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Telling where we really are

donjtomasco
donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
It does not seem like weighing first thing in the morning is a way to really see where our weight is, but it is consistently the best way to keep track of progress or lack of. When people fast, is that a better way to tell, since the body has more of a chance to be fully flushed of all sodium and most waste?

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Replies

  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    Thanks for your replies. Makes sense.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    Yeah, it's easy to get caught up in "THE number".

    Instead, it's more accurate to get a lot of data points (within reason) to see the overall trend.

    One illuminating exercise is to weight yourself throughout the day, to see how much your body actually varies. There's a lot in your body: water, undigested food, stuff (ahem) not quite on it's way out, and water retention due to exercise fatigue or in women monthly periods.

    The most accurate weight would probrably after having the flu for a week, so you're clean inside and out. But not recommended. :)
  • tess5036
    tess5036 Posts: 942 Member
    As long as you are consistent, and weigh at same time of day, remembering even then it will fluctuate, you should get a good idea
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    I do tess, and I am weighing 2 pounds more per day after eating the gumbo, leading me to surmise that the gumbo is high in sodium and is causing me to retain water.
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    Is it fair to say though that your lowest weight of the day is what your weight truly is? This has nothing to do with how much weight one has lost, since that would be most fairly gauged on weighing at the same time every day, I get that. But it seems like if one took the effort to weigh at multiple times during the day, then the lowest weight of the day would be what a person really weighs. Yes? No?
  • tess5036
    tess5036 Posts: 942 Member
    edited January 2018
    donjtomasco wrote: »
    I do tess, and I am weighing 2 pounds more per day after eating the gumbo, leading me to surmise that the gumbo is high in sodium and is causing me to retain water.

    It does sound like water weight!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited January 2018
    donjtomasco wrote: »
    Is it fair to say though that your lowest weight of the day is what your weight truly is? This has nothing to do with how much weight one has lost, since that would be most fairly gauged on weighing at the same time every day, I get that. But it seems like if one took the effort to weigh at multiple times during the day, then the lowest weight of the day would be what a person really weighs. Yes? No?

    I think you are overthinking this a bit. We weigh what we weigh when we weigh (no matter time of day)

    Honestly we have a weight range (not really a true weight) due to fluctuations going on at a constant in our bodies, I rarely ever weigh the same exact weight two or three days in a row. Your weight range be that up or down over a span of time will give you as close to a static number if you keep up with the data points (i.e. your daily scale weight and collected at the same time everyday).

  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    kgirlhart, if I drink a gallon of water during and after stuffing myself at a buffet restaurant and eat till I am so stuffed that I might explode (think of Paul Newman's stomach in Cool Hand Luke after eating 50 hardboiled eggs) then I immediately weight myself, you are saying this would be my true weight? I think the low weight of the day would be a better indicator of a true weight then the highest after most likely eating a full meal.
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    I give up!
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    I prefer just weighing every day at the same time, and using a trendweight or happyscale average to track progress and don't really pay any attention to the specific number (just the direction of the trend).
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    If you looked at my daily page of what I eat and exercise calories I add then eat back you will see that I am not on a dangerous disordered diet by any means. My goal is to lose anywhere between 0.00001 to 1.0 pounds per week, and so far since Oct 30th I am averaging 0.5 pounds loss per week (on average).

    I just like exploring different possibilities. Sometimes it seems like asking off beat questions really rocks the boat in this community. But that's fair. I enjoy all the comments.
  • gracegettingittogether
    gracegettingittogether Posts: 176 Member
    edited January 2018
    When I worked as a RN on cardiac floor with lots of patients with kidney problems, who retain fluid which can cause potentially fatal issues, we always weighed first thing in the morning, after the patient had used the bathroom. The physicians who were closely monitoring weight as a sign of fluid retention, would often check with us if the weights were accurate, meaning right after awakening and after using the bathroom. So it is technically and medically the most accurate.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,488 Member
    I've been maintaining for 8 years. When I post I rarely say I weigh x number of pounds, I say I maintain between 100-105lbs.
    Why?
    Some days I have a large lunch and small dinner. This means by morning I have generally had a late previous day BM and lost some of the water retention from salt and alcohol.
    On these days I will weigh in at anywhere between 100-102.

    Some days I have a very late dinner, desert, and a couple of glasses of wine. In the morning all this joy is still transiting.
    On these days I weigh between 103-105

    My normal, things going according to plan, weight mid week is, more often than not, 103.4.

    I don't expect a steady weight even though I am maintaining, I expect to be within the range I know works for me.

    (I am post menopausal so don't have to account for hormonal disruptions, hence a 5lbs range working for me)

    Relax and recognize if your feeding times change, or do IF, or eat out, or have extra salt, or have a couple of drinks, etc, etc, your weight will fluctuate because of it.

