Scale Fluctuations & Discouragement
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vivmom2014
Posts: 1,647 Member
I was down 4 pounds, now the scale says I'm up 4 pounds. I know that we can expect small fluctuations in weight, but what about if you don't have very much to lose? Does it still fluctuate harmlessly by 4 pounds?
And, if so, what's the point of weighing at all? I should walk away from the scale for good, but oh no. It pulls me back every time. And every time it makes me so discouraged that I feel like throwing in the towel once and for all.
And, if so, what's the point of weighing at all? I should walk away from the scale for good, but oh no. It pulls me back every time. And every time it makes me so discouraged that I feel like throwing in the towel once and for all.
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My weight has always fluctuated by three pounds. I learned from working in a nursing home that its best to weigh yourself in the morning before breakfast. I used to weigh myself everyday and now i just weigh myself every monday that way i can see how much im losing every week and i dont get discouraged and i can tell if im ruining my progress by eating bad over the weekend.0
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I've decided I'm not going near a scale until the end of July. I'm going to eat properly and exercise a minimum of 3 times a week. My success/failure will be measured by whether or not those darn blue jeans are fitting any better or not. . .0
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I'm leaning towards not weighing yourself regularly. I know that from morning to night and from hormones, what I've eaten, humidity, etc, that I can have a 3-5 lb variation from morning to night, and day to day. I think also that when you have such a small amount to lose, measurements are key too.0
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I have a tough time with this! I am only looking to lose a few pounds and I vary so much from 1 day to the next and even time of day. I get very discouraged!0
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Thanks for the replies! Some days I feel energized and inspired to really stay with this - exercising and logging everything. But then *these* kinds of days roll around and I'm ready to scream because it all seems pointless. I need to stop seeing things in black and white, one extreme to the other. I think I will stay away from the scale for a good long time.0
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It's definitely frustrating! Weight loss isn't linear though and we have to try to pay attention to the trends rather than each day's weigh-in. I'm going to only weigh once or twice a month though because I was getting scale obsessed, haha
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And sorry for the big picture... my motivational ones always appear huge on here!0
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Agreed bookworm_847! We should focus on other non-scale victories: like how clothes fit or how good we feel (personally, I have started working out more and am also working towards some fitness goals). I need to stop hopping on my scale all the time because then I get frustrated.0
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Yes indeed! I wasn't paying attention to my NSVs or the fact my abs are starting to come out and say hello because I was so focused on the fact the scale wasn't doing what I wanted.0
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I don't even weigh every day. I tend to look at the scale on Friday mornings - before breakfast of course. If, by some miracle, I reach my goal weight I wonder how I will ever maintain it. That makes me think maybe I should just be satisfied with my current weight and call off the madness.
Love the success chart! Thanks for posting!0 -
I sometimes think my goal weight is completely unrealistic. Every time I get close, I gain back what I lost. I have been within 5 lbs so many times I can't even count and it all just goes horribly wrong. I can gain 8 lbs in a couple days of not being careful. It frightens me because I don't know what normal is any more. Is a weight I can't hope to maintain normal? I have to lose 18 lbs to get to my goal now because I took a week off. Just a week and I gained back 10 lbs. I didn't over eat but I had sugar, salt and processed foods which I don't typically have. I'm wheat, egg and milk free already due to allergies... Talk about discouraged and wanting to give up.0
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vivmom2014 wrote: »I should walk away from the scale for good, but oh no. It pulls me back every time. And every time it makes me so discouraged that I feel like throwing in the towel once and for all.
THIS EXACTLY FOR ME!!
I have no advice, just sympathy for our similar situations.
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Hi everyone my name is Wendy. I weight once a week and in the morning. At night you might have a variation up to 5 pounds. Also what works for me is that I also take mesurament of my hips ,tight, arm ect. And last I never weight my self the day after working with weight because the muscle are sore and tend to weight more. Hope could help you.0
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I sometimes think my goal weight is completely unrealistic. Every time I get close, I gain back what I lost. I have been within 5 lbs so many times I can't even count and it all just goes horribly wrong. I can gain 8 lbs in a couple days of not being careful. It frightens me because I don't know what normal is any more. Is a weight I can't hope to maintain normal? I have to lose 18 lbs to get to my goal now because I took a week off. Just a week and I gained back 10 lbs. I didn't over eat but I had sugar, salt and processed foods which I don't typically have. I'm wheat, egg and milk free already due to allergies... Talk about discouraged and wanting to give up.
You have to remember that the weight you are after a week of eating whatever you would like and weight you are after dieting stringently for a week will vary by several pounds even if your body fat % is exactly the same at the end of those 2 weeks. Remember, your weight isn't fat+muscle. It's fat+muscle+organs+water needed by your body for all sorts of reasons (and if you eat high salt fatty foods, your body may need more water)+food your body is digesting + waste your body will get rid of shortly+other products, like glycogen. Even your muscles aren't just muscle! They're muscles, plus water (if you're trying to work them) plus the aforementioned glycogen.
