Why doesn't the body lose weight in a consistent way?

JAT74

Since I started trying to lose weight and get fit again 2 and a half weeks ago, I've noticed that my weight loss has been pretty consistent overall so far with the projected 1.5-2lbs per week but it doesn't seem to come off daily.

I can have no weight loss for as much as a few days and it can even appear to go up some days, and then all of a sudden I will get on the scales and I've dropped 2lbs. I know you shouldn't weigh yourself daily but I generally do (can't help it!).

Does anyone know why this happens? Is it related to what you've eaten that particular day what training you've done etc. Also, how do I know if the changes in weight on the scale are down to water or fat levels in the body?

Sued0nim

on the flip side - explain why it would?

- the digestive system alone can take 48 hours to excrete waste from foods
- your water weight (50% of your body weight on average) fluctuates with the amount of sodium you've eaten, muscle repair post exercise and hormones - that is enough to mask day to day (and even week to week) weight loss
- calorie counting is an estimate both in terms of calories in and calories used
- the 3500 calories = 1 lb is an estimate

You have to be patient and judge over time your overall trend loss of weight .. and I mean months

Leyshinka

I have always assumed its because I don't consistently consume and expend the same energy everyday.
The experts here will perhaps have a more scientific answer that would interest me too.

Cc215

I think it's because my body is a b***h that like to torment me - but I won't let it win - I will make it do what I want and get smaller!!

Sorry, i have no science to offer - I suspect it's due to differing amounts of food and water (particularly the water - my body likes to hold on to that stuff) being in my body on different days. I've learned to ignore the bounces up, as long as the jumps down keep showing new lower weights it's all good.

NoelFigart1

@rabbitjb is right. Weight loss is something that happens over a period of time, so tracking the trend over time is the way to go. (Anything that promotes quick weight loss probably is not going to help much with SOLVING the problem of overweight long-term)

To give an idea of what this looks like day to day compared to over time, I am picking a weight loss record completely at random



The blue dots are the daily weight. Just what you get when you step on the scale. If the person in question were likely to stress granularity to that degree, chances are they would have quit sometime in mid October.

However, the person in question also had a formula to smooth out variation (Yes it was obtained from The Hacker's Diet, for those of you who can spot the algorithm) so that what you have is close to a ten day moving average.

The green line is where the person would be if they were losing exactly at a rate of a pound a week. (That's not happening, but since the rate is a little faster than that, the person is pretty okay with it)

The dieter ONLY pays attention to the red line. This means, that yes, there was a problem in late December. (Well, okay, not a problem, exactly, but an acceptance of simply not being very strict for a week of visiting family). There was also a problem in late October that was treated more aggressively. (Threw away the leftover Halloween candy!) Oh yeah, you also see a small red line jump in late November. (The dieter is an American. It was Thanksgiving. 'Nuff said)

Still, with all those blips, notice the TREND. That black line is the key. Which way is it pointing? Why it's pointing down. Even if it weren't pointing down at a very sharp angle, being impatient is a real bad idea when it comes to weight loss if you want to solve the problem permanently.

JAT74

Really interesting to read. I was more curious about the science behind it than posting from the perspective of being frustrated or annoyed by it. The main reason was that two years ago when I first joined MFP I lost 12 lbs but over the course of 7 months which seemed very slow and it frustrated me a lot. The main reason I think this happened was because I took onboard a lot of bad advice on here about how much to eat, what to eat and how/when to eat and I had a lot of weeks when I stalled and lost nothing.

Unfortunately that time around I had to stop exercising after the 7 months anyway due to a bad accident which put me out of action for a while and I found it too hard to eating well enough to keep the weight off without the exercise and that's when I put the weight back on.

This time around my weight loss has been much faster and I've found it relatively easy so far. I am getting into a good routine of training daily, even did a double training session yesterday as I knew I was going out for a meal and would otherwise have gone over on my calories but it's been coming off. I think it's because I have being doing things my own way and will keep re-adjusting as I get smaller in terms of calorie intake and calorie burn etc.

I get that it's the overall trend that's important and maybe it will be helpful to me to be able to see a chart such as that posted above so I'll check out that website link.