Daily weighing (I'm a rebel) :)
JadeRabbit08
Posts: 551 Member
My weight loss is weird as my weight can fluctuate daily by alot. The way I know if I am on track is by looking at the last month as a whole. I am logging my calorie intake and loss on an excel document as the reports on MFP are pretty useless. (I do love MFP though)
So I am seeing a pattern of about 10 days where my weight goes up and down and looks very random them BAM! I will go down to a new lowest weight of about 3 - 3.3 pounds less than my last lowest weight.
That weight will stay for a couple of days then my weight increases overnight again to take back most of these pounds and will spend another ten days watching it go up and down between the new lowest weight and the old baseline.
Being able to plot my weight on a spreadsheet really shows up long term patterns much clearer. So glad I did it because now I don't stress over what I think is me stalling. Its just the way my body likes to lose weight.
If I didn't know that I need at least ten days between my loss showing then every 7 days I would be stressing over "no progress". If I didnt know that my body seems at this stage to like to gain most of the fat lost back as water weight and hold on for another week I would be stressed about that too. So for me weighing everyday has chilled me out alot.
I have felt frustrated until I looked at the spreadsheet numbers which show that speadout over time my weight loss has averaged 0.94 a week (2.07 pounds) for Feb and 0.75 kilo a week (1.65 pounds) for March.
For me its more about having enough information about how my body responds to what I am doing. I am my own science experiment and I am enjoying the process!
I am hoping to be able to use the info to encourage others later that go through the first uncertain couple of months when they up their calories.
Excel : )
So I am seeing a pattern of about 10 days where my weight goes up and down and looks very random them BAM! I will go down to a new lowest weight of about 3 - 3.3 pounds less than my last lowest weight.
That weight will stay for a couple of days then my weight increases overnight again to take back most of these pounds and will spend another ten days watching it go up and down between the new lowest weight and the old baseline.
Being able to plot my weight on a spreadsheet really shows up long term patterns much clearer. So glad I did it because now I don't stress over what I think is me stalling. Its just the way my body likes to lose weight.
If I didn't know that I need at least ten days between my loss showing then every 7 days I would be stressing over "no progress". If I didnt know that my body seems at this stage to like to gain most of the fat lost back as water weight and hold on for another week I would be stressed about that too. So for me weighing everyday has chilled me out alot.
I have felt frustrated until I looked at the spreadsheet numbers which show that speadout over time my weight loss has averaged 0.94 a week (2.07 pounds) for Feb and 0.75 kilo a week (1.65 pounds) for March.
For me its more about having enough information about how my body responds to what I am doing. I am my own science experiment and I am enjoying the process!
I am hoping to be able to use the info to encourage others later that go through the first uncertain couple of months when they up their calories.
Excel : ) 0
Replies
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That is just fabulous...I too am going through the same, I haven't plotted it out as you have, but taking the mental notes. Hitting new lows and bouncing up and down a bit means I am trending down. I tried to explain that to someone that threw in the towel too early. She hit new lows, then bounced the same 3lbs and gave up after 4 wks...I explained exactly what you mentioned and she could see how she was actually trending down when she quit...hopefully she will start again.
Thanks so much for sharing this! Awesome and enlightening!0 -
That is exactly what I go through. Especially during TOM. I go up to some crazy random number (like +15, lol) then it takes about 10 days or so, and then I hit an all time low.
I was just explaining to someone this morning, that TOM bloat sticks around longer than most women believe. But the only way to know that is to know your trend. Most women keep TOM water around for a full 7-10 days or more. They think that just because TOM is over, that they shouldn't be carrying water anymore, but that's not the case. Just because you don't "see" bloat, doesn't mean it's over. As long as eating has been consistent. Just stay the course.....0 -
Yup...same is happening with me! I am up the 2-3 lbs that I lost since I am in TOM right now. BUT my jeans are still loose, clothes are fitting better even with the bloating so I KNOW that this will go away. The meausring tape is my new best friend. The scale is like a third wheel who just likes to come for the ride
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Same thing here- I'll get a crazy awesome new low for a day. Next day- up three pounds. Day after that up or down- the up/down goes on for some six days then I'll go down to about a pound above my last low weigh in. Then BAM- two pounds below previous low.