So, yeah, after a week of binging, you can gain 10 lbs. It doesn't mean it's all extra fat you've picked up (although it could be). I know for a fact that after 7 days at WDW, walking 15 to 25k a day but eating whatever I want, if I step on the scale within 3 days of coming home, it will have me, at a minimum, 7lbs up. Doesn't mean I've gained 7lbs of fat. It means my body is retaining a lot of water for my muscles to deal with the walking and being out in the heat all day and to process the food and waste I've on-boarded and even that I'm still processing that food and waste!0 -
azura - I feel your pain. tbolashana - thanks for the sympathy.
wanda & snarling - thanks for the insights. All of the input here does have a beneficial impact. I won't throw in the towel. I had a couple days of hissy-fit rebellion which is pretty stupid as I have to pay the piper now. I went over two days in a row by several hundred calories. Now trying to rein it in and eat under for a couple days.
One thing is certain: I am not weighing myself this Friday.0 -
snarlingcoyote wrote: »I sometimes think my goal weight is completely unrealistic. Every time I get close, I gain back what I lost. I have been within 5 lbs so many times I can't even count and it all just goes horribly wrong. I can gain 8 lbs in a couple days of not being careful. It frightens me because I don't know what normal is any more. Is a weight I can't hope to maintain normal? I have to lose 18 lbs to get to my goal now because I took a week off. Just a week and I gained back 10 lbs. I didn't over eat but I had sugar, salt and processed foods which I don't typically have. I'm wheat, egg and milk free already due to allergies... Talk about discouraged and wanting to give up.
You have to remember that the weight you are after a week of eating whatever you would like and weight you are after dieting stringently for a week will vary by several pounds even if your body fat % is exactly the same at the end of those 2 weeks. Remember, your weight isn't fat+muscle. It's fat+muscle+organs+water needed by your body for all sorts of reasons (and if you eat high salt fatty foods, your body may need more water)+food your body is digesting + waste your body will get rid of shortly+other products, like glycogen. Even your muscles aren't just muscle! They're muscles, plus water (if you're trying to work them) plus the aforementioned glycogen.
So, yeah, after a week of binging, you can gain 10 lbs. It doesn't mean it's all extra fat you've picked up (although it could be). I know for a fact that after 7 days at WDW, walking 15 to 25k a day but eating whatever I want, if I step on the scale within 3 days of coming home, it will have me, at a minimum, 7lbs up. Doesn't mean I've gained 7lbs of fat. It means my body is retaining a lot of water for my muscles to deal with the walking and being out in the heat all day and to process the food and waste I've on-boarded and even that I'm still processing that food and waste!
Hmm, I never thought about your muscles retaining water and the heat impacting weight gain. I gained my weight during a 90 degree heat wave we just had and the majority of it was after a day of yard work, working out and then eating dinner off my plan and picking on sugary things between meals (gummy candy is my Achilles heal) because I had my smoothie for breakfast and skipped lunch because I was busy. I work out daily, vinyasa yoga and cardio/ strength. I am on my feet from 5:30 am until 10 pm. I just eat junk sometimes. I don't even know why. I've lost over 120 lbs since 2009 and I feel like the end is still so far, but I keep trying to get there, I just sabotage myself when it's in reach. Maybe it's psychological? I'm afraid to see what id do if I were to stop weighing myself daily, I would probably let my eating sprees continue and find myself back up to 245lbs.0 -
Over time I tend to go off my diet once a week. That kept me in control but also controled my weight. You could try ever other week and see how it goes. I too wonder how I can keep what I am doing up over a life time. I take one month at a a time. Thin people do have cheat days now and again. It is the only way to stay sane.0
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azura: congratulations on your weight loss!! Wow, way to go. Feel GREAT about that. I am well versed in self-sabotage; it can manifest in several different realms. I'm trying again to stop biting my nails, something I've been successful at since age 34 (I'm 52 now!) and I always wreck it when I gain some progress. I guess that's life: constant attempts to improve ourselves. It's ongoing. No real finish line. But the attempts are valid!!
starfish: good idea to take it one month at a time. Sometimes I have to take it one DAY at a time! Anything worthwhile is going to take some perseverance. We will all stick with it. Some days feel very triumphant - they go a long way toward keeping the motivation alive & kicking.
Again, thanks for all the replies.0 -
I've been weighing myself every morning (post-pee, pre-breakfast) and using a trend tracker app (happy scale) and it really helps me see the daily fluctuations, but more importantly - the overall trend (which is down). It also gives you a kind of average weight, which is nice if you're moving up and down a bit day to day.
It's hard to feel successful when you're fighting for some arbitrary goal weight that's <10lbs away and your weight is fluctuating with cycles, water retention, etc.
Like you, I think I'm also getting to the point where the scale is mattering less and the body composition/size is mattering more.0 -
I've been weighing myself every morning (post-pee, pre-breakfast) and using a trend tracker app (happy scale) and it really helps me see the daily fluctuations, but more importantly - the overall trend (which is down). It also gives you a kind of average weight, which is nice if you're moving up and down a bit day to day.
It's hard to feel successful when you're fighting for some arbitrary goal weight that's <10lbs away and your weight is fluctuating with cycles, water retention, etc.
Like you, I think I'm also getting to the point where the scale is mattering less and the body composition/size is mattering more.
I do the same. I can weigh up to four pounds more at bedtime.0
