[mcdougle]

If we're talking about fitness goals, generally, weight is actually a fairly poor indicator of progress. Someone can be 200 lb and another person can be 180 lb, and both can be the same height; yet the 200lb person might be stronger or more athletic, while the 180lb person could have very little muscle mass and a much higher body fat %.

Stated in another way, it's entirely possible that a person can gain weight and lose fat -- or even lose weight and accumulate fat.

The size of various parts of your body is a much better indicator compared to measuring weight (measuring one overall size isn't a great help either), although still not the best. Measuring body fat % would be best, but unfortunately, it's not very easy to do so -- at least not without special tools.