Body fluctuations help

Iuliaxna09

Monday i was 125.5 pounds and today sunday i am 125.7 pounds. Throught the week my body went up and down. On friday it reached 124.8 pounds but i didnt track that consistently then so i think thats why on saturday i was 125.6 pounds but right now i am 125.7 pounds.

I am also in my luteal phase.maybe that is the case.

But it is frustrating when I AM in a calorie deficit, i am getting 12-14k steps, getting my exercise and not overeating.


Anyone who went through this have any tips?

Lietchi

Patience is my tip. Up on down is normal, the long term trend is what matters. Your weekly rate is still 2.3lbs per week, no?
I always gain weight around my period, by the way, so that too is normal (specifics may vary, some women gain weight during ovulation, for example).

tomcustombuilder

Water retention varies from day to day so look at the long term trends

Womona

I go through that as well, and I definitely find it’s TOM/PMS influenced, in addition to how much sodium I’ve consumed. I expect the fluctuations, but as others have said, it’s the overall trend that matters. I feel your pain, though!!

AnnPT77

If you've actually been losing at 2 pounds or more per week, that is very aggressively fast for your relatively light body weight, unless you are very much shorter than merely petite within the normal adult female height range.

Not only does that increase health risks, and have the potential to trigger things like hair thinning a few weeks down the road, it creates physical stress on your body. Stress increases cortisol, and cortisol can increase water retention, masking fat loss on the body weight scale.

That's an oversimplification, but here's a more detailed article on dieting, cortisol, and possibly high exercise/activity, to introduce which I'll start with a quote from the article:

". . . They throw in a lot of intense exercise, try to cut calories very hard (and this often backfires if disinhibition is high; when these folks break they break) and cortisol levels go through the roof. That often causes cortisol mediated water retention . . . . Weight and fat loss appear to have stopped or at least slowed significantly. This is compounded even further in female dieters due to the vagaries of their menstrual cycle where water balance is changing enormously week to week anyhow. And invariably, this type of psychology responds to the stall by going even harder. They attempt to cut calories harder, they start doing more activity. The cycle continues and gets worse. "

https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels

There's also a good thread here about the vagaries of scale weight, and why it bounces up and down by multiple pounds day to day, or even week to week, even when gradual fat loss is actually taking place. Be sure to read the article linked in the first post:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

When losing fat steadily at 2 pounds a week, that's only around 4.5 ounces of fat loss daily, i.e., quarter of a pound. Our bodies can be 60%+ water, and that water can shift by multiple pounds within a day, or across surprisingly many days. Another thing that matters is how much food waste we have in our digestive tract on the way to the exit, which also can easily vary by more than that 4.5 ounces daily. Those things play peek-a-boo on the scale with fat loss, and they win.

I'd also note that if losing weight too aggressively fast, more than a minimum of that weight lost can be useful, attractive muscle, because our bodies can only metabolize a certain amount of stored fat daily per pound of fat we have on our body. Less body fat - i.e. not very overweight - means it's better to lose weight slower, for that and other reasons.

I hope you'll revise your plans and routine, if the 2+ pound weekly loss trend is accurate in your recent past.

Best wishes, sincerely.

springlering62

Absolutely what @AnnPT77 says. That’s way too aggressive a goal, since (unless you’re a wee little thing, and even then…) you’re probably close to goal.

Setting such an aggressive goal is a recipe for failure for all the reasons she states.

Weight fluctuates regularly. Mine can be totally different when I get out of bed, versus a large breakfast, 56 ounces of coffee/electrolyte drink and a couple hard workouts later. You’d assume it would be up, right? Nope. Usually several pounds less. 🤷🏻‍♀️

As you log and get familiar with your own body, you’re going to notice trends.

You can learn so much about yourself by making the effort to maintain accurate data.

My weight is consistently lowest on Saturdays, highest Wednesday or Thursday. This has been my trend for several years. I’m used to it, so I don’t flip out if it bounces up a pound or two or three midweek. I work out harder on weekdays, which means I eat more. More fuel = more water weight. I may also crave salt (I sweat profusely) which = more water weight. Saturday? My usual three or four miles walked in the morning, as well as two hot yoga classes, and the resulting sweat loss can make a three pound difference from the time I hopped out of bed.

