I just don't understand????

198601
198601 Posts: 33 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Can someone please explain why in the beginning of the day I can weigh 3 pounds less then I do by late afternoon? I know that whole water thing etc. but what is my actual weight then???? If I go by what I weigh in the morning I am where I should be even more - if I go by what is in the afternoon I am not moving! Starting to get frustrating.....

Replies

  • fitby38
    fitby38 Posts: 307 Member
    ahhh ... why are you weighing yourself multiple times a day??? that doesnt even make sense. take whatever it is first thing in the morning and call it a day.
  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
    Because weight fluctuates throughout the day..? Water retention, what you've eaten, etc play a roll in weighing in heavier in the evening. Track your morning weight after you use the bathroom and don't worry about what it says later. Stop weighing yourself so often, it will only make you crazy.
  • Cclancaster
    Cclancaster Posts: 368
    ahhh ... why are you weighing yourself multiple times a day??? that doesnt even make sense. take whatever it is first thing in the morning and call it a day.


    Agree with this
  • ckneasel
    ckneasel Posts: 34 Member
    that is completely normal... you always weigh less when you wake up... there's no food in your system and you're partially dehydrated...

    as long as you weigh yourself same time of the morning i'd go with that, as that is your actual weight... i'm always 3-4 pounds heavier before bed compared to waking...
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    Oh, for pete sake. Weigh in the morning and be done with it.
  • shellsrenee01
    shellsrenee01 Posts: 357 Member
    Your weight will jump daily. It is best to pick one day a week, same time of day, and same clothing (or nakedness). If you are someone who lets the numbers get to them just a little too much, which sounds like that might be the case, I recommend staying off the scale for a full month to avoid being discouraged if it doesn't move down fast enough. :smile: Maybe do a once a month weigh-in for 3-6 months and see if that makes a difference? (easier said than done, I know!)
  • 198601
    198601 Posts: 33 Member
    You are all so right! The scale was my motivator in the beginning, but now it is making me crazy! I will work on once a week! Thanks!
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Oh, for pete sake. Weigh in the morning and be done with it.

    Seriously.
  • BrittanieGo
    BrittanieGo Posts: 60 Member
    Im also a slave to the scale :/ HATE it! Good Luck!
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
    Can someone please explain why in the beginning of the day I can weigh 3 pounds less then I do by late afternoon? I know that whole water thing etc. but what is my actual weight then???? If I go by what I weigh in the morning I am where I should be even more - if I go by what is in the afternoon I am not moving! Starting to get frustrating.....

    The food and water you consume has actual weight. A 16-oz. latte weighs . . . a pound. It takes time to eliminate. Just weigh yourself once in the morning, empty and naked. That is your empty weight. It will be your lowest.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
    Seems kind of logical that a person wont weigh the same for every hour of every day. Hardly rocket science. Just a large glass of water adds a temporary pound.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    It's an interesting question. How much of your weight is water, what's currently in your digestive system, clothing, etc. If you're weighing yourself that often just to learn how much your weight normally fluctuates during a day, fine. But as others have said, if you're doing this to "see how well you're doing toward your goal" it will be misleading, frustrating, etc.

    To measure progress, pick a day of the week that is fairly "normal" for you, and weigh yourself before eating in the morning. By normal, I'm suggesting you don't do it right after a night when your routine is most likely to vary. For instance, if you tend to do special things on Saturday night, so one week you may go out dancing or bowling, but another Saturday you'll go to a good restaurant (worth a few extra calories) and no exercise, then Sunday morning would not be a good morning for you to pick. And by weighing yourself after visiting the bathroom, but before you visit the kitchen, you won't confuse things with the variability of how much you ate or drank for breakfast or ate last night. Now that doesn't take care of any hormonal or monthly fluctuations, but after a cycle or two, you can figure out the adjustment for that.

    I also used to find that sometimes it took a few days or even as much as a week before what I was eating seemed to "catch-up" with me. So, if I weighed myself the day after I was very good about what I ate, it wouldn't show any progress and I'd get discouraged. Then when I weighed myself after I ate a bunch of junk, it would show no effect or even a good effect from the previous days, so it would give me the sense that I could eat the junk. And it was very demotivating. Now I see the effects of what I eat faster without that delay... I don't understand that either, but I have learned that it works out over time.

    Thanks to the folks here who have helped me learn part of this.

    Good luck!
  • moaneek1
    moaneek1 Posts: 1
    The scale can be your worst enimy!! Measure Measure!!! You will see more progress that way.
    Good Luck
  • 198601
    198601 Posts: 33 Member
    While I know that it is not rocket science - that if you just ate something this is a pound you will be a pound more, I guess what my real question should have been is how do you judge what your real weight is then? From the majority of the answers I am going to say that it is the morning weight! So that is what I am going to go by and with that I am losing weight!! Yeah for Me!!!:smile:

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