Weight loss is weird

Chic_geek31

Ok, on Saturday I posted a question on why didn’t I lose weight this week. I weigh myself every Saturday and this past Saturday I didn’t lose the two pounds I usually lose every week. Today, Tuesday, I step on the scale and I’m down 3 pounds! I’m not mad but Whyyy?

ninerbuff

Because weight loss isn't linear. Variables in the the body (hormones) regulate differently from day to day.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

RelCanonical

Weight is more than fat, and all the other variables can fluctuate wildly. Water weight, food weight, and clothing weight all make a difference, and those can vary without you even doing anything different (like with women, water weight gain is common during the beginning (period) and middle (ovulation) of our cycles. Even where you're scale sits can make a difference. It's just gravity, so there's no way to tell what's fat and what's not with a scale (the ones that say that can are wildly inaccurate). That's why trends are so important.

LyndaBSS

Patience is a virtue on this journey. Read the article on weight fluctuations. It helps.

yirara

Depending on how you take things, weighing every day might also be an option. This way you get trend data easier and will see small variations throughout the week. If the coming Saturday happens to be after any reason for a bit more waterweight gain then you're not disappointed. On the other hand, if tin fluctuations freak you out then this might not be for you.

NovusDies

http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

quiksylver296

http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

NovusDies

Too slow

smoofinator

Read this: http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
I think someone (maybe me?) added this link to your last post, but perhaps you didn't have a few minutes to check it out. It will answer your questions and clear things up for you.

earlnabby

yirara wrote: »

Depending on how you take things, weighing every day might also be an option. This way you get trend data easier and will see small variations throughout the week. If the coming Saturday happens to be after any reason for a bit more waterweight gain then you're not disappointed. On the other hand, if tin fluctuations freak you out then this might not be for you.

I weigh almost daily and am so used to fluctuations that I get weirded out if I weigh exactly the same thing (to the tenth of a pound) 2 days in a row. Recently I had 3 days woth no change whatsoever so I started wondering if my scale needed new batteries.

quiksylver296

I really think you should read this article, OP. :laugh:

NovusDies wrote: »

http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

quiksylver296 wrote: »

http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

smoofinator wrote: »

Read this: http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
I think someone (maybe me?) added this link to your last post, but perhaps you didn't have a few minutes to check it out. It will answer your questions and clear things up for you.

RelCanonical

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I really think you should read this article, OP. :laugh:

NovusDies wrote: »

http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

quiksylver296 wrote: »

http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

smoofinator wrote: »

Read this: http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
I think someone (maybe me?) added this link to your last post, but perhaps you didn't have a few minutes to check it out. It will answer your questions and clear things up for you.

You mean this article? http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

NovusDies

If it is blocked at your work or something you can read this MFP thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p1

MikePTY

Even when I am on goal, I can intake up to 10 pounds a day in food and water. The vast majority of that is water (even from the food we eat). Maybe only a pound is digestible matter (fat, protein, carbs). Matter doesn't disappear, so that all goes into my body and adds to my weight. Throughout the day, I get rid of it through sweating and going to the bathroom. A lot of different factors affect what my body dies with that water and how long it takes to go through my body. Since it's not energy that can be converted into fat, it doesn't become long term weight, but it can stay with me several days or even weeks while my body decides that it is ready to get rid of it. So that can lead to fluctuations of several pounds depending on a miriad of unpredictable conditions.

By comparison, if I hit my calorie deficit goal of 500 calories, that is still only a loss of 0.15 pounds per day. That's not even enough to definitively show up on a home scale (which displays in intervals of 0.2 pounds) day to day.

My short term weight is much more affected by water than fat. But over the longer term, the water fluctuations tend to even out, and the fat loss adds up slowly to measurable amounts, so long term patterns tend to be more determined by fat loss.

This is why patience is important. Big "whooshes" as well as plateaus on the scale are normal and nothing to be concerned of. Almost nobody loses weight completely linearly. Long term progress is what is important.