New here - was it just water weight?

mathandcats

Hi everyone, I just joined last week. I got diagnosed with a heart condition and told I need to lose weight to deal with that, and also because I am at high risk of diabetes (several family members were diagnosed at <= 35 years of age). At the doctor I weighed 212lbs, and I'm a 5' 4" 21 year old woman. Now, one week later, I've been weighing myself every morning (aiming for looking at long-term trends rather than a daily change, to try to compensate for possible fluctuations occurring on days I weigh myself if I were to do it once a week), and my scale now says I'm 205lbs.

That seems like a pretty big difference to me, way more than if it was from losing fat. At the doctor's I had eaten a fair bit of salt the day before, and I had already eaten breakfast and lunch that day, compared to weighing myself in the morning before eating now. Is that likely the big contributor? Just the day after when I weighed myself in the morning the scale read 208 lbs. Now, even if I step on the scale after eating dinner it reads under 210.

Should I be alarmed at the rather rapid drop I saw this week, or is it no biggie? Thanks a lot guys.

Also, feel free to friend me, I might need the support at some point. So far I'm loving MFP though!

Flying_Joe

I should only let women weigh in on this (pardon the pun), but I can say that for myself, my weight can vary up to 8-10 pounds on any particular day due mainly to water and also around food. Clothes can vary by several pounds in weight as well.

To get away from this natural and normal variation, I only weigh myself in the mornings, in my same pyjamas and before having any liquids, so that i am comparing apples to apples each day.

And your point about salt is an interesting one. One day I ate quite a few pickles and other salty foods, and weighed a couple of pounds more than I had the day before - which I lost again the following days - so I did make an assumption that I retained a bit more water from that until it was out of my system.
Richard

Aaron_K123

Yeah, that's just water weight.

Ninkyou

The first couple of weeks will likely have larger numbers, yes. Try to only weigh yourself once a day. The best time to weigh is first thing in the morning after using the bathroom. Remember though that your weight will fluctuate up and down daily. And that's not to mention certain times of the month you'll be retaining water...

thavoice

Hi everyone, I just joined last week. I got diagnosed with a heart condition and told I need to lose weight to deal with that, and also because I am at high risk of diabetes (several family members were diagnosed at <= 35 years of age). At the doctor I weighed 212lbs, and I'm a 5' 4" 21 year old woman. Now, one week later, I've been weighing myself every morning (aiming for looking at long-term trends rather than a daily change, to try to compensate for possible fluctuations occurring on days I weigh myself if I were to do it once a week), and my scale now says I'm 205lbs.

That seems like a pretty big difference to me, way more than if it was from losing fat. At the doctor's I had eaten a fair bit of salt the day before, and I had already eaten breakfast and lunch that day, compared to weighing myself in the morning before eating now. Is that likely the big contributor? Just the day after when I weighed myself in the morning the scale read 208 lbs. Now, even if I step on the scale after eating dinner it reads under 210.

Should I be alarmed at the rather rapid drop I saw this week, or is it no biggie? Thanks a lot guys.

Also, feel free to friend me, I might need the support at some point. So far I'm loving MFP though!

I would say a good deal of water weight, but also if you been doing it right also some real weight loss. Plus, as you stated, you had ate and drank that day before the Dr appt so that was still with you as well and now you weigh yourself in the morning when you hadnt eaten/drank in 7-12 hours so that helps.

I know when I started this journey I set myself up for successs. My original weigh in was at night before I went to bed. I know I had food and drink in me from the day to up the # on the scale, but it was a mind game knowing that in 10 days when I weigh it it was gonna look really good and the first 10 days was just over 11 lbs. Much was water, food, but also some of it was actual weight loss. The mind is a powerful tool in the weight loss journey.