Weight fluctuation

hutsonkc1

Hey guys! I was just wondering what the normal range typically for weight fluctuation? Especially in the beginning? Or is that even a thing really?

tomcustombuilder

It depends on many factors, mostly regarding before and after carb amounts in the beginning then some carb variations and homeostasis later. Weight will vary so no real way to put a number to it. Any amount specified would be a wild guess at best.

cmriverside

Yeah, what Tom said.

Also, it depends a lot on your current weight, types of foods eaten, salt, hormones, travel, heat, and other things.

Here's the thread on myfitnesspal discussing this, including a link to a very good explanation in the first post on the thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

cwolfman13

It's going to vary person to person...there is no "normal". The human body is a complex biological system, not a machine where everyone or everything is more or less the same. Fluctuations are natural and can occur all on their own do to hormonal changes and just natural changes in the water composition of the body and variable waste in transit. The human body is comprised of 50-60% water and that can fluctuate all on it's own.

Then you have other variables like higher carbohydrate diets retain more water in the body and if you go lower carb you'll see a drop...but if you have a higher carb day for whatever reason, that will likely show up on the scale as increased weight because of the water that comes with the carbohydrates. Similar with sodium...I don't eat out that much and am generally pretty consistent with my sodium intake with mostly home cooking...when I do go out to eat, my weight always jumps up the next day and for a few days due to the fact that restaurant foods (as well as processed foods) are notoriously high in sodium. Even more calories than usual will typically result in an increase in water in the body as well as higher levels of inherent waste.

Then you have inflammation...maybe from an injury or something that is causing swelling (this protects the injured area and aids in repair of the damage)...this can also be caused by new exercise or increased intensity of exercise as this also causes inflammation in the muscles (water retention) to aid in repair (congratulations, your body is working like it's supposed to).

Air travel is notorious for causing bloating and water retention (ever noticed how swollen your feat are after a flight?). Long distance car travel and sitting for long periods of time in general can also have the same effect. Then you have the differences in sexes...women have a far greater hormonal changes throughout a given month than men and women will typically fluctuate a lot more than men.

Really, when in doubt do the math. If you gained 3 Lbs or whatever overnight, there's no way it's fat...it's biologically impossible. You would have had to consume 10,500 calories over MAINTENANCE for that to even be a consideration, and even then, the human body strives for homeostasis and one day way over calories isn't going to result in fat gain, just as one day of fasting doesn't result in fat loss. Gaining or losing fat occurs when there is a consistent surplus or deficit of calories coming in, not one off days.

If you're going to do a bunch of hand wringing over weight fluctuations, you're going to drive yourself batty. Your best bet is to download a trend app...losing weight is about long term trends, not individual data points. Losing weight looks like this:

yirara

Weight constantly fluctuates, and none of it has anything to do with bodyfat. Yeah, if you're bigger there's a chance that your fluctuations are also bigger but overall: it's just always there. There's no way to know what your current 'real' weight is because of it. The reasons are so multifold: any time in menstrual cycle, more salt, more carbs, more heat, new or more intense exercise, more waste in your intestines or not pooping for a day or two, traveling, some medication... literally anything.

So with that knowledge you can decide whether you want to weigh every day, best in the morning after loo and naked and get lots of datapoints like the graph just above here, or every now and then and get less datapoints but still have the fluctuation. The disadvantage of the second is that you might be lower in weight on the first day, and higher a week later. The disadvantage of the first method is that you have to deal with your weight every morning.

AnnPT77

If you can weigh daily without stressing out about it, and record the results, you will learn your personal patterns.

Note that for women of the relevant age/stage, there can be a monthly pattern related in some way to menstrual cycle via hormone levels. That pattern varies from one woman to the next, but I've seen women here report as much as 7-10 pounds of water weight at some point(s) in their cycle. It's not the most common pattern, but a few have reported seeing a new low weight only once a month, at a particular point in their cycle.

I'm willing to talk about my personal experience, with the warning that yours will differ.

I had larger fluctuations than when my body was bigger than I do now, with a smaller body. Anecdotally, I have larger fluctuations than other people who have more strictly consistent eating patterns. (I'm in maintenance, and eat a little under maintenance calories most days to indulge occasionally (once or twice a week, typically).)

I weighed 130 pounds this morning. Coincidentally, that's my lowest weight in the past 7 days. My highest weight in the past 7 days was 135. Over any random week, 3-5 pounds variability is pretty normal, but it can be more sometimes. I'm in menopause, so no cycles.

Personally, since I've been calorie counting for a long time now (so trust my logging and estimate of calorie needs), I use the method someone mentioned above: If I haven't cumulatively eaten enough calories over maintenance to gain X.X pounds, then the gain isn't fat. If it's not fat, I'm not concerned about it.

If you stick to a calorie-counting and daily weigh-in routine for 4-6 weeks (whole menstrual cycle(s) if that applies), you'll start to learn your personal patterns. One caveat: In the first week or two of a new eating/activity routine, the results can be distorted for various reasons. Later weeks, once you're more consistent, will be a more reliable guide.

I know it's hard to be patient, but patience is helpful during weight loss, in many, many ways.

Best wishes!

kshama2001

Good points above.

My personal experience is that when I started weight lifting again, I retained an extra 7 pounds of water weight for a few weeks. If I do a lot of intensive gardening after being away from it for a while, I will also retain a few pounds of water weight. When I had menstrual cycles, I would consistently retain water when I ovulated as well as premenstrually.