I lose and gain 8+ lbs a day. Never consistent.

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ninjaosborne
ninjaosborne Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey community peeps. I have the hardest time nailing down an average body weight. It has to be water weight but I try to weigh in at the same time to give me an accurate reading. But it's never the same. Works fine for my girlfriend. 170.3 two days ago, 163.4 yesterday, and 171.2 today. It's like this all the time. Hard to track actual gains. I even need a weight to accurately get my BMI. Thoughts?
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  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
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    what are you eating that is giving you such shift in weight?
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Do you consume a lot of salt?
    My biggest fluctuation ever was 6lb but that's before TOTM which you shouldn't have any issues with. ;)
  • feleciale
    feleciale Posts: 1 Member
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    CollieFit wrote: »
    Do you consume a lot of salt?
    My biggest fluctuation ever was 6lb but that's before TOTM which you shouldn't have any issues with. ;)
    What is totm?
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    feleciale wrote: »
    CollieFit wrote: »
    Do you consume a lot of salt?
    My biggest fluctuation ever was 6lb but that's before TOTM which you shouldn't have any issues with. ;)
    What is totm?

    Time of the month.

    OP, in addition to the sodium question, are you weighing yourself at the same time every day?
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
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    ninjaosborne wrote: »
    Hey community peeps. I have the hardest time nailing down an average body weight. It has to be water weight but I try to weigh in at the same time to give me an accurate reading. But it's never the same. Works fine for my girlfriend. 170.3 two days ago, 163.4 yesterday, and 171.2 today. It's like this all the time. Hard to track actual gains. I even need a weight to accurately get my BMI. Thoughts?

    An 8 pound sway?

    That sounds like something is off with your scale. Did you weigh yourself at the same time of day under the same conditions (say 7 am, after going to the toilet, before drinking coffee, naked - or whatever your regular morning routine is)?

    Hydration, water retention, DOMS, sodium intake, poop or no poop, can all easily cause 1, 2, 3, 4 pound sways for all of us on a daily basis. But 8 pounds for somebody that is 170ish pounds?

    Hmmmm.....something is not correct.

  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    Sounds like a scales issue to me more than anything else.
  • leanne0627
    leanne0627 Posts: 109 Member
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    I have big fluctuations too which really does make it hard to see changes. I find mine is from when I eat more or less carbs so water weight. Do you keep your carbs around the same amount everyday? Or do they change? Also sodium. One thing that seems to help me is when I drink a lot of water. Try using trendweight or a similar program too as that will give you a average to work from.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Are you weighing in the mornings when you first get out of bed.
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
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    A lot of good point above, except for TOM since you are male. Critical to trending is
    1. weighting 1st thing in the morning after using the bathroom
    2. using a trending app like Libra
    3. making sure your scale is on a solid, level floor, not a carpet. and that you are not constantly moving the scale
  • faidwen
    faidwen Posts: 131 Member
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    SALT SALT SALT :)

    I have the exact same issues depending on how much sodium I consumed the day before. If I limit my salt intake to < 1500 mg each day, I am then VERY VERY consistent.

    10 lbs between days, and it lingers for a couple days until the water weight is dropped. Nothing to worry about, just watch out after high sodium days :)
  • boxfish100
    boxfish100 Posts: 172 Member
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    I weigh 148 and my weight can vary by 6lb or more easily within the same day, for all of the reasons listed above. An 8lb variation for a 170lb man doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility; the pointers about keeping the scale on a level floor are good ones too.
  • ninjaosborne
    ninjaosborne Posts: 5 Member
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    Great responses everyone. I try to be consistent with time of day weigh ins. I'm betting it's salt intake variations from day to day. The scale seems to work and is consistent for my GF. Here is my plan: 1) same meals for five days 2) tape on the floor to ensure scale is in the same place 3) weigh in first thing in the AM after I pee. If all else fails, off to buy a new scale.

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    ninjaosborne wrote: »
    Great responses everyone. I try to be consistent with time of day weigh ins. I'm betting it's salt intake variations from day to day. The scale seems to work and is consistent for my GF. Here is my plan: 1) same meals for five days 2) tape on the floor to ensure scale is in the same place 3) weigh in first thing in the AM after I pee. If all else fails, off to buy a new scale.

    Try a new battery in the scale too.
  • xtina315
    xtina315 Posts: 218 Member
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    I always have a 5-6 lb fluctuation during the day. Most accurate for me is when I get up, urinate, undress then weigh myself.
  • sallygroundhog
    sallygroundhog Posts: 133 Member
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    I don't know if this would be a factor for you, but if I lean a bit forward with my weight more on my toes, the scale reads lower than if I put my weight more in my heels. I try to stand with my weight evenly distributed over my feet.
  • Morglez
    Morglez Posts: 46 Member
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    I don't know if this has anything to do with your issue, but I surprisingly found how clothes can affect the numbers on my scale. I normally weigh naked, and one day I wasn't thinking about it and weighed with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Realized it, and took them off and there was a 1 lb difference. I was quite surprised that my cloths could add a whole pound to my number, lol.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    If the scale is consistent for gf but not you, I don't think it would be the scales.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,154 Member
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    If the whole point is figuring your BMI, I wouldn't worry too much about it. BMI is kind of a blunt instrument, potentially useful as a screener for typical segments of the population, but whether 163 is better than 171 is probably more a function of your body composition and configuration than anything else - the guideline BMI ranges are huge for a reason.

    Are you maybe around 5'8" or 5'9", such that 163 is in the "normal" range, and 171 shows up as "overweight", perhaps? You could just take your daily weights (first thing in the morning, etc.) and average them, even.

    To me, it doesn't seem like a big deal for BMR or TDEE, either. It'll vary depending on which calculator you use, but the calc I use gives a difference of around 50 calories a day in BMR for a 40 year-old-male at 163 vs. 171. Your estimation/measurement error for exercise and eating is probably greater than that, even if you're pretty meticulous in your tracking.

    If the concern is a more general one about seeing progress through the fluctuations, then +1 to a weight-trending app like Libra, Happy Scale, Trendweight, etc. (though these can also be confusing occasionally, especially if you have limited statistics knowledge).

    Of course, if you have a family history of hypertension, or are pre-hypertensive yourself, you'll want to work on that salt thing, if that's at the root of it.

    Just my opinions, of course. Good luck, whatever your course!
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    faidwen wrote: »
    SALT SALT SALT :)

    I have the exact same issues depending on how much sodium I consumed the day before. If I limit my salt intake to < 1500 mg each day, I am then VERY VERY consistent.

    10 lbs between days, and it lingers for a couple days until the water weight is dropped. Nothing to worry about, just watch out after high sodium days :)

    I've notice a lot of people on the site in general eat quite a bit of salt. I get that salt, sugar and fat are addicting and everyone's entitled to each whatever way they want so I'm not really judging, I'm more surprised that people can eat 3k milligrams of sodium a day and be fine with that. Then again, I have high blood pressure so I limit my salt to around your intake.
  • MynameisChester
    MynameisChester Posts: 107 Member
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    How often do you weigh yourself? What's your carb and salt intake like? Do you weight yourself under the same exact conditions (ie, first thing in the morning wearing the exact same clothes AND after pooping AND peeing)? All these variables influence the numbers on the scale.

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