Is eating later in the day causing higher scale fluctuations?

Olafiina

Recently I've been eating my last meal around 3-5 hours later than I normally do and I've noticed a recent uptick of 2 pounds in scale weight. Nothing else has changed so I'm wondering if it's just due to eating later in the evenings, I'm not that concerned I just want to track down the cause of it.

penguinmama87

Depending on when you weigh, that could very well have something to do with it. If it's something you changed only recently, it might settle itself out over the next couple of weeks.

yirara

To a certain extend. But it's not fat fluctuation but fluid and waste. If I eat a bag of crisps in the evening then my water weight tends to be higher in the morning then when I had it in the afternoon. If I have a late dinner, then there's still more half digested food in my system relative to having dinner early. But I know this will happen and don't fret about it. It will even out the next day. Mind you, my weight also tends to be higher in the morning after a day of long hiking or cycling. The explanation likely lies in not pooping (this is a very build-up, populous country, and people are everywhere), and drinking less overall. The latter can also lead to water weight gain. But also this evens out after a day or so.

janejellyroll

Changing when you eat can impact the amount of food that your body is processing at a given time, but it isn't going to change your weight in any meaningful way.

NovusDies

You will have upticks that you cannot track down. For instance, there will be times you will have inflammation that you neither see or feel. Stress can sneak up on you. Lower quality of sleep may not be totally obvious. Anyway, you get the idea.

Eating later than normal can certainly change your restroom schedule. If you take in 8 new pounds by way of food and beverage weight in a day, your body has to unload all of it in order for you to have a scale reading that nets zero on body fluctuation. Even without a change in eating schedule you are unlikely to net zero each and every day. This is why the bathroom scale is not useful for tracking progress on a day to day basis. It is more effective to track progress over a 3 to 4 week period but I have seen that to be wrong on occasion too. Generally speaking 6 weeks is a good trend.