Am I Really losing weight?

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rozl_rozl
rozl_rozl Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
So I started my healthy journey about four weeks ago. I cut my calorie intake to about 1610 and I workout at least 5 days a week (20 minute cardio minimum...but i usually do 30-40 minutes cardio... with bodyweight/strength exercises for about half an hour minimum). Lately I've been working out pretty much everyday. I eat a lot of carbs but I mostly just have cereal in the morning, whole grain wheat bread for my sandwich during lunch, and sometimes I have pretzels or a granola bars to snack on. I've cut soda, candy, and most junk foods from my diet. Im also asian and I no longer eat rice. Every now and then I have a cheat snack where I'll eat a slice of cake, or a small serving of ice cream, but no binging.
I went from 172 to 163. But some days I wake up and weigh myself and I'm back to 170 or 168. I was 163 for three consecutive days but this morning I weighed myself and Im back to 170.
I know it's not good to weigh yourself everyday. I was weighing myself only on sunday mornings but then I began to become very doubtful if my weightloss was "real" or not.
Does anyone know how to tell if my 9 pound weight loss is actually fat or just my water weight fluctuating?
Also is all the carbs I'm eating ok even if I'm still under my specified calorie intake?

Replies

  • x311Tifa
    x311Tifa Posts: 357 Member
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    SAME problem. Bumping for a response. I was down 16lbs, then weighed myself the other day and was up 6 after a good weekend. I thought it might be water after a week break due to sickness (not gyming it while sick.. not happening with midterms....). So.. Answers would be swell!
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Do you weigh at the same time everyday with the same conditions?

    If not, it's really going to be hard to tell where exactly your at. Scale weight is affected by so many things that it is best if you can keep the conditions as similar as possible.

    Lightest weight will approx be:
    - first thing in the morning
    - after going to the bathroom
    - naked

    Things that can change the number on the scale:
    - different times of the day : are body weight will fluctuate throughout the day, so it is best to weigh at approximately the same time. If your like me, I don't get up at the same time every single day. Because of this fact, for me it means that I weigh within 30 mins - 1 hr of waking up. Even though the time based on a clock isn't the same, it is still roughly the same time to my body. If for example I weighed everyday at 12pm, I would be either having to wake up early or already been up for several hours with food/water in my body. Because of this there are too many variables for me to set an exact time on the clock and it is better to go with a time frame from when I wake up.

    - clothing: if you weigh fully clothed, then your scale not only tells you your body weight, but your body weight + the weight of the clothing. Different articles of clothing will have different weights. Jeans in particular can be very heavy and add a few pounds.

    - don't move the scale: Carpet, uneven flooring, different types of flooring…can all affect the weight on the scale. So when you weigh, you want it to be approximately the same spot for the most accurate number for tracking.

    - Muscle repair : Muscles will hold onto water to repair, because of this it is not uncommon to see a gain for a little while after a workout. This weight comes right back off when they are done repairing.

    - Water : Not drinking enough water can actually cause you to retain water. Recommended amount is 8 cups or 64oz. I drink 64 oz to 128 oz of water a day. It doesn’t have to be plain water either. I like to flavor mine with crystal light or tea.

    -Sodium: Can cause you to retain water. This can also be amplified if you don’t drink enough to flush it out of your system. This is also another reason for temporary weight gain.

    -TOM: A lot of women will retain water around their TOM, but its just temporary and will go away.
  • BrieFit18
    BrieFit18 Posts: 35 Member
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    It's most likely just natural weight fluctuations and since you're working out a lot, you also have to take into account that muscle is heavier than fat!
  • bellevie86
    bellevie86 Posts: 301 Member
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    Have you been watching your sodium intake? My weight can fluctuate morning to morning by as much as 6 pounds, Usually caused by drinking a lot of alcohol and eating salty food. My recommendation? You may be like me where it takes a few days of low sodium (try 1500 mg) and really raise your water intake and then weigh in, it should balance out water weight and be more accurate. Cuz assuming you aren't having crazy binge days that's damn near impossible, that would have to be an excess of 3500 x 7 pounds. Which is a lot. Also on a side note, the three days prior and about three days into my period im usually up about 3 pounds, then it leaves.

