Water weight fluctuations

RealWorldStrengthLLC

I wanted to post this for all the people out there who freak out about a few lbs on the scale.

On Friday morning I was 229. I did my usual thing this weekend of just eating what I want and drinking beer. I was definitely in a surplus all 3 days by maybe 500 cals, balanced out by my deficit of 1000 cals Monday-Friday evening. Probably amounts to about a half pound lost over the whole week, maybe a tad more.

This morning I was 236. I had an extremely high carb day yesterday which easily accounts for several lbs. It's also worth noting that I didn't lift at all this weekend and only rode my bike and hiked. I always end up with water retention on active recovery days.

I would be willing to bet I will see at least 228 by Friday if I'm perfectly strict all week.

Just wanted to throw this out there: trust the math - I see a 10lb water fluctuation over the span of a few days all the time.

roselark36

Yes! Water can make a huge difference. I see fluctuations of a good 10 lbs whenever I fly. I can be perfectly good and BAM! 10 pounds heavier on the scale when I get home...then it is gone within a week.

RealWorldStrengthLLC

Last Saturday I went out and had a bunch of drinks, hardly ate, and woke up at 227. 5 hours later I was 235 after eating and drinking water and some sugary treats to help with the hangover. The next day I was 238 and 2 days after that (back on meal plan) I was holding fast at 230.

AnnPT77

Yep. I'm a moderately small li'l ol' lady, and documented 128.8 lbs to 135.2 to 128 (with major overeating in there) in one week. I'd guarantee I didn't eat 22,400 calories over maintenance within a long weekend, then run a 25,200 calorie deficit over the rest of the week.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10603949/big-overfeed-ruins-everything-nope

bekahlou75

I went to a sushi bar Friday night. When I woke up Saturday morning my face was all puffy and my fingers were swollen. I weighed and was 10 pounds heavier than Friday morning. I drank water all day and peed a lot. Back to normal weight on Sunday morning. Water weight is a *kitten*.

CSARdiver

Water and glycogen. A shift in hormones. A stressful audit. A salty meal. An unusually rough workout. I've put on over 10 pounds in water within 24 hours.

With proper hydration this goes away in 5-7 days.

Luke_rabbit

This would freak me out. The most I've seen is about 2.5 pounds with a change in medication - my weight sort of held steady for weeks and suddenly dropped when I switched back. Usually I only see about a one pound variance. I wonder why people vary so much? Am I the odd one out?

thanos5

as an experiment, i didn't chow down on weekends like i normally do, for 2 consecutive weeks. i ate roughly the same amount of calories each day, plus or minus 100ish.

these were my numbers, weighing in at the same time everyday, wearing the same clothes (nothing):

09/08 142
09/09 142
09/10 142.8
09/11 142.4
09/12 143.2
09/13 141.4
09/14 139.8
09/15 145.8
09/16 145
09/17 143.6
09/18 141.8
09/19 142.8
09/20 141
09/21 142.8

so yes, fluctuations certainly happen!

RealWorldStrengthLLC

boldknee wrote: »

This would freak me out. The most I've seen is about 2.5 pounds with a change in medication - my weight sort of held steady for weeks and suddenly dropped when I switched back. Usually I only see about a one pound variance. I wonder why people vary so much? Am I the odd one out?

I can't speak for others but the reason I carry so much is because during the week I'm on a cutting diet of about 2500-3000 cals a day of real food and on the weekends I intake less food but lots of beer calories and the food i do eat tends to be of the salty, debt-laden greasy variety. Weekends IDC at all as long as I hit about 180g of protein/day.

AnnPT77

boldknee wrote: »

This would freak me out. The most I've seen is about 2.5 pounds with a change in medication - my weight sort of held steady for weeks and suddenly dropped when I switched back. Usually I only see about a one pound variance. I wonder why people vary so much? Am I the odd one out?

In my case, it has to do with eating unevenly as to number of calories (I calorie bank on purpose most days to eat more indulgently sometimes), or eating very far out of normal pattern (much higher carb or salt levels than usual, much higher fiber levels than usual (which is pretty hard to achieve given my usual fiber levels! ), or other water-fluctuation nonsense like air travel, minor illness/injury (including potentially routine stuff like sunburns or seasonal allergies), major changes in exercise loads, etc.

Probably less likely to occur for people who are more consistent day-to-day in lifestyle.

Luke_rabbit

I had to think back to anatomy classes. I wonder if some people have more efficient lymphatic systems that do a more consistent job of keeping fluid balanced. I do know that the opposite is true (less efficient lymphatic systems) particularly for people who get puffy legs when flying.

cupcakesandproteinshakes

boldknee wrote: »

This would freak me out. The most I've seen is about 2.5 pounds with a change in medication - my weight sort of held steady for weeks and suddenly dropped when I switched back. Usually I only see about a one pound variance. I wonder why people vary so much? Am I the odd one out?

No you aren’t the odd one out. I don’t have big water weight fluctuations maybe only a pound or two.

etherealanwar

I went over my calories last weekend and went up from 133 lbs to 138 lbs....Today I am at 134.6 lbs, not quite back to the previous weight but getting there. I wish my body would not take so long to flush out the water weight

gentlygently

I am finding that live yoghurt helps - if I drink a bit too much over the weekend and have more sugar / fats than during the week my tum can start to bloat, and digestion isn’t as good. So probiotics help get things back in balance.... (and/or eating ‘better’ food and more water too) .. and so the water goes.

sardelsa

The only thing that causes larger swings (for me 2-3lbs) is when I add workout volume. If I cut down on my sessions or take a break from exercise the scale drops down and it looks "good" but I am not happy since my muscles look flat.
Extra food, salt, carbs maybe account for 1lb at best but nothing significant (even with calorie cycling from steep deficit days to refeed/surplus days)

lgfrie

I was traveling the last two days and ate maintenance calories instead of my usual 1000 cal deficit, with the food also being saltier and carbier than my usual fare. Just got home and got on the scale. +6 lbs over what it was before I left. In the morning it'll be around +4 and in 4 days it'll be -1 ish after another 1.14-ish lb of fat has been obliterated and water levels have returned to diet-normal.

What people often don't take into account is the water retention simply involved in balancing the sodium and carbs between maintenance vs. a dieting calorie deficit level, not to mention the continuum between the two if you're not eating a consistent # of calories every day. Thus explaining a lot of why weight fluctuates so much. When I keep my calories pinned to an exact calorie level over a period of 4+ days, with a generally consistent sodium intake (for me that's < 2000 mg), there is very, very little fluctuation aside from my weight going down in a shelf-like pattern more or less in line with expectations. 1.5 lbs of fluctuation at most and usually less or none.