Why do the scales fluctuate so much daily?

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  • Bigkmc
    Bigkmc Posts: 25 Member
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    faeriesue1 wrote: »
    I weigh every morning, can't help myself. Even if there is a reason for a sudden gain, I still get grumpy, even though I know it's not a "real" gain. My official weigh in day is Monday and as of Sunday last week I had lost 3.5lbs that week - so imagine my frustration on Monday morning to see a 2lb gain. Gutted! But not real. Too much sodium and TOTM. The Monday coming will be better.

    I know what you mean... It's amazing how demotivating it can be (even when it's not real) and how magical it can feel when there's a big loss (which you suspect is not real)! :smiley:
  • elliej
    elliej Posts: 466 Member
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    Water and poo basically. Isn't that nice
  • liekewheeless
    liekewheeless Posts: 416 Member
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    I do weight daily most of the time. I ended up thinking I was stuck because I kept gaining and losing the same amount. A closer look (or I should say wider look) however showed that in general my weight was still dropping.

    It's ok to weigh daily, just look back a month or two and see your progress to stay motivated.
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    liekewheeless wrote: »
    I do weight daily most of the time. I ended up thinking I was stuck because I kept gaining and losing the same amount. A closer look (or I should say wider look) however showed that in general my weight was still dropping.

    It's ok to weigh daily, just look back a month or two and see your progress to stay motivated.

    Solid response.
  • DaveinSK
    DaveinSK Posts: 86 Member
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    As ncboiler said, you'll still see the fluctuations if you weigh weekly. It would probably be more demotivating to see a gain of a couple pounds after a good week than to see daily fluctuations, even if that gain is just three pounds of water and you're actually down a pound for the week.

    I just weigh once a day at the same time (after my morning shower) and log using MFP, but you can use http://happyscale.com/ if you want it to draw a trendline instead of doing it in your head.
  • stevenxd
    stevenxd Posts: 2 Member
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    Try to weigh yourself at the same time everyday with the same amount of clothing to keep the variables to a minimum. But like others have said, water weight has a lot to do with it.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,709 Member
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    Bigkmc wrote: »
    I am driving myself nuts by weighing daily. I'm on them before I can stop myself. A big drop gives me a spring in my step and big increase gives me a crap attitude.

    Anyone else struggle to stop weighing daily?
    You'll struggle less if you understand that weighing daily shouldn't be your "live or die" moment. If you drank 32 oz. of water then stepped on the scale, you'd weigh 32 oz more.
    Point is that fluid retention changes constantly throughout the day and things like sodium, hormones, stress, etc. have a direct effect.
    Don't monitor the weight......................monitor the mirror.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • namarc0
    namarc0 Posts: 480 Member
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    Happy scale is an app that does a great job of monitoring fluctuations and weight trends over time. I like to jump on the scale every three or four days so I see lots of fluctuations. The Happy scale app keeps it in perspective for me-I love it and it's free!
  • Addiewe
    Addiewe Posts: 65 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Is it safe to assume that the lowest weight you see during the week is your "actual" weight?
  • Bigkmc
    Bigkmc Posts: 25 Member
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    Happy Scale downloaded - thanks everyone! :smile:

    And thanks for the lesson on water retention - my sodium intake was double what it should have been yesterday (soy sauce) so that might help explain alongside my first run on Sunday for about a year!
  • Bigkmc
    Bigkmc Posts: 25 Member
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    Addiewe wrote: »
    Is it safe to assume that the lowest weight you see during the week is your "actual" weight?

    I like the sound of that!
  • DavidC1857
    DavidC1857 Posts: 149 Member
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    I'm one of those that weighs every day. First thing in the morning after hitting the bathroom and before I eat or drink anything.

    I try to ignore increases, cause they happen for all the reasons already listed. I log any new low. As long as I'm logging a new low every week or so I'm happy enough.

    Seems like it's going slower than it should. But I'm not being as strict as I should either.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Addiewe wrote: »
    Is it safe to assume that the lowest weight you see during the week is your "actual" weight?

    Your weight is the number on the scale at any given point in time.
  • glortard
    glortard Posts: 67 Member
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    Personally I think weighing myself daily is good as it is easier to manage. I will get fluctuations all the time..often it will go up when i think I have lost and down especially If I have been drinking the night before...it does not bother me as It is long term.
  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
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    Bigkmc wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    If you don't like the fluctuations, why don't you weigh weekly instead?

    Because I'm desperate to see results and a sucker for self demotivation. I know, I know....

    I was going to post a thread about weighing in but I'll add it here. I also struggle with being scale obsessed. I guess I want the instant gratification of seeing the scale move. Also I need that assurance that my dieting is effective.

    Last week I took a huge blow to my confidence because I went down about 1.5 lbs and then it steadily creeped up for the next few days. But it was all PMS water weight and bloat which was masking my fat loss. The last couple days, as my period came to an end, I've been shedding the weight and and I'm 3 lbs lighter than I was on April 24th.

    My advice to you is try to resist weighing in unless you can deal with the results. If you are susceptible to PMS weight gain, weigh yourself monthly after your period to get a more accurate reading. Also, don't weigh yourself after strenuous workouts and you have muscle pain. I gained about 5lbs from water retention when I started heavy strength training.

    Last year when I lost 20 lbs I didn't have scale in my house and it was better for me psychologically. The only time I weighed myself was when I visited my mother and used her scale. It was so motivating to see that I dropped 5 lbs or so each time I weighed in. When I went to a gym that had a scale I remember being so disappointed in the results that I skipped my workout, went home and binged.

    If you are doing things the right way, the weight will come off- scale or no scale.
  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
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    glortard wrote: »
    Personally I think weighing myself daily is good as it is easier to manage. I will get fluctuations all the time..often it will go up when i think I have lost and down especially If I have been drinking the night before...it does not bother me as It is long term.

    I see nothing wrong with it either if you can handle it psychologically. Daily weighing is a good way to keep track of how your body responds to food, exercise and water.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Natural weight fluctuations...first of all, you're eating and drinking stuff right...all that stuff has mass and thus weight. If you eat 1/2 Lb of food, guess what? Then all of that food is broken down into waste...you are always going to have variable amounts of inherent waste in your system. Then you have fluid retention/release as well as variable degrees of glycogen stores...just to name a few things.

    My advice...step away from the scale if you cannot wrap your head around what are completely natural fluctuations. Body weight isn't static..nobody weighs exactly XXX Lbs. It would be best for you to come to grips with this fact or maintenance is going to be a real mind *kitten*.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Addiewe wrote: »
    Is it safe to assume that the lowest weight you see during the week is your "actual" weight?

    considering that body weight isn't static, no. If anything you should just take an average of weigh ins. You don't weigh exactly XXX Lbs...nobody does.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    I weigh myself every day as soon as I get out of the shower. I have a wifi scale that automatically uploads my vitals and syncs with MFP. I like the data granularity. Yes, there are ups and downs. It's the overall trend you are looking for.

    oZcL4Fa.png
  • Bigkmc
    Bigkmc Posts: 25 Member
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    Wow, that's amazing progress @maillemaker - and it just shows how much it can spike - thanks so much for sharing and well done!

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