What's your weight loss pattern?

KateK8LoseW8

After the first month or so, most of us tend to develop some weird patterns with our weight loss. I thought seeing how everyone's pattern is different might help some newer folks understand that what's going on with the scale is totally normal. Obviously this works best with those who weigh every day, but who knows, some people might have weekly patterns.

Mine is that I drop 2-3 pounds overnight, gain a pound the morning after, spend 5ish days slowly creeping down to the big drop weight, hang out around there for 3-5 days, and drop again.

heartsherps

My graph looks like a saw tooth. I am almost never within a pound of the weight from the day before. So I almost always lose or gain a pound every day.

KateK8LoseW8

My graph looks like a saw tooth. I am almost never within a pound of the weight from the day before. So I almost always lose or gain a pound every day.

Wow, that must be frustrating.

WendyTerry420

After the first month or so, most of us tend to develop some weird patterns with our weight loss. I thought seeing how everyone's pattern is different might help some newer folks understand that what's going on with the scale is totally normal. Obviously this works best with those who weigh every day, but who knows, some people might have weekly patterns.

Mine is that I drop 2-3 pounds overnight, gain a pound the morning after, spend 5ish days slowly creeping down to the big drop weight, hang out around there for 3-5 days, and drop again.

Yours is very similar to mine!

lotsofish

This has happened to me in the past, but only recently did I take notice and understand what's happening.

Every 8-10 pounds lost, I will start to retain some water. I'll go up 2-3 pounds for about a week. After a week or so, I'll lose the water and drop 3-4 pounds overnight.

I figure it's probably just my body reconfiguring stuff, so it needs the extra water. Next time this happens though, I'm going to experiment a little and see if I can trigger the water loss somehow.

Skinand

My pattern is really frustrating. I can gain four pounds in a day and have it be gone the next morning. I will hover for a couple weeks then just suddenly start losing again even if I am not doing anything different.

nxd10

First 6 months: drop a pound or two in a day, then stable for a week (up and down a bit, but always back to that lower mark). After the first 9 months when I was very close to my goal, the 'stable' periods got much longer, although the drops were bigger.

Even though I hit my weight goal 4 months ago, I still dropped 5 pounds since then - 2 pounds in May in 3 pounds in the last week.

nxd10

My pattern is really frustrating. I can gain four pounds in a day and have it be gone the next morning. I will hover for a couple weeks then just suddenly start losing again even if I am not doing anything different.

I think that's pretty typical. You know you can't possibly gain 4 pounds of fat in a day - it has to be just water and other unmentionable 'waste products'.

One of the things I LIKE about weighing every day is seeing that movement so I don't worry about the 'noise' in the weight at a weekly level.

clareyoung80

I tend to have a big drop in a week - about 5-7 lbs can be common. Then I go up a few pounds, drop a few pounds, up a few more, down a few more for about a month. Then I go down slowly, then it's the big drop, then it happens all over again.

susanb573

I lose a bit and then hold steady or gain a slight amount and then it goes down again. I try to just make sure that my highest high weight (because all of us have weight fluctuations on a daily, weekly and monthly basis) continues to go down as does my lowest low weight.

marcon125

I would lose about 1.5 lbs, and hang out there for a while. Then spike up about a half pound or pound, and then next drop a couple of pounds. Then after a few cycles like that I will gain about 3 lbs then drop them over the course of the week. My overall average loss would average about 1 lb a week, but I think my weight would go through these fluctuations as I am working to gain muscle.

ze_hombre

This is mine for the last 90 days. I weigh every morning at the same time. Fluctuations are normal.

What is really interesting is the big spikes you see on the right side are Monday mornings. The last few weeks I have been riding really long distances on my road bike (40-70 miles) every Sunday. I have burned up to 3500 calories on one ride alone. I also have my long run days on Saturday (up to 10 miles). I do not eat any worse on the weekends than I do on the weekdays, but I do intake a lot more water and supplements (Gatorade, Gu chomps, etc.) so I have a really big water weight spike on Monday that usually tapers out by the middle of the week.

KateK8LoseW8

I tend to have a big drop in a week - about 5-7 lbs can be common. Then I go up a few pounds, drop a few pounds, up a few more, down a few more for about a month. Then I go down slowly, then it's the big drop, then it happens all over again.

Must be nice to see those huge losses every once in a while!

KateK8LoseW8

This is mine for the last 90 days. I weight every morning at the same time. Fluctuations are normal.

What is really interesting is the big spikes you see on the right side are Monday mornings. The last few weeks I have been riding really long distances on my road bike (40-70 miles) every Sunday. I have burned up to 3500 calories on ride ride alone. I also have my long run days on Saturday (up to 10 miles). I do not eat any worse on the weekends than I do on the weekdays, but I do intake a lot more water and supplements (Gatorade, Gu chomps, etc.) so I have a really big water weight spike on Monday that usually tapers out by the middle of the week.