So it goes like this-
low
up big (like five to seven pounds)
down/up
down/up
down/up
down/up
down/up
down/up
up big again (ditto five to seven)
down/up
low
This seems to be my pattern from overall trends in my data. The only variance I've found to affect my bloating/inches is indeed TOM. Those weeks look slightly different. More like this-
low
Big up (ten pounds is not uncommon)
up
up
up
steady
steady
steady
down
up/down
down
low.
This longer pattern has presented a tracking issue in regard to neatly fitting my data points into calendar weeks.
I've since realized that using a calendar week is rather pointless- it seems my body has no idea what one is and why it should automatically decline at a steady rate every Monday. This frustrates me but must be forgiven as it appears my body is quite busy with breathing, dividing cells, creating new tissue, cooling/heating, activities such as workouts, muscle repair, fuel digestion and disposal. In short- it's got a lot on it's plate and doesn't seem to give two whits what a 'week' is.
So now I don't stress at the scale. I hop on- say, 'ahh it's an up/down day then'. Then I hop off the scale and go enjoy my day. Working well so far.
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I am a daily weigher too. My pattern looks something like:
Things will go down, hold steady, go up a bit, hold steady. Go back down. The drop. Repeat. When TOM visits, I have around 10 days of daily fluctuations and no loss.0 -
OMG, if I could magically pop through my computer screen and hug you ladies, I would!
Reading all your experiences has been very encouraging and enlightening!!
I plan to weigh myself on Sunday, as well as doing my measurements. Haven't done my measurements since 3/24 and haven't weighed myself since the beginning of LAST week so it'll be interesting to see how I'm doing.
I know I've had to have lost inches b/c my clothes are looser and I feel stronger.
No matter what the scale shows, though, I'm hanging in for the long haul and this thread is excellent evidence that eating more and strength training DOES work!0 -
snip..
This longer pattern has presented a tracking issue in regard to neatly fitting my data points into calendar weeks.
I've since realized that using a calendar week is rather pointless- it seems my body has no idea what one is and why it should automatically decline at a steady rate every Monday. This frustrates me but must be forgiven as it appears my body is quite busy with breathing, dividing cells, creating new tissue, cooling/heating, activities such as workouts, muscle repair, fuel digestion and disposal. In short- it's got a lot on it's plate and doesn't seem to give two whits what a 'week' is.
So now I don't stress at the scale. I hop on- say, 'ahh it's an up/down day then'. Then I hop off the scale and go enjoy my day. Working well so far.
...snip
Haha! You put that so well. Exactly!0 -
How I imagined my weight loss experience -
What happened -
The straight lines on the graph are before I started weighing every day. You can see from March (green line) 18th onwards that I started recording what really goes on. I started doing that some time after upping my calories. I upped my calories to 1900 plus after March 3.
FEB
Weight Start of month 110.00 k /242.00 pounds
Total Weight Lost 3.90 k/8.58 p
Total weight lost kilos per day 0.13 k /0.30 p
Total net cal per day averaged over month 1258.83
MARCH
Weight Start of month 106.1 k /233.42 pounds
Total Weight Lost 3.30 k/7.26 p
Total weight lost per day 0.11 k /0.23 p
Total net cal per day averaged over month 1976.06
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I am noticing myself doing the exact same sort of thing. Hit a low, bounce around for the next week, hit a low, bounce around....
I'm glad to see this is normal. :-)0 -
Even in the bounce except for tom time I don't see the bouncing in the mirror or in how my clothes fit so that is a good thing.0
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I've been documenting my weight every day since Jan 1st. After reading this thread, I decided to actually graph the data to see if I could find a pattern or explanation of what was going on. I was loosing weight pretty steadily for 2 months and then I dropped them too low and started gain weight slowly. So I bumped up my calories a lot and now I've been bouncing around between 3-4 pounds. Not really loosing, but not gaining either.
