Weighing shifts seem to be crazy!!??

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CountryGrrrrl
CountryGrrrrl Posts: 77
in Health and Weight Loss
I am absolutely loving this site, so hope someone out there can give me a bit of wisdom. I weigh in once a week, and am in a little friendly competition :) I weigh in on Sunday mornings from home (as long as we weigh in by noon, we are okay). Funny thing is, if I weigh myself at 5:30 am I weigh more than if I weigh at 7am, and by 10am, I can be as much as 4 pounds lighter!! that does not make sense to me!! I mean, I even make sure I pee when I wake up :) I just don't want to feel like I am "cheating" if I put the lower weight, but it is ON the scale... I'm not making it up. AND every week I manage to lose even more, so I know I am doing something right. It just completely stumps me as to why there is SUCH a huge fluctuation in a matter of hours....
Any ideas???

Replies

  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    I looked this same thing up earlier and have found out that your weight can gain/fluctuate by 5 pounds in a day, the reason being the water/food the body is holding at any one time...(also remember that food digesting will be counted also!)

    "A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, and a pint of water (16 ounces) weighs 1 pound (in metric, 1 liter of water weighs 1 kilogram). This means that if you drink a 1-liter bottle of soda, you instantly gain 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) from the water! That's a big weight change, and it can happen very quickly.

    Overnight, there are two processes that cause you to lose water gradually. The first is respiration. Each time you exhale, you lose a little bit of water (exhale onto a cool piece of glass and you can see this moisture). The second is transpiration through the skin, also known as sweating. Over the course of a night, both of these processes eliminate quite a bit of water.

    Then there is the tradition of using the restroom prior to the morning weigh-in. That process can eliminate up to 1 pound (0.5 kilograms) of water.

    The average person eliminates about 1.2 liters of water in urine each day, and also eliminates about 1 liter a day through perspiration and respiration. That's 2.2 kilograms (almost 5 pounds) of weight fluctuation happening throughout the day!"

    Hope this helps even though it doesn't completely explain the weight change throughout the morning!!! : )
  • LessMe2B
    LessMe2B Posts: 316
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    Are you weighing on the same scale all of those times?
  • CountryGrrrrl
    CountryGrrrrl Posts: 77
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    Same scale, same (non)clothing...LOL... I just hop out of bed, weigh, hop back in bed...sleep....hop back out, weigh.... etc. Its weird, dont ya think??
  • CountryGrrrrl
    CountryGrrrrl Posts: 77
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    That water info does help.... and I totally understand weight shifting from morning to evening, and evening to morning, but 3-4 pounds in 3 hours?? just seems strange
  • smoder1
    smoder1 Posts: 10
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    It is easy to have the weight shift and is expected. That is why that it is important to weigh in the same time of day all the time. That way any lose or gain is the most accurate.

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