Heavier AFTER shower??!!

nortiekeeks
nortiekeeks Posts: 59 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, so I weighed myself this morning. It was right after I came out of the shower. The scale showed a gain (gasp) of FIVE pounds (gasp, gasp!!). ((I must also add here that I weigh-in almost daily, and up until today I was losing - another 1.3 pounds to be exact))

Now, this might be the most ridiculous question EVER, buuuuut, does your body absorb water in the shower, to the point of reflecting a higher number on the scale if you get on it directly after said shower??

All I know is a 5 pound gain is CRAZINESS. Especially since I have been so good so far - same as last week, when I had a loss, so, I am left to wonder WTF??

Really hoping this gain was just "water weight"... ;P
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Replies

  • beccarockslife
    beccarockslife Posts: 816 Member
    wet hair?

    I can gain and lose 5lbs in a day, it's normal for me to gain 6 if I eat loads of salt. I'm like a salt sponge.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    I don't think you would gain 5 lbs. But weigh yourself again tomorrow before and after the shower.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    LOL! Now that's a whole new spin on water weight!! Not sure if your body absorbs water but your hair sure will. How about tomorrow you conduct an experiment - weigh yourself before the shower and then after, then you'll know for sure.

    Either way, if you've really been good, I'm sure the 5 pounds really is water weight - from working out hard or eating too much sodium or TOM.
  • ladybg81
    ladybg81 Posts: 1,553 Member
    Did you have a towel on your head or wrapped around your body. That really does not makes sense at all.
  • RayvinWinters
    RayvinWinters Posts: 3 Member
    For a month I weighed myself right before a shower and again right after, just to see the difference, and I was always heaver by 1 - 2 kg (translates to 2 - 5 lbs) I also have fairy long hair, and think this is what causes it. Don't know about you, but my hair feels heaver when it is wet.

    There are a lot of things that can make your weight fluctuate, that is why some people warn about over weighing yourself.
  • ibbray04
    ibbray04 Posts: 227 Member
    You didn't gain 5 lbs in one day.
  • Larius
    Larius Posts: 507 Member
    Very moist air can effect the accuracy of scales. I'm guessing your scale is in the same bathroom you're showering in. Try leaving it in another room on a hard flat surface.

    The wet hair and towel idea is a good one too.
  • DiabeticAlien
    DiabeticAlien Posts: 240 Member
    You didn't gain 5 lbs in one day.

    You can gain 5 lbs in one day. I highly doubt you can gain 5 lbs from taking a shower tho. Although there have been some good points here. Wet hair, towel on head, towel around body...all potential weight.
  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
    Well you know, you are soaked in *water*! Water has mass.
  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
    You didn't gain 5 lbs in one day.

    UM yes you can!!!

    This is from my blog: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/kapeluza

    "Aunt Flo, Oh How I Hate Thee.....

    Don't you wish that some days you were a man? I know that during specific times of the month when our grumpy Aunt Flo decides to make an appearance in our lives, that is when I wish I were a man. I mean come on now, men have it easy. I think the hardest thing they have to deal with through the weight loss journey is the manbooblars.

    Ok, now that I got that off my chest, ever since I switched scales I started weighing myself twice a day. At first it was more curiosity than anything. Amazing how in the morning you weighed a # and BAM in the evening you could weigh 3-4lbs heavier. I’ll even go to the extreme and be a little gross and tell you how stunned I was after an explosion in the bathroom to see a 1-2lbs difference on the scale. Anyways, I started writing down and keeping track of every weigh in I did, every single day. I have found it extremely helpful to be honest. I don’t write down every single time I weigh myself but rather I record the morning reading.

    How can this possibly be healthy for someone who is trying to lose weight? Well, this is how it has helped me….

    For example, last week on Thursday 8-25-11 I weighed in at 166lbs (which would have given me a +2lb loss for that week) but on my official weigh in day, Friday 8-26-11, BAM, I weighed 170lbs!!! TOM was around the corner so I knew what the culprit was. So far, I've been juggling between 169bs and 170lbs since Friday. TOM is visiting so it is reflecting on the scale. Had I weighed in only once a week and saw a 4lb weight gained, yeah, I would freaked the freak out!!!

    Break down:

    8/25/11 - 166lbs

    8/26/11 - 170.0lbs KAPOW!!