At this time, you’re just starting out. All these numbers are new and fresh, and the tendency is to gnaw on them. You’re hyper aware of every little fraction of an ounce.

Loosen up, reevaluate your expectations of how things anll going to work, and look for trends downward. I don’t yet know anyone who has downward movement every single day.

ddsb1111

Food, water, salt, hormones, are different day to day. If it wasn’t you wouldn’t be human. I think letting your body do the high functioning work it does to process constant changes is just as important as tracking and following the trend. Knowledge is power, but so is flexibility.

xbowhunter

I can relate.

Friday I was 138.5
Today I am 140.5

Meh!

I did eat a bit more on the weekend however I will correct it this week and my normal weight will be back before I know it after my system flushes out the water retention.

Don't let it get to you just live and be happy...

courtneylove6

Just maybe don't log it as much or weigh yourself as much. The extra pound you gain or lose everyday doesn't matter in the long run. I weigh myself once a week

yirara

courtneylove6 wrote: »

Just maybe don't log it as much or weigh yourself as much. The extra pound you gain or lose everyday doesn't matter in the long run. I weigh myself once a week

Not writing down the correct number still means it’s there. Fluctuations are normal, just like the ebb and flood of various oceans is a different water level every day. Why not accept it exists and is normal. A weight trending app can make sense of the clutter while weighing once per weak might also means your weight is lower in the forst than second week, and then you don’t know why. Data is power.

sollyn23l2

yirara wrote: »

courtneylove6 wrote: »

Just maybe don't log it as much or weigh yourself as much. The extra pound you gain or lose everyday doesn't matter in the long run. I weigh myself once a week

Not writing down the correct number still means it’s there. Fluctuations are normal, just like the ebb and flood of various oceans is a different water level every day. Why not accept it exists and is normal. A weight trending app can make sense of the clutter while weighing once per weak might also means your weight is lower in the forst than second week, and then you don’t know why. Data is power.

How and when and how often we weigh ourselves is a personal choice. Weighing every day is not helpful if a person gives up every time they see the scale go up or is so defeated by it that they refuse to weigh themselves at all. Yes, knowledge can be power, and weight trending apps can be great, but not for everyone.

yirara

sollyn23l2 wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

courtneylove6 wrote: »

Just maybe don't log it as much or weigh yourself as much. The extra pound you gain or lose everyday doesn't matter in the long run. I weigh myself once a week

Not writing down the correct number still means it’s there. Fluctuations are normal, just like the ebb and flood of various oceans is a different water level every day. Why not accept it exists and is normal. A weight trending app can make sense of the clutter while weighing once per weak might also means your weight is lower in the forst than second week, and then you don’t know why. Data is power.

How and when and how often we weigh ourselves is a personal choice. Weighing every day is not helpful if a person gives up every time they see the scale go up or is so defeated by it that they refuse to weigh themselves at all. Yes, knowledge can be power, and weight trending apps can be great, but not for everyone.

Of course, but the same fluctuations won't go away with weighing only once per week. For some this is the way forward, but for others it might be even more disappointing after working on losing all the weight for a whole week, and then nothing has seemingly happened. Really depends on what kind of a person TO is.

xbowhunter

I weigh every day.

Not because I need to but because I can't help myself... lol

AnnPT77

These days, if someone wants the data, has a bit of self-discipline but struggles with seeing daily weight, an option would be to buy one of those scales that auto-uploads data to the cloud.

Don't look, or even tape over the display. Look at the data online later but much less often.

anabmorales24

Here's a graph of the past 20-something days. Notice how my weight loss has slightly slowed down these past 10 days. In the past, I would have worried about that. Now, I've realized it's just hormonal. It's actually a pretty good indicator that my period is coming. On the day I get my period, I've noticed my weight goes up for up to 3 lbs!! It's all water I imagine since it goes down again halfway through my period My advice: ignore the small daily changes. Focus on long-term changes!! You can track daily like I do, but don't stress over it. Just keep your diet consistent. Don't start eating fewer calories thinking you're gaining weight unless you consistently are putting on weight in the span of months.