Significant Fluctuations in Waist Measurement

Dippadog

Hi All! I have been back on the diet/exercise train for the last 2 months only to gain two kilograms (trying to lose). More noticeably my waist line is much bigger then it has ever been. If I measure my hips and waist in the morning and then again at night they increase by 3-4 inches. Does this seem excessive?

I walk for an hour a day, take 3x Kickboxing classes a week and lift weights 3x a week. I am eating around 1800 calories a day and easily drink 3-4 litres of water. I also have the mirena IUD - wondering if this is the culprit!

I acknowledge that some weight gain could be muscle, but I had a full body scan last week and had only gained 0.7kg of muscle in 2 years.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hannahwalksfar

Are you saying your waist is increasing daily by 3-4inches?

kshama2001

Both your hips and waist increase that much at night or just your waist? Just your waist would likely be due to having food in your system.

kshama2001

Hannahwalksfar wrote: »

Are you saying your waist is increasing daily by 3-4inches?

My impression was that the night measurements are higher than the day measurements, not that there is a net gain every day.

Dippadog

Just difference between when I get up and before I go to bed. Resets in the morning. Both hips and waist!

BarbaraHelen2013

I have to admit I’ve never used a tape measure to measure myself twice a day like this! Sounds like you’re holding on to a lot of water though in the tissues around your lower trunk. 3-4 litres sounds like quite a high fluid intake from water alone, unless you live in a really hot climate. Maybe try cutting that down a little, maybe by half a litre per week and track your measurements to see if you can make a correlation between actual water intake and the potential oedema?

I don’t know a lot about the mirena coil except that I’m fairly sure I’ve read about some people having side effects. Have you researched possible water retention side effects due to the way it changes your hormones?

Edit to add: cursory google suggests this might be the case. It contains progestin which can cause water retention.

PAV8888

What's your current weight, height, and target weight?

If it fluctuates on a daily cycle it is likely to be food and liquid in transit.

hipari

How long have you had the IUD? Did you notice that kind of fluctuation before you started measuring regularly, and did this fluctuation start before, after or at the same time with getting the IUD? 4 inches on your waist is at least two belt notches, I’m guessing you’d notice that even without the measuring tape.

Also: are your stomach and bowels working properly? I have IBS and it caused some intense bloats before I could figure out which foods were the culprit. I have a friend who also struggles with IBS, and she literally has some separate clothes for good and bad stomach days, because the bloat is so ridiculously bad.

Even without stomach issues, some fluctuations are normal. When you eat and drink, the food has to physically go somewhere inside you. When you go to the bathroom, something physically leaves your body. 4 inches still sounds like a lot.

collectingblues

Dippadog wrote: »

Just difference between when I get up and before I go to bed. Resets in the morning. Both hips and waist!

That's totally normal. You're eating food and drinking during the day, and it has to go somewhere before you poop and pee it out.

Dippadog

Height it 170cm and weight is 74kg. Target is around 65kg.

I'm assuming it is the mirena, I have only had it two months and desperately hoping it will settle! Hadn't checked for fluctuation before mirena, but I had put on a little weight before (was having trouble with periods and the pill stopped working - hence mirena).

4 inches sounds like a lot to me too

LyndaBSS

Dippadog wrote: »

Just difference between when I get up and before I go to bed. Resets in the morning. Both hips and waist!

If you're not able to handle normal fluctuations in weight or measurements, you shouldn't be taking them.

I weigh once a day and measure once a month.

You need to find your happy place with doing this so it doesn't freak you out or become an obsession.

Cahgetsfit

Don't bother weighing/measuring at night - it will just bring you heartache.

Sometimes in the morning I have a totally flat stomach, and depending on what I ate during the day, I look 5 months pregnant in the evening. 4 inches easy, if I eat broccoli for lunch, I EASILY add 4 inches to my waist at night. Not even exaggerating.

So not only you are wasting time but there is no point. Everyone will "weigh more" in the evening if they eat during the day.

Same as scale weight. Morning, naked, after peeing (and preferably pooping), before eating. That's it. And track the trend over time, not worry about the daily fluctuations.

Re Mirena, I don't know from personal experience, but some of my friends who have it have reported difficulty in losing weight and one complained about water retention. I have the old school copper IUD because I don't like to add hormones to my body - it's never a positive experience for me.

As for not losing weight overall, perhaps time to look at the food entries etc in the diary a bit more closely. Weighing stuff, logging the correct entries, etc.

I was going to calculate your TDEE but don't know your age - go onto a TDEE calculator and input your details and see what that tells you your maintenance calories are.

Vune

I have a Mirena (until they can take the whole uterus out), and this is completely normal. I also still have an extremely regular cycle 4 years later, and I retain massive amounts the week and a half around my period. I spend the last day peeing it all out. It's weird, but at least it's predictable?. Just a warning.

But it won't stop you from losing weight. I just don't lose weight for 2 weeks out of the month. Use your food scale, and become comfortable with these fluctuations.

Dippadog

Vune wrote: »

I have a Mirena (until they can take the whole uterus out), and this is completely normal. I also still have an extremely regular cycle 4 years later, and I retain massive amounts the week and a half around my period. I spend the last day peeing it all out. It's weird, but at least it's predictable?. Just a warning.

But it won't stop you from losing weight. I just don't lose weight for 2 weeks out of the month. Use your food scale, and become comfortable with these fluctuations.

Have you found any way to reduce the bloating or any solutions?