If you’ve ever felt frustrated stepping on the scale and wondering why the number won’t budge, you’re not alone. For years, so many of us have been taught to obsess over body weight, BMI, or body fat percentage. But here’s the truth: those numbers don’t tell the whole story. In fact, they can be misleading and even discouraging.
At Kraken Fitness in Burnaby, we’ve seen it firsthand. Clients come in carrying years of baggage from tracking their weight daily—sometimes tied to dance backgrounds, sometimes to old diet culture habits, and sometimes to struggles with disordered eating. But once they shift their focus away from the scale and toward the right metrics, their progress skyrockets.
So, what should you really be tracking? Here are the three metrics that actually predict success in fitness and health.
1. Sleep Quality and Quantity
Sleep is the foundation of everything. When you sleep well, you make better decisions, recover faster, and perform at a higher level—in the gym, at work, and even in your relationships.
We recommend using tools like the Oura Ring, Fitbit, or Apple Watch to track not just hours of sleep, but also the quality of your rest. Then, pay attention to how you feel. Did a night of deep, restorative sleep leave you sharper and more focused? Did a poor night’s sleep leave you irritable and sluggish?
Here’s the kicker: we’ve had clients who were eating right and exercising consistently but weren’t losing weight—until they improved their sleep. Suddenly, the results clicked into place. That’s how powerful sleep really is.
2. Non-Exercise Movement (a.k.a. Daily Steps and Activity)
Your workouts matter, but what you do outside the gym can matter just as much. Non-exercise movement—things like walking, standing, fidgeting, or just staying active throughout the day—plays a huge role in your overall health.
Fitness trackers can measure this in different ways. Some track steps, others track strain or overall activity. However you measure it, the goal is simple: move more throughout your day.
Think of it this way—being active isn’t just about crushing a one-hour workout. It’s about what your body is doing for the other 23 hours. And the more you move, the better you feel and the easier it is to stay lean and healthy.
3. Protein Consistency
If there’s one nutrition metric that changes the game, it’s protein. Not calories. Not carbs. Protein.
You don’t need to track like a bodybuilder to benefit. Just aim for a consistent amount of protein at each meal—whether that’s through hand-sized portions, using a food tracking app, or simply making sure your plate always includes quality sources like meat, eggs, or fish.
Protein helps with satiety, recovery, and building lean muscle. And when you consistently hit your protein goals, your body composition starts to shift in a way the scale can’t capture.
The Bottom Line: Forget the Scale
The scale is like looking at a single pixel on a 4K screen—it doesn’t give you the full picture. By focusing on sleep, daily movement, and protein, you’ll start making progress that actually lasts.
At Kraken Fitness in Burnaby, we help our clients focus on these exact metrics because they’re the real predictors of success. And if you’ve been spinning your wheels watching the wrong numbers, it might be time for a reset.
👉 If you want to see how this works in practice, we’re offering a free week trial at Kraken Fitness so you can experience it yourself. Come in, train with us, and start tracking the things that really matter.
Forget the scale. Start tracking what counts. That’s how you win.