of a daily weigh-in.
Josko puts it simply: tracking only body weight is like looking at one pixel of an entire 4K movie. You want to see the whole picture. And that picture comes from tracking behaviors, not outcomes.
Metric 1: Sleep Quality
Sleep is the single most important metric to track if you’re only going to track one thing. Kraken’s coaches bring this up in nearly every podcast episode because sleep affects everything downstream — decision-making, workout performance, recovery, nutrition choices, mood, and relationships.
At Kraken, both Josko and Brandon use Oura Rings to track sleep quality, duration, and recovery scores. The difference between an 83 sleep score and a 70 shows up in every part of the day — how sharp your thinking is, how well you handle stress, how effectively you train.
Brandon sees this pattern constantly with Kraken’s clients: someone is doing everything right nutritionally and in the gym, but they’re stuck. Not losing weight, not making progress. Then they go from four hours of sleep to eight hours of quality sleep, and the scale starts moving without changing anything else.
Josko notices it with podcast recording days. He has to make sure his sleep is dialed in the night before, or the content quality drops. He’s also seen how bad sleep with a newborn affects every other relationship and decision. It cascades.
Practical ways to start tracking sleep:
- Oura Ring — Josko’s top recommendation. No screen, just a ring. Tracks sleep stages, HRV, heart rate, and recovery.
- Whoop Band — tracks strain instead of steps, which gives a fuller picture of daily stress.
- Fitbit or Apple Watch — budget-friendly options that still provide useful sleep data.
Any tracker is better than no tracker. The goal is to turn sleep from something that “just happens” into something you can measure, improve, and see the results of.
Metric 2: Non-Exercise Movement
The second metric Kraken’s coaches recommend tracking is non-exercise movement — basically how much you move throughout the day outside of your workouts.
Step counts are the most common way to track this, but Josko actually prefers overall movement or strain scores. The Oura Ring converts activity to steps, but the Whoop Band tracks total strain throughout the day, which captures more than just walking. Josko’s wish: that the Oura Ring would just give a general movement number instead of counting specific steps.
Why this matters: people who are naturally fidgety — high NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) — tend to be leaner. They burn more calories through small micro-movements throughout the day. Brandon jokingly attributes his own leanness to his “fidgety ADHD.”
But more important than calorie burn, general movement throughout the day improves mood and energy. The more you move throughout the day with healthy, non-intense movement — walking, standing, taking the stairs — the better you feel overall. Compare that to sitting at a computer or watching TV all day, and the difference in how you feel is dramatic.
This is why Kraken’s coaches push “dedicated walks” — intentional, non-incidental walking. Not just steps you happen to accumulate. Deliberate movement that becomes part of the daily routine.
The implementation is simple: get a fitness tracker. Any fitness tracker. Put it on. Start paying attention to how much you actually move in a day. Most people are shocked at how little it is.
Metric 3: Protein Consistency
The third metric that predicts fitness success is protein consistency — not macro tracking, not calorie counting, just making sure protein shows up in every meal, every day.
Brandon recommends aiming for about one gram of protein per pound of body weight daily. But the method matters less than the consistency. Kraken’s coaches offer multiple approaches based on what works for each client:
- Track with an app like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer
- Use the fist method — five to six fist-sized portions of protein per day
- Plate prioritization — make sure a significant portion of every plate is protein
- The hunger test — if you’re hungry, ask yourself: “Would I eat protein right now?” If yes, you’re actually hungry. If not, it’s hedonic hunger (Brandon credits this tip to Tanner Shuck on Instagram).
The point isn’t to obsess over grams. It’s to build the habit of actively thinking about how much protein is on each plate. Josko says it’s less about tracking and more about consistently choosing protein-rich meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Why protein specifically? Because adequate protein maintains lean muscle mass even when you’re not exercising as much, keeps you fuller for longer, and gives your body the building blocks for recovery. When protein is consistent, the rest of the nutrition tends to fall in line naturally.
The Right Scoreboard Changes Everything
Most people quit their fitness journey right before a breakthrough because they’re watching the wrong scoreboard. Josko compares it to leaving a basketball game thinking you lost when you were actually up by 20 points.
If your only metric is body weight, you’ll feel like you’re failing even when your sleep has improved, you’re moving more, your energy is up, and your body composition is changing. The scale might not move for weeks while your body is actually transforming.
Kraken’s implementation system is straightforward: get a fitness tracker (Oura Ring, Whoop, Fitbit, Apple Watch — any of them), put it on, and start tracking sleep, movement, and protein. The tracker does the work for you. No notebooks, no food journals, no manual logging. Just wear it and look at the data.
When clients at Kraken shift their focus from the scale to these three metrics, something changes. They stop the emotional rollercoaster of daily weigh-ins. They start seeing progress they couldn’t see before. And they stop quitting because the scoreboard actually reflects what’s happening in their body.