But back to the point of my post. :laugh:
I graphed my data and found out that my pattern is every 4 weeks. And it's almost exactly 4 weeks, down to the same day.
Every 4 weeks I will spike the lowest weight I've ever seen and then the next day it will jump up by a couple pounds again. Then over the next three weeks I'll bounce up and down constantly. I won't really gain anymore than that that first initial jump but it will slowly start coming down again. And then after 4 weeks, I'll spike a new low weight again and it will even lower than the low spike from 4 week prior. Sadly the next day it'll jump up by a couple pounds and I'll start the process all over. Again.
Thankfully every low spike I see is a couple pounds lower than the one before so I'm definitely loosing weight. Now that I've seen this pattern I'm going to try stop panicking every time I gain a couple pounds after my low spike. Key word.. try. :blushing:0 -
reply To witrixie2011 -
Yay!
Really looking at the data from this graph and calculating my average daily/weekly loss from monthly results helped me see I was making more progress than I originally thought. I told myself .5 kilo (1.1 pounds) a week was my goal and on average I am doing 0.65 kilo (1.43 pounds) a week. In my head due to the fluctuations I thought I wasn't progressing this much.
Anyone out there curious but have never set up a spreadsheet graph before, this video explains how quick a very basic one can be to set up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qizp1OSVbtQ
I just want to add that I have gone from eating an average of 1259 net cal a day for Feb to 1976 net a day for March and my weight loss rate has decreased only slightly.
So all those extra nutrients and increased energy level of an extra 717 calories a day I would be missing out on if I had stayed at 1200!!!!
Having an extra 717 calories a day to play with means alot of enjoyable yummy food and no feelings of deprivation.
So short term test of eating more to weigh less for me I consider a success.0 -
You may of just found the magic answer to my stressing! I love this and will be making a spread sheet tonight! I can't stand not to weigh everyday. I have always been this way. I am so happy you shared this!!0
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I wrote a blog on here called the terrain of weight loss. I knew that something was wrong when my pattern changed to just down and up and down and up etc. etc. instead of a pattern close to the one you describe. Right now I am giving my self a rest from a deficit to reset my metabolism but when I establish a deficit (smaller this time), I think I will try to record my weight daily. I too weigh daily and I too feel that I need that information. I know that if I did weekly weigh-ins I might miss the lows. You could see a low one week and a high the next and never have a clue you were actually losing. Although I weigh daily it has been hard for me to record daily but I think with eating more now is a good time to start. So I yes I am a rebel too just need to document better.0
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Weighing everyday is not for everyone thats for sure. If it becomes a torment for you and discourages you then its best to be patient and go by measurements (I do that as well).
For those who do like to weigh often then looking at the long term trend is much more important than your weight on any given day.
Also when you are down to a low weight then weight really isnt much of an issue as if your lifting heavy and gaining muscle mass you may weigh more but look Waaaaaay hotter!!
Once I am down to near goal weight, the tape measure and personal best lifting weight will really be what I am measuring progress with.0 -
If anyone is interested in an online tool that automatically graphs a trend line of your daily weights make an account at
https://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/HackDiet/
Mostly for those who don't want to set up their own spreadsheet. it also looks very nice and has a lot of handy tools you can use.0 -
Now explain it to my husband :P
Typical man thinks that it should just go down. Doesn't understand womanly fluctuation.0 -
Thank you so much for this help. I am so totally going to do this. As a matter of fact, I am going to make a graft tonight while I have down time and start tomorrow. Thank you, thank you. I think this will help me better set my goals for a better expectation.0
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Even in the bounce except for tom time I don't see the bouncing in the mirror or in how my clothes fit so that is a good thing.
^^^this!! x 100
Thats what kept my sanity0 -
If anyone is interested in an online tool that automatically graphs a trend line of your daily weights make an account at
https://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/HackDiet/
Mostly for those who don't want to set up their own spreadsheet. it also looks very nice and has a lot of handy tools you can use.