Interesting! Thanks for sharing

IrritatedDoro

I lost about 10 lbs fairly quickly in May and the beginning of June. Since then, I am at a point where I lose then plateau for two to three weeks, then lose a pound or two, then plateau again. I've lost another 6 lbs in late June through today. Granted, I have been more about getting my exercise in then I have been controlling my diet for the last month. I haven't been eating enough veggies and have been eating too much processed (sodium filled) stuff. I think I could be losing more if concentrating on both diet and exercise.

However, slow and steady wins (or at least finishes) the race, and right now I'm more focused on meeting certain exercise goals I set for myself earlier in the month. As long as I keep losing or at least stay at a stasis point with my weight, I feel good about my efforts. My goals are walking an average of 2-3 miles a day during the month of August (I'm at 59 miles right now but thinking it will be 64 by days end); and riding my stationary bike 100 miles (at about 50 miles right now). September will be about different exercises and will include concentrating on my diet again.

If I got discouraged, and quit making it a point of concentration, the scale would never have decreased at all. So, the small victories are important, no matter how small.

Gee_24

I'm much the same! I drop 2lbs over night and then it goes up and down all week until the next week another 2lbs over night. Its very odd but waste and water I'd assume.

I noticed the scales haven't budged since Friday. I realised today that my liquid intake has dramatically decreased. So today I went back to 3 bottles of diluting juice ( hate water! >.< ) at work and I have a feeling I'll lose some of that water weight again tonight.

forevermaryb

My pattern is frustrating the heck out of me. While I am losing and in a rate of what is acceptable to me, I still get pretty frustrated on a day-to-day basis. These last few pounds to lose seem to be in the pattern of I drop to a new low weight after gaining and losing the same 2 or 3 pounds for about 2 weeks. After about 2 more weeks of gaining and losing again, then I seem to drop one more pound (or fractions of pounds). Then I go into another round of gaining and losing the same 2 or 3 pounds for about 2 weeks. So, overall, I am losing on average of .5 pound per week, but the fluctuations between the loss frustrate me because I feel that I am constantly having to work at my loss and adjust my calories/exercise/macros. I don't seem to have the "formula" for weight loss for me. Sometimes I lose weight after a few days of being mostly spot on in my calories/macros. Other times I gain weight after a few days of being mostly spot on in my calories/macros. Sometimes I lose weight after a "cheat" meal where I may go over my calories for the day (usually not by much) and sometimes I gain weight after a "cheat" meal where I may go over my calories for the day. Same with exercise vs not exercising. Nothing seems to work the same way with me all the time. I understand this can happen to many people and that fluctuations happen and weight loss isn't always an easy process, but that doesn't mean it still doesn't frustrate me. :ohwell:

moonshine_betty

I lost about 10 lbs fairly quickly in May and the beginning of June. Since then, I am at a point where I lose then plateau for two to three weeks, then lose a pound or two, then plateau again. I've lost another 6 lbs in late June through today. Granted, I have been more about getting my exercise in then I have been controlling my diet for the last month. I haven't been eating enough veggies and have been eating too much processed (sodium filled) stuff. I think I could be losing more if concentrating on both diet and exercise.

However, slow and steady wins (or at least finishes) the race, and right now I'm more focused on meeting certain exercise goals I set for myself earlier in the month. As long as I keep losing or at least stay at a stasis point with my weight, I feel good about my efforts. My goals are walking an average of 2-3 miles a day during the month of August (I'm at 59 miles right now but thinking it will be 64 by days end); and riding my stationary bike 100 miles (at about 50 miles right now). September will be about different exercises and will include concentrating on my diet again.

If I got discouraged, and quit making it a point of concentration, the scale would never have decreased at all. So, the small victories are important, no matter how small.

You sound incredibly positive and reasonable about what would undoubtedly be frustrating for me...I admire your attitude! I need to work on not letting the scale be the sole determinant of my progress and focusing on other more immediately measurable factors.

OP, I posted on this topic a while back because I also don't have a linear weight loss pattern. Assuming I'm consistently at a deficit I tend to go a few weeks without losing anything, then lose 2-3 lbs over the course of a few days, then stall again for a few weeks before gaining water weight during my period and losing again. It averages out to a pound a week so I'm mostly not bothered by it, though it would be nice to see weekly scale progress.

mulecanter

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I started Aug 1st. Saw tooth it is.

10BlueDoves

I tend to stay steady for 3-4 days then drop 0.5-1 lb a day for a couple days then stay steady again, repeat.