FAQ
Should I stop weighing myself completely?
You don’t have to throw out the scale, but stop making it your primary metric. Kraken Fitness tracks body composition with advanced scanners, but coaches emphasize that sleep, movement, and protein consistency predict success far better than daily weigh-ins. Body weight is one data point, not the scoreboard.
What’s the best fitness tracker for sleep?
Josko recommends the Oura Ring because it has no screen, tracks sleep stages and HRV accurately, and doesn’t distract you at night. Whoop Band, Fitbit, and Apple Watch also work well. Any tracker is better than none — the key is wearing it consistently and using the data to improve.
How much protein should I eat per day?
Kraken’s coaches recommend roughly one gram of protein per pound of body weight daily. You can track it with an app, use the fist method (five to six fist-sized portions), or simply make protein the priority on every plate. Consistency matters more than hitting an exact number.
Why do Kraken’s coaches talk about sleep in every podcast?
Sleep affects every other fitness metric — workout recovery, nutrition decisions, mood, energy, and body composition. Brandon has seen Kraken clients plateau on perfect nutrition and training programs until they fix their sleep. Going from four to eight hours of quality sleep can restart weight loss without changing anything else.
What is NEAT and why does it matter for weight loss?
NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis — all the movement you do outside of planned workouts. This includes walking, fidgeting, standing, and general daily activity. People with higher NEAT tend to be leaner. Tracking daily movement with a fitness tracker helps you see how much you’re actually moving.
Ready to Start?
If you’re frustrated by the scale and want coaches who track what actually matters, Kraken Fitness in North Burnaby near Brentwood offers a free trial week. Kraken’s trainers will help you find the right metrics and build the habits that drive real progress.
Listen on Your Favorite Platform
- YouTube – https://youtu.be/bu14tEnTfyk
- Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/episode/56wjgHldYQEJ9I5AbzwvFp?si=4-i_75VdR_-8BTRXUwc54A
- Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/why-your-scale-is-lying-to-your-face-track-these-4/id1769000945?i=1000725030905
About the Author
Josko Kraken is the founder of Kraken Fitness, a personal training gym in North Burnaby near Brentwood. With over a decade of coaching experience and an $10,000+ body composition scanner in the facility, Josko and his team help clients track the metrics that actually matter — not just the number on the scale.
[Josko]
Welcome back to the Kraken Power Podcast. We’re your hosts Josko and Brandon. And in today’s episode, we’re talking about the three metrics that actually predict success and why 99% of people are tracking the wrong things.
Let’s dive in. Welcome back to the Kraken Power Podcast. Although we do track body weight and we also look at BMI as a metric as well.
And we also track body fat percentage at our gym and like tons of other metrics when it comes to like your actual body composition. The thing is they’re not that important when it comes to seeing results. Like if you’re going to track something, it’s better to track other things.
We’re going to be talking about that in today’s episode.
[Brandon]
We have some clients at Kraken who will come to us and what they’ll say to us is, you know, I grew up tracking my body weight throughout, you know, me going through dance or I have some kind of eating disorder because they’re so hyper-focused on what the scale was always saying. And so in today’s episode, what we hope to give you is some other metrics that you can obsess over, but in a healthy way that will improve you and not make your results so focused on how much you weigh because there’s so much more to what the number is on the scale in regards to your own health and progress in life.
[Josko]
So let’s say you’re weighing yourself every single day. You know, you step on the scale and you’re like 152 pounds. All that’s telling you is how hard gravity is pulling you down towards the earth.
That’s about it. Like it’s like I weigh 152 pounds and then what, right? So there has to be other metrics that you have to track for you to be able to actually start seeing the results that you want to do, whether it’s gaining weight or losing weight with building muscle or anything like that.
[Brandon]
Because what I think you’re trying to say is there’s multiple types of bodies, for instance. So you could be 152 pounds and I could be 152 pounds and we could have vastly different body compositions and we could have vastly different blood profiles. We could have vastly different like health markers.
So with all of those markers being out there, it becomes so disorienting to be like, which ones do we track to give us the biggest return on investment for our health and our results?
[Josko]
Yeah. So at Kraken, we actually have a, it’s kind of like a DEXA scan, but not really. It’s like the cheaper version of a DEXA scan, but it is like a very expensive scanner.
It was like over $10,000 that we use to track our clients’ progress. It gives us body fat percentage and a very accurate body fat percentage. When I did the DEXA scan and I came back and did an R scan, it was off by 0.2%. So it’s very close and it does an excellent job of just being able to track like tons of other metrics as well. And so yes, we do, we are big fans of tracking all that stuff, but there’s better things that you should track in order for you to like actually start seeing the result that you want. So the one, the first metric that we highly recommend tracking, the one that we talk about all the time is your sleep. So we’ve talked about this in so many podcasts and we like, we, the thing is we keep bringing it up over and over again.