Hey that looks really good! Thanks for posting that.
This link explains it abit more -
http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/online/hdo.html0 -
I'm going to start charting too...I find it really interesting and I think it'll help with the ups and the downs, esp if I can see a trend and be able to anticipate when my weight may fluctuate most.
And on a side note, I managed to fit into a pair of capris that I haven't worn in ages!! So, something's working!!0 -
I am going to start grafting...really neat.0
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I like the look of those links I go up and down on a regular cycle but do have a downward trend which has slowed down recently!0
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Thanks for sharing this.......I'm going to start tracking today 0
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I had been off the scale for months until I got the BMF and now I've been tracking daily again. I knew already that my weight would fluctuate a bit from day to day but would stay within the same small range (I'm in maintenance). But since I've been eating to what my actual maintenance is per the BMF my weight has shifted WILDLY from day to day. In 2 weeks it has generally trended up but it can change 2-3 pounds from day to day. I've not experienced this before except when I've eaten out and had a lot of high-sodium foods and this does feel like bloating. I've been chalking this up to water retention from taking Zyrtec, but maybe after reading this thread it's not? I am trusting what you ladies have been saying and actually haven't been freaking out about the number on the scale. But I'm curious to see what happens over the next few weeks.0
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I had been off the scale for months until I got the BMF and now I've been tracking daily again. I knew already that my weight would fluctuate a bit from day to day but would stay within the same small range (I'm in maintenance). But since I've been eating to what my actual maintenance is per the BMF my weight has shifted WILDLY from day to day. In 2 weeks it has generally trended up but it can change 2-3 pounds from day to day. I've not experienced this before except when I've eaten out and had a lot of high-sodium foods and this does feel like bloating. I've been chalking this up to water retention from taking Zyrtec, but maybe after reading this thread it's not? I am trusting what you ladies have been saying and actually haven't been freaking out about the number on the scale. But I'm curious to see what happens over the next few weeks.
Please give me some details...when did you start and what are the weigh ins?0 -
I've been weighing but not recording, I'll try to give as much info as possible.
I hadn't been on the scale since the fall- 153 (5'9")
In January started NROL4W, per book instructions 2000 sounded like good goal, by late Feb when stage 1 over, I was obsessively hungry and all measurements went up 1/2 to 1". Wasn't actually tracking food through MFP but estimating.
early March- started diligently tracking cals to see why I went up in size. Turned out I was actually eating 1600-1700 most days. Started diligently eating 2000 cal.
Mid March- completed stage 2- measurements all the same but had classic signs of overtraining, ordered BMF, took a week off from training
3/19- weighed 159 and felt bloated
3/22- 161(and change) and more bloated, appetite actually poor this day
3/23- 157- actually felt somewhat normal
3/25 got BMF, restarted NROL stage 1 (modified) M,W, Sa
3/25 to today- average about 2300 TDEE, trying to eat to that, weight went from 157 back to 159 to 162 to 160 to 159 to 161 etc to 162.4 today. These estimates don't maybe look that extreme but my scale measures to .2 so 159.2 to 162.4 is a pretty big daily jump for me. And my clothes are getting tight
I started the Zyrtec in early March and I do know it causes me to retain some water so I don't know how much of this is due to that or due to the increased cals. And I eat pretty clean, I don't think this is a sodium issue I'm overlooking. I still don't understand how I could have been undereating that much but all my measurements went up that much.0 -
I have to say, I truly love the charting thing....I am noting the weight in the morning along with what happened the day before if there was a lift, high sodium...I am seeing the fluctuations based on what happened the day before...so neat to see it graphed...0
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My weight loss is weird as my weight can fluctuate daily by alot. The way I know if I am on track is by looking at the last month as a whole. I am logging my calorie intake and loss on an excel document as the reports on MFP are pretty useless. (I do love MFP though)
So I am seeing a pattern of about 10 days where my weight goes up and down and looks very random them BAM! I will go down to a new lowest weight of about 3 - 3.3 pounds less than my last lowest weight.