    Edited to add weigh naked, in the morning after bathroom time.
  • Beley1984
    Beley1984 Posts: 21
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    I know it's not good to weigh yourself everyday. I was weighing myself only on sunday mornings but then I began to become very doubtful if my weightloss was "real" or not.?

    What time do you check your weight? It also matters the time you checked your weight specifically if before or after a meal time.
  • Beley1984
    Beley1984 Posts: 21
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    Does anyone know how to tell if my 9 pound weight loss is actually fat or just my water weight fluctuating?
    Also is all the carbs I'm eating ok even if I'm still under my specified calorie intake?

    Another factor we must consider is muscles. Muscles are much heavier than fats. Yes, maybe during the time that your muscular mass increased and your fat maybe also fluctuates. So, you must take the three as considerations in losing weight.
  • Beley1984
    Beley1984 Posts: 21
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    SAME problem. Bumping for a response. I was down 16lbs, then weighed myself the other day and was up 6 after a good weekend. I thought it might be water after a week break due to sickness (not gyming it while sick.. not happening with midterms....). So.. Answers would be swell!

    Better to take a appointment with a health nutritionist about that. :)
  • Kargicq
    Kargicq Posts: 72 Member
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    I'm in my third month on MFP. My weight fluctuates all over the place, especially after any change in workout routine.

    I enter all my data here, but also on a smartphone "smoothing" app: I use Libra for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.cachapa.libra

    This works out rolling averages and long-term trends, which helps to distinguish the valuable data from the fluctuations. Worth a go!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Does anyone know how to tell if my 9 pound weight loss is actually fat or just my water weight fluctuating?
    Also is all the carbs I'm eating ok even if I'm still under my specified calorie intake?

    Another factor we must consider is muscles. Muscles are much heavier than fats. Yes, maybe during the time that your muscular mass increased and your fat maybe also fluctuates. So, you must take the three as considerations in losing weight.

    You don't build muscle on a deficet ...

    As for the OP the weight flucuations happen due to water and glycogen stores from exercise...just stop weighing yourself everyday...pick a day...weigh in the morning naked etc and that is your weight.
  • Kargicq
    Kargicq Posts: 72 Member
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    As for the OP the weight flucuations happen due to water and glycogen stores from exercise...just stop weighing yourself everyday...pick a day...weigh in the morning naked etc and that is your weight.

    I completely agree about the water/glycogen. Whenever I mix up my exercise to the point I feel sore afterwards, I just know that weight will be all over the place for 10-14 days afterwards.

    But the 'weigh weekly' vs 'daily' thing depends, I think, on your personality type. I don't like the idea of weekly, because if the weekly weigh-in happened to land on a 'bad' day I'd feel frustrated. But then my background is in science and I'm used to distinguishing signal from noise, so daily fluctuations don't worry me so much.
  • christa279
    christa279 Posts: 222 Member
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    -Weigh yourself at the same time each time you weigh, under the same conditions, and with the same scale at the same spot.

    Carbs are fine if you are staying within your calorie goal. A deficit in calories is needed for weight loss, that is all.

    In the beginning, I believe that most weight loss is water weight. Our weight can fluctuate by around 5 lbs a day, which is why weighing at the same time of day is important. I've found that the more crazy my sleep/wake schedule is the more difficult it is to get a good idea on a consistent weight.

    I weigh myself daily, but use Trendweight.com to help me make sense of the fluctuations. I couldn't have done daily weighing when I started losing weight because it would've made me crazy. If seeing your weight bounce around causes stress, stop weighing daily and move to less frequent weighing. Measuring yourself helps to see a loss in inches when sometimes the scale doesn't do what you want.
  • rozl_rozl
    rozl_rozl Posts: 5
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    thanks for your response.

    Regarding TOM, I'm not on mine at the moment. I'm actually ovulating. I know that water weight is usually gained before my TOM but does the same thing happen when you are ovulating?
  • rozl_rozl
    rozl_rozl Posts: 5
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    not too much. Most of the protein I get is either from having scrambled eggs, peanut butter, or turkey or chicken breast.

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