But the one thing that we don’t really talk, I mean, we do talk about it still, but like tracking, like actually tracking your sleep. So we use aura rings to track not just how much sleep we’re getting, but also the quality of sleep. When you sleep well, you’re able to make such better decisions.
Your quality of life goes up. So it’s such a important thing to track and try to improve because at the end of the day, like whatever you’re tracking, it’s just something that you’re using. You’re using that data to try to improve whatever you’re tracking.
So for us, it’s like sleep is huge and that’s the first metric that you should be tracking.
[Brandon]
And when you’re tracking sleep, I think you should take a subjective measurement of like how you feel and then take a look at your data to see if it’s trending in the right way. So for your example, if you’re saying, hey, I have a lot of important business decisions I need to make the next day. How crisp is my mind when I’m making those decisions?
How am I able to pivot when something goes wrong? Like how am I able to apply that mental fortitude and concentration to the task at hand after a certain night of sleep? And maybe that could be like a, you know, 83 score on your aura ring versus like a 70.
How does that make a difference? And then that can apply to how you are performing in the gym or your family life.
[Josko]
Well, there’s one thing. So, you know, for this podcast, whenever we have to do this, every time we like do this podcast and like the day before, I have to make sure that I go to bed on time, that my morning routines dialed in and everything, because I want to feel as optimally as possible so that I don’t mess up on the podcast. And so that we can actually have like usable footage to post, right?
Because it is like a huge, like you guys don’t see the behind the scenes of this. Like we mess up often. And also there’s been days where we film an entire podcast and we don’t even use it because we like didn’t have the audio right or something.
Right. And we want to make sure that we’re fully dialed in for this so that we can have like a really like this. We have a really high quality podcast for you guys.
But yeah, there’s also the fact like, you know, you have kids or you have a kid right now. You’ve gone through nights where you didn’t sleep well. Right.
I’ve had a few. To say the least. And so the thing is, like if you if you have kids, it’s already like young kids already, like pretty stressful.
You know, you have to wake up in the middle of the night with them and be there for them and feed them and all that stuff. And when you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll notice that like you’re more agitated the next day. And then that’s going to affect your relationship, you know, and just like goes down the line.
So that’s why sleep is so important. And like tracking the sleep is just the it’s like if you’re not going to track anything, if you’re just going to track one thing, just let it be sleep, you know.
[Brandon]
And your sleep quality duration, your stats essentially for your sleep will bleed into your results in the gym, your fitness and everything as well. So, for instance, we have a lot of clients at Kraken who are often, you know, doing the right things nutritionally, doing the right things in the gym. But they aren’t quite hitting that next level until they actually focus on their sleep because they’re not recovering.
You see them go through their full exercise plan and be like, hey, why aren’t you losing weight? And as soon as they go from like four hours to like eight of good quality sleep, the scale just tips off without even us having to really focus on that one metric.
[Josko]
Yeah, for sure. It is definitely the most overlooked thing when it comes to fitness. Like it’s definitely getting more popular now, but the thing is, it’s still not as big as it should be.
And so that’s why we have to mention it in every podcast. Yes. And so just some practical ways for you to start tracking your sleep.
So, you know, there’s Fitbits. There’s yeah, Brandon has one. He has a Fitbit and he has an Oura Ring.
But yeah, there’s also your Apple Watch. Obviously, the battery life isn’t that great. But yeah, if you could if you could track your sleep overnight using any kind of fitness tracker, it’s going to be better than not having one.
But yeah, I really like the Oura Ring because there is no screen. So, yeah, that’s what we recommend. So but for metric number two, the other thing that you should be tracking is non-exercise movement.
So what we mean by this is basically tracking your steps. And the reason why is like as soon as you have one of these trackers, you’re going to be tracking your steps. But the reason why we say tracking non-exercise movement is because there are some trackers that don’t actually track steps.
So like, for example, the Oura Ring, I don’t think it actually does track steps. I think they do convert it into steps. But the Whoop Band doesn’t actually track steps.
It actually tracks strain. So strain is just like how much strain you have throughout the day. You know, it’s like how many how much exercise you had, how much how many walks you went on or whatever it is.
Right. Like just general strain throughout the entire day. And I really like that idea of like not tracking specific steps, specifically steps, but just tracking like an overall amount of movement that you had, you know.
And I do really wish that Oura Ring would just track like just general movement, not steps. You know, like just give me like a just give me a random number.
[Brandon]
Well, the neat thing is they have just your overall stress throughout the day as well. So that would be something that’s like non-exercise related, but it is somewhat influenced by how much activity that you have throughout the day.
[Josko]
Yeah. The only thing is I do like I track the stress and like there’s been times where I’ve been sitting all day and like it still tracks my stress. So like when I’m like in a meeting, I’m like super stressed out.
