Don't trust the weekly result

stackhead
stackhead Posts: 121 Member
in Motivation and Support
So I thought i'd share my stats with you this week. Backstory: I gained weight last WI for no reason whatsoever and it really pissed me off. I lost weight this week even after a massive over intake at the weekend.
Moral of the story - the scales are frustrating little critters.

However. I also track the loss that I *should* have gotten based on the deficit I created during that week (so I know if my maintenace level needs adjusting). Below are the numbers from this year so far:

Weight (lbs Actual Should

245.6 | 2.8 |1.6
245.2 | 0.4 |1.3
245.2 | 0.0 |0.2
245.2 | 0.0 |0.1
241.4 | 3.8 |1.3
240.8 | 0.6 |1.4
240.1 | 0.7 |0.8
239.2 | 0.9 |1.2
239.8 | -0.6 |1.3
238.0 | 1.8 |1.1

So my actual weight has been annoying (for me), especially the weeks of quite small losses. BUT my 'should' column adds up to 10.3lbs my actual column adds up to 10.4lbs

So what i'm trying to say to anyone frustrated with the weight loss in any given week because it doesn't reflect how 'hard they worked' is just to keep going and trust the science. It works.

Replies

  • Yambla62
    Yambla62 Posts: 1 Member
    Loving the mathematical approach, but actually remarkably encouraging. Thank you
  • cakesyme
    cakesyme Posts: 20
    Thanks for the reassurance. i'll keep that in mind when I'm at a small plateau. :D
  • abhull14
    abhull14 Posts: 50 Member
    wow pretty interesting, makes sense.
  • KoopaSix
    KoopaSix Posts: 252 Member
    Personally I think you're looking too deep into it. Weight loss is not linear, there are just too many factors to take into account such as weekly TDEE and sodium. I know at times during my cut I can gain 5-7 lbs of pure water weight in a DAY, then I usually "swoosh" and lose 5-9 lbs over the next 3-4 days. It's great that you have a plan and are trying to be as precise as possible but in the end you're just doing more then what needs to be done and making it more difficult.

    I wouldn't focus so much on scale weight but instead focus only on the mirror with using the scale as a reference point every week or 2...jm2c
  • rach503
    rach503 Posts: 86 Member
    You have NO idea how much I needed to see this tonight. Thank you for posting it!
  • MaggieTor3
    MaggieTor3 Posts: 50 Member
    Good post, good for you!

    What I've learned over the years is to be consistent with weighing myself. I do it once a week, no more, always on Saturday morning before I've eaten or drunk anything. Weighing yourself daily just doesn't take into account all the little daily fluctuations and I'm sure some people start any kind of food regimen (losing weight diet or otherwise) weighing themselves every day and get discouraged too fast.

    Congratulations on the weight loss so far!

    I'm down 14 lbs in 6 weeks, so really it's just a start, but I believe that I'm learning a new way to eat, thanks to this website and the terrific community!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    After I gained last week, I decided to test myself to see just how much my weight can change day by day (I had only been weighing every Wednesday). Between Friday and Sunday I was up two and a half pounds. From that weight Sunday to this morning? It was down almost 5, even though my deficits were nowhere near that big. After I see what it says tomorrow, I'll stop with the test. But yeah, I've had huge losses followed by minuscule ones/gains for a month now.
  • CarlieeBear
    CarlieeBear Posts: 325 Member
    Here's my question regarding infrequent weigh-ins. If you only weigh yourself every week or two or less often, how do you know that your weigh-ins aren't just a daily fluctuation? Any day can flux. Thus...I prefer to weigh myself more frequently, not freaking out or getting overly excited over daily fluctuations.
  • suejoker
    suejoker Posts: 317 Member
    Thanks for taking the time to track these numbers and share them! The scale can be so confounding. It's cool that over time, your actual numbers were pretty much the same as your "should" numbers.
  • rightaboutmeow
    rightaboutmeow Posts: 77 Member
    Thank you for this post.
    I feel like I'll need to reference it tomorrow, lol. It's my weigh day and even though I have been under my calorie budget all week I have had fast food ( in relatively small amounts, but I still feel kinda guilty) for the past two days.
    :embarassed:

    So I feel like tomorrow I'll still have a gain, even though I have had losses the past two W/I's.
    I'M SO NERVOUS!
    Seeing the scale go up has always deterred me in the past, although I definitely am taking a different approach to things now...I actually took measurements! Who knew?! Lol.

    Anyhow, thank you. Hopefully my assumptions will be incorrect, but if not I'm zooming right back here! I've been working too hard and been to dedicated to go back now!!

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