    8/27/11 - 169.2lbs

    8/28/11 - 170lbs

    8/29/11 - 170.4lbs

    8/30/11 - 167.4lbs

    To compare results and ensure nothing else was going on, I went back to my records from one month ago and surely enough I saw weight gain on the days prior to and during TOM. So, I feel a little better about that 4lb gain which can easily be contributed to water retention or just symptoms associated with Aunt Freaking Flo.

    So, today, 8-30-11 is my day 4 of Aunt Flo kicking my *kitten* and this will probably be my last day of TOM. Surely enough when I got on the scale this morning it was down to 167lbs from being 170lbs all weekend. I was feeling really bloated and I still feel a little bloated so yeah, I hope to see good numbers come tomorrow or next day when Aunt Flo has packed up her sh#t and left the house. I hope to see that 166lbs come Wednesday or Thursday! :D



    This has been a message from your friendly neighborhood honey badger…..



    Stay thirsty my friends…… for H20 of course!! :D







    (if you don't know why I call myself a honey badger then clicky here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg)"
  • meowow
    meowow Posts: 42 Member
    These are all great ideas. Weight can fluctuate throughout the day for me from anywhere between 3-5 pounds. I pay more attention to measurements! The scale can be really discouraging.
  • DWilbanks
    DWilbanks Posts: 420 Member
    A whole new way to view the term "water weight". Ewwww right now I' m picturing sweaty people refusing to take a shower or bath because of weight gain...lol Deodorant sales will sky rocket *hopefully) LOL :)
  • calibri
    calibri Posts: 439 Member
    My hair isn't very long and adds a pound and a half when it's wet. Just wearing jeans adds another pound and a half. A towel is probably the same as jeans, if not a little more due to dampness.
  • boonikki29
    boonikki29 Posts: 1 Member
    The same thing just happened to me...that's how I came across this post, looking for answers! I weighed myself before I got in the shower and gained 4.2 lbs upon getting out, just 15 min. later. I thought it was the wet hair so I dried it and dried off thoroughly and that only accounted for .9lbs. I researched the body absorbing water and everything I've read says that a hot shower actually causes a slight weight loss. I have a water softener and am now researching the effects of this on the body but haven't found anything credible yet. I've done the 5lb gain before during that time of the month but this was just random and a 15 min. difference.
  • Spinalcord12
    Spinalcord12 Posts: 20 Member
    Best time to weigh yourself is when you wake up each morning.
    Before you eat or drink anything and preferably after a morning pee and poop.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    A whole new way to view the term "water weight". Ewwww right now I' m picturing sweaty people refusing to take a shower or bath because of weight gain...lol Deodorant sales will sky rocket *hopefully) LOL :)

    weighing in for a comp on Friday. Will be straight from sauna to weigh in. Stinky style :smile:
  • ibleedunionblue
    ibleedunionblue Posts: 324 Member
    If your scales says you weigh 5 lbs more after taking a shower, and you havent eaten or drank anything, your scales need replaced.
  • Dauntlessness
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
    I've done that but its only had shown a pound- a pound and a half gain and I have pretty long hair. After a few hours it goes right back to normal. Maybe your scale is messing up?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    :noway: Only weigh after a good dump. Same time every time.
  • Mslmesq
    Mslmesq Posts: 1,000 Member
    I've weighed myself after a shower and weighed a lot more. I cannot tell you why exactly, but I knew it wasn't accurate. Don't feel bad about it, and just ignore it. Just go with your regular weigh in weight, that is the one that is accurate.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    I DID have my hair up in a towel, which I didn't even think about until I saw some of you mention it, so maybe the towel itself was a good part of the "gain". It IS a super fluffy towel you know!! LOL.

    Anyway, I will weigh-in again tomorrow morning, PRE-shower, and see what happens...

    THANKS for all the replies, EVERYONE!!!!! :D

    Um wow. :noway:
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
    Your scale might have fluctuations, like, depending on how you stand on the scale, (pressing down with your feet or not)... it can show a fluctuation 3 seconds between each time you stand on it.
  • RedHotHunter
    RedHotHunter Posts: 560 Member
    :huh:
    Bumped ONLY for the sake of humor
    :noway: :noway: :noway:
  • ta_ansari
    ta_ansari Posts: 1 Member
    I have experienced that almost every time I took shower and I just thought it was only my perception but with your post it seems to be something serious. Yes, I have seen my weight going up by a pound immediately after shower. I don' t have long hair so, it has nothing to do with wet hair...
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