Monday Morning Spikes

jmadigan
jmadigan Posts: 3
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
So, contrary to popular wisdom, I weigh myself every day and log the data in a spreadsheet so that I can graph my weight loss. One thing that