[Brandon]
That’s true.
[Josko]
But yeah, like they’re, you know, just non-exercise movement is so ideal to track because it’s such an easy way to start seeing better results, like in terms of weight loss, but also just like your general mood. Because the more you move throughout the day, right, like healthy movement. Obviously, if you’re like going to be like exercising for three hours straight and doing like deadlifts or something, you’re going to be just destroyed.
But if you’re just like generally moving throughout the day, the entire day, you’re going to feel a lot better than if you were just sitting around on the computer or watching TV or something.
[Brandon]
What’s funny, you ever see those comparisons where they compare people who have really high neat. So the non-exercise planned exercise where they’re like fidgeters. And those are typically the people who actually are much more skinnier or leaner in nature because they’re just doing these small little micro movements throughout the day.
As opposed to when you’re just sitting there and you’re just very sessile when you’re doing any kind of like meeting and such. So that’s why I like to relate my leanness to like my fidgety ADHD.
[Josko]
But yeah, you know, that’s why I really do like the Oura Ring and all these fitness trackers, because you can track so many things. You know, we talked about sleep. We talked about strain.
You can also track HRV, your heart rate, your stress. Like there’s so many things that you can track on these watches and on these Oura Rings and stuff. It’s so useful to have.
And when you’re only tracking something like, for example, the scale, like whatever your body weight is, then it’s like looking at one pixel out of like an entire 4K movie, you know. You want to be able to look at the whole picture, not just one pixel. So that’s why I highly recommend wearing some sort of fitness tracker.
[Brandon]
Now, the third metric that we recommend that most people track in order to get really good success in their health and fitness journey is protein consistency. And so what we mean by that is making sure that you’re getting an adequate amount of protein volume in each and every day. And you can do this in numerous amounts of ways.
You don’t have to weigh your food out like a bodybuilder. You can, however, you know, use an app like MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, and make sure you get, you know, one gram per pound body weight every single day. Or you can do other methods like making sure you’re eating five to six fifths of protein every single day.
Or using, you know, eating off a list where you’re prioritizing a certain amount of your plate towards proteins. But as long as you have an adequate amount and an adequate volume, you’re going to be on the right side of things more than less.
[Josko]
You know, it’s not even about tracking it. It’s just about like choosing a consistent amount of protein for you to eat and just making sure that you add protein to every single one of your meals. Every single, like, you know, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, always just trying to eat as much protein as you can.
Like actively thinking about how much protein is on this plate.
[Brandon]
Yeah, I think a good rule of thumb is to make sure that you ask yourself, if you’re hungry, would I want to eat protein? Because then you’re actually hungry. That’s the one from Tanner Shuck.
Do you know Tanner Shuck on Instagram? Yeah, I know Tanner Shuck. Yeah, yeah.
He’s like, if you’re actually hungry, you’re going to actually crave something that’s nutritious. That’s going to have protein, sustenance, vitamins, minerals to it. And if you don’t feel like, ah, I don’t really want to eat a steak or anything right now, you’re just going through that kind of hedonic hunger, right?
Or if you do want to have a meal, make sure you are adding something that’s like an actual sustainable amount of protein. Like meat product, eggs, fish, something along those lines.
[Josko]
What we’re saying in this entire podcast is like you don’t need to track your body weight. Essentially, like we’re saying you don’t need to track it at all. If you’re tracking all of these other things, you don’t need to track it at all.
And I guarantee that you’ll be healthy, you know. And so the implementation system for you to start doing this immediately is get a freaking ordering, get a whoop band, get a Fitbit, get something to be able to track those kind of metrics. Because those are going to be way more important than just tracking the weight on the scale, you know.
And yeah, and then you can just start seeing like how much you’re improving. Because like I can tell you right now that the thing that improved my life the most was getting an order ring.
[Brandon]
Yeah, and just tracking to any matter, right? It’s like no progress is really made unless it’s actually tracked. And the nice thing about getting a fitness app or a fitness device is it does it for you.
Yeah, you just have to put it on. You just have to put it on. So it kind of holds you accountable, but also it takes your data for you rather than like the old school method.
Remember when we used to go back and you’d like write things in like notebooks and such? You don’t have to do that anymore. You have a fitness device.
[Josko]
You know most people aren’t able to break through plateaus because they’re just simply not tracking the right things. And most people quit right before a breakthrough because they’re just watching the wrong scoreboard. It’s like leaving a basketball game thinking you lost when you were actually up by 20 points.
And that’s why it’s so important for you to start tracking the right things. And just like forget the scale because the scale is a liar. It doesn’t really matter.
As long as you’re tracking these other things and you know that you’re getting healthier, you’re going to start seeing results. Like it’s guaranteed 100%. So start tracking the right things.
And yeah, hopefully you guys liked that episode. If you have any questions about tracking, don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we’ll see you in the next one.