    Cheers, h.
  • WhereIsPJSoles
    WhereIsPJSoles Posts: 622 Member
    donjtomasco wrote: »
    If you looked at my daily page of what I eat and exercise calories I add then eat back you will see that I am not on a dangerous disordered diet by any means. My goal is to lose anywhere between 0.00001 to 1.0 pounds per week, and so far since Oct 30th I am averaging 0.5 pounds loss per week (on average).

    I just like exploring different possibilities. Sometimes it seems like asking off beat questions really rocks the boat in this community. But that's fair. I enjoy all the comments.

    I don’t think anyone minds that you asked, but that you seem to be ignoring their replies that they took time to make.

    A few weeks ago I had a night where I drank a lot went from 120 to 118 the next morning. It took almost two weeks for me to see that 118 number again. Doesn’t mean I did anything different, I still ate at a deficit. What probably happened was the night of drinking dehydrated my body a bit and caused a low scale number. That’s no more my “true” weight than the day before at 120 when my body was more fully hydrated.
  • lilolilo920
    lilolilo920 Posts: 184 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Scale weight is just one stream of data points, in a multivariate world. There are tape measurements, before/progress/after photos, clothing sizes, body fat estimates, and more - just in the realm of weight management, not even bringing fitness or health into it.

    Really, the only important thing with scale weight is consistency. Accuracy is very secondary.

    Why?

    We don't really have a "true weight", as you seem to be thinking. We have a weight range over any given short time period (hour, day, etc.) Over the longer term (weeks, months, years) we have a weight trend: Up, down, or level.

    Weight loss is the process of trying to manage the trend downward, over time, then holding it level around a goal range.

    If you're thinking about fasting to learn your "true weight", you're flirting with distorted thinking, along the edges of eating disorders.

    Don't go there, please: Granny likes to see everyone stay healthy, physically and mentally.

    Best wishes!

    And it’s quotes like these that remind me why I love it when you post in the forum :smile:
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    THANK YOU GRACE!!!!!

    You wrote:"

    "When I worked as a RN on cardiac floor with lots of patients with kidney problems, who retain fluid which can cause potentially fatal issues, we always weighed first thing in the morning, after the patient had used the bathroom. The physicians who were closely monitoring weight as a sign of fluid retention, would often check with us if the weights were accurate, meaning right after awakening and after using the bathroom. So it is technically and medically the most accurate."

    I would say hospital docs, nurse's and rn's might know a think about this. This was exactly what I needed to hear.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    I agree that you're overthinking it.

    I agree that consistency is the most important thing to consider when tracking scale weight.

    I agree that trend weight apps can be hugely helpful.
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    Wherels, I did thank people for their responses. I apologize now to people who comment expecting a specific comment back to you, I did not know that this was expected in the community. I have read some posts where the poster never came back in at all to comment on any comments made to their question, but seldom have I read someone complaining about this in the thread that the poster did not acknowledge comments to the thread. Some days I guess some of us are away from MFP working or doing other things, and I don't get alerts to my post being commented on. If I read them at the end of the day I might not have time then and there to comment.

    I will say again that I appreciate everyones comments. Some are thought provoking, some are great specific advice, some are quarrelsome and that is fine too, this is why I live this community since everyone has an opinion and there are some really great answers and suggestions here and some very wise and experienced people who know their stuff.

    Thank you all.
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    I wish when we hit the 'Insightful, Inspiring or Like' that it says who did this. When I have time to quickly read through comments I will hit these buttons if I don't have time to specifically comment to what has been said.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    donjtomasco wrote: »
    Is it fair to say though that your lowest weight of the day is what your weight truly is? This has nothing to do with how much weight one has lost, since that would be most fairly gauged on weighing at the same time every day, I get that. But it seems like if one took the effort to weigh at multiple times during the day, then the lowest weight of the day would be what a person really weighs. Yes? No?

    It's fair to say that is your true weight as of that moment. But yes, I would agree if you fat loss is your primary reason for weighing then the lowest of the day would probably give the best picture because fat is not lost as quickly as waste and water.
  • donjtomasco
    donjtomasco Posts: 790 Member
    AnnPT77 - Thank you! That was another answer that I was looking for which I can understand and was along the lines of my thinking and in my question. I appreciate what you said, that makes sense to me and really helped!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,517 Member
    I, the god of MFP forums, doth decree that your one true weight today was in the morning, right after you evacuated your internal waste and before you added external nourishment.

    All other scale readings you take today are the result of gravitational anomalies and can be ignored for the purpose of determining your fat level over time.

    Do not, under any circumstances, do something insightful such as use any of the weight trending apps that are out there and available for your phone and desktop and go through your day convinced that your weight trend over time is more important than your one morning weight today!

    (For the purpose of determining water retention, as described above by a poster for cardiac patients, the most important piece of info would be a rapid and substantial sudden increase in weight indicating water retention. So NOT your weight over time!)
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