Where does the weight go?

kelseyka

It may seem silly...but I was thinking. I always weigh in the morning as that is when I'm lightest. Makes Sense. However, if I eat healthy all day and at night I weigh maybe 4-5 lbs more than I do the following morning...where did the weight go??? Is this possibly just all bloat?

heidimaggott5

Bump

Dan112358

Mostly water, expelled through breathing, sweat & using the washroom in the morning. If the tooth fairy visits, you may lose some weight there as well

JesterMFP

You are metabolising fat/glycogen stores and breathing them out as CO2 and water.

ndmain1977

I asked this same question before, and didn't get an answer I could understand... so I've decided to start believing that it's the tooth fairies brother. I call him the fat fairy.

Wonderob

The fat doesn't go anywhere, it hides under the bed and creeps up on you when you stop logging your calories

dreamsofescaping

The fat doesn't go anywhere, it hides under the bed and creeps up on you when you stop logging your calories

Lol... OH! So that's where it goes!!! It's like a monster under the bed. I knew there was a reason I always checked under my bed when I was a kid for monsters lol.

Helloitsdan

You use it as fuel while sleeping.
I calculated about 900 calories burned just sleeping last night.
If you get lucky thats another 200-600 cals burned right there!

ninerbuff

Expended as energy. Weight fluctuation through the day is mostly water regulation based on electrolyte balance.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

rjcelmer

A post on MFP in the past explained this in the best way. I'm paraphrasing because I can't locate the post and I'm probably not including all the technical stuff from the original post, but you'll get the idea.

Imagine a 20lb wooden log. Place the log in an enclosed space where nothing can escape and it's protected from the elements. Set the log on fire and during the burning process, capture every single element that escapes from it. Capture the gases, the embers, and collect the ashes.

When the fire goes out, collect every single atom that burned from the log and weigh it. It will weigh 20lbs.

You're the log, the energy your body burns and uses is the fire, the embers and gases are "fat" burning away from energy, and you are left with the ashes (some of which will come out in waste).

I believe this experiment was actually done by some smart people and the results were as described.

It's a simplistic way of looking at it but it works.

yarwell

If you use 400 calories sleeping (8 hours at 50 calories/hr) that would need you to burn 100g of carbohydrate fuel, so 100g of carbs would leave your system as CO2 and water (vapour). Scale up for high BMR.