That weight will stay for a couple of days then my weight increases overnight again to take back most of these pounds and will spend another ten days watching it go up and down between the new lowest weight and the old baseline.
Being able to plot my weight on a spreadsheet really shows up long term patterns much clearer. So glad I did it because now I don't stress over what I think is me stalling. Its just the way my body likes to lose weight.
If I didn't know that I need at least ten days between my loss showing then every 7 days I would be stressing over "no progress". If I didnt know that my body seems at this stage to like to gain most of the fat lost back as water weight and hold on for another week I would be stressed about that too. So for me weighing everyday has chilled me out alot.
I have felt frustrated until I looked at the spreadsheet numbers which show that speadout over time my weight loss has averaged 0.94 a week (2.07 pounds) for Feb and 0.75 kilo a week (1.65 pounds) for March.
For me its more about having enough information about how my body responds to what I am doing. I am my own science experiment and I am enjoying the process!
I am hoping to be able to use the info to encourage others later that go through the first uncertain couple of months when they up their calories. Excel : )
This is my story exactly (well almost exactly). I'm not really seeing any measurable weight loss, but still looking for the sweet spot for calories. I'll get there.
Interestingly, my weight is it's lowest during TOM and the highest during ovulation. Maybe that a pre-menopause thing - who knows.
I'm not techy enough to create a spreadsheet and can barely use one....:noway: I just chart my daily weight on my calendar and average them on Saturdays.
I be most interested in a spreadsheet if anyone wants to share!0 -
I've been weighing but not recording, I'll try to give as much info as possible.
I hadn't been on the scale since the fall- 153 (5'9")
In January started NROL4W, per book instructions 2000 sounded like good goal, by late Feb when stage 1 over, I was obsessively hungry and all measurements went up 1/2 to 1". Wasn't actually tracking food through MFP but estimating.
early March- started diligently tracking cals to see why I went up in size. Turned out I was actually eating 1600-1700 most days. Started diligently eating 2000 cal.
Mid March- completed stage 2- measurements all the same but had classic signs of overtraining, ordered BMF, took a week off from training
3/19- weighed 159 and felt bloated
3/22- 161(and change) and more bloated, appetite actually poor this day
3/23- 157- actually felt somewhat normal
3/25 got BMF, restarted NROL stage 1 (modified) M,W, Sa
3/25 to today- average about 2300 TDEE, trying to eat to that, weight went from 157 back to 159 to 162 to 160 to 159 to 161 etc to 162.4 today. These estimates don't maybe look that extreme but my scale measures to .2 so 159.2 to 162.4 is a pretty big daily jump for me. And my clothes are getting tight
I started the Zyrtec in early March and I do know it causes me to retain some water so I don't know how much of this is due to that or due to the increased cals. And I eat pretty clean, I don't think this is a sodium issue I'm overlooking. I still don't understand how I could have been undereating that much but all my measurements went up that much.
Ok, it sounds to me that it is good for you to track your calories closely and eat maintenance for the six/eight weeks the book suggests. This will allow you to stabilize. You sure aren't gaining, the weight fluctuations I bet coincides with your lifts, but I think with you were eating so low before you were storing the fat which is why the measurements didn't go down...fat takes up more space. You may be gaining a little muscle too now that you are lifting as well so a bit more bulk.
So, I would say, keep at TDEE, keep doing the workout routine and track your weight...once you hit that 8wk mark your metabolism should be all revved up then you can start with a 10% cut to see if the weight loss starts again...then go to 15%...
Trust me on one thing...get in your protein...at least 1gr per lb of body weight...and keep at it...you will hit a corner and lean out...you are doing the right things...it just takes time. I believe stressing is a hinderance during the process because the body releases cortisol which is linked to belly fat as well.
So, please relax in the process and know that things will move in the direction you are looking for.0
