Fluctuating Scale

ColetteM6

Fluctuations can happen for a myriad of reasons. It doesn't mean you didn't lose weight. You probably did! The scale is just a little *kitten*. Too much carbs, too much sodium, not enough water, poop in the bowels, stress. It's...nauseating how many things can affect the scale. But try not to worry. It's too soon to get frustrated. Focus on how you feel! Take measurements and be patient. Next week you might have a whoosh. I've been having these like crazy lately. I'll not lose a pound for a week and the weeks after I lose 4 lbs in a single week. Be patient. You're doing good things for your life and should be proud!

This

rlotze

Thanks everyone I'm literally posting a sign on my scale that says, Don't step on me until Thursday

There needs to be a 'like' button. lol

rlotze

Here's my weight over almost 3 months:

This chart is fantastic!
I want to do this. This really helps understand weight loss better than anything I've yet seen.

lass22

Great graph

SLLRunner

It could be water retention, but here's some other observations and advice.

Your logging for both food and exercise is very good, but I noticed your exercise calories are pretty darned high. Where are you getting the estimations from? If from MFP, then those estimates are usually pretty high from what a person really burns. If from a HRM, I've heard those can be off as well.

I have learned to use the numbers from the machines that ask for weight and age for the elliptical and stationary bike. Since the treadmill I run on has no age and weight input, I use the number from my Footsteps pedometer. All of these numbers are always way lower than MFP.

That said, I echo the advice about not stepping on the scale every day (love your post about putting the sign on the scale. :bigsmile:). I also advise looking to make sure your food and exercise sessions are logged in accurately.

Oh, do you weight solid food and measure liquids? I have discovered that 1/4 cup of cashews that is supposed to be 28 grams (approx. 1 ounce) is often more than one ounce.

Keep up all the good work and everything is always forward movement. Someone else on here once said that weight loss is not linear either.

janatarnhem

This happens to me too! I weigh myself once a week! Finding that my weight is generally on the weigh down, but I can stay around the same for a few weeks and then lose a couple ....and so on! I have found with regular, increasingly challenging and varied exercise, my clothes fit better...have gone down a whole size!...but more importantly, I feel less sluggish, have more energy than I have had for a long time! So healthier less calorific food, more exercise should = weight loss at a slow sustainable pace....hopefully!

naughtyfushsia_wechnaged

same as above (hiya bud lol!)

dont forget when you are due mama nature, us girls store more water than usual a few days before starting and during this bloddy time pmsl!

squishybarb

Fluctuations can happen for a myriad of reasons. It doesn't mean you didn't lose weight. You probably did! The scale is just a little *kitten*. Too much carbs, too much sodium, not enough water, poop in the bowels, stress. It's...nauseating how many things can affect the scale. But try not to worry. It's too soon to get frustrated. Focus on how you feel! Take measurements and be patient. Next week you might have a whoosh. I've been having these like crazy lately. I'll not lose a pound for a week and the weeks after I lose 4 lbs in a single week. Be patient. You're doing good things for your life and should be proud!

This!!!! I have a friend who is very into health and fitness, is going to college for .. exercise science? I think. Something of the sort. He's the go-to man for any fitness/weightloss issue I really have. I tried not to be obnoxious when I kept hitting plateaus.. but there were a few days when I was yelling at him via text asking "WHY AM I NOT LOSING WEIGHT?? I AM DOING EVERYTHING PERFECTLY!":mad: And he basically said the above in a nutshell.

Just. keep. doing. it. Sometimes I want to take the scale and do very very disturbing things to it.:devil: Some days it makes me angry and other days it makes me want to dance out of joy. I always give myself 2 or 3 pounds worth of wiggle room, especially during THE TIME. If my weight doesn't go back down or dramatically drop, I know I'm not doing something right and I adjust.

But seriously - stick with it!!! Sometimes it takes me over 10 days to lose a pound. It's taken me nearly a year to lose almost 40 - but hey! I got there. You can too!

You can do it! Be persistent! :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:

HexyleneGlycol

Thanks this makes me feel a lot better

HexyleneGlycol

Me and you seem to be in the exact same boat. (Weight, weight loss issues etc) I hope we can be friends so we can work through this together.

Losingthedamnweight

Here's my weight over almost 3 months:



Despite going exactly according to plan, I have "plateaus", often around TOM that last about 10 days. Then, overnight, that weight drops and keeps on going down, so there's no actual stall in weight loss. There's nothing you can do about that. I am working on gathering more data to see exactly what this weight retention correlates to, but so far my best guess is that it's pre-ovulation.
I have even tried to force it down with a laxative (on Aug 29th) and as you can see it was a one-day effect. The next day I went back up - which tells me my body is retaining whatever it needs to for a reason - no need to mess with it.

I personally am a strong believer in daily weigh-ins IF you decide to use this data to understand the way your body works. It gives a feeling of control that I can predict now when my weight is going to go up or down. If that's too much for you though, rare weigh-ins are probably a good idea.

This is awesome. Why didn't i think of that? My brain...we never work too well together. I wanna do important stuff and he just keeps saying "shove this crap in your face to be happy!". Stupid brain

Teach me your graph making skills. I wanna do this too! Is there an easy way for someone who doesn't usually use their computer for more than youtube to make a kick *kitten* graph like you?

BenjaminMFP88

The mirror is a better judge of healthier living then the scale. Do you feel better, look better etc? If so then you are doing a good job. there are hundreds of things that can manipulate how much body weight a person has, my suggestion is to work your hardest on healthy sustainful dieting, healthy exercising, and step on the same scale at the same time maye once a month.

Mborroto25

I'm new and already really frustrated
When I started two weeks ago I weighed 290.9, and in my first week I lost 3.4 pounds. 287, I was so elated.
But today I weigh myself a week later and I'm 289. What the heck!
I weigh myself every morning at the same time but only log what I weigh on Thursdays and it's really disappointing seeing my weight bounce back up after such a great week in my opinion. Everyday I get on the scale since my loss it's been between 288-290 again, and I should be going DOWN.
My diet is spot on, I workout 6 days a week.
Can someone help explain this to me?

It does seem like water retention and your body will fluctuate. My doctor said I should only weigh myself once a month (The 7th day of my birth control pill packet) because that is the time where I would have the least amount of water retention. Since then, I don't weigh myself daily. You just started and its going to take some time for the scale to move. Don't weigh yourself for a while because it messes with your mind and becomes discouraging.

pyrowill

I workout constantly, and I usually eat my calorie goal but I don't eat my exercise calories. I drink like 5-7 glasses of water a day right now. Something to definitely improve upon

Whats your average burn in exercise cals? Perhaps you should try eating them back, you might be creating too much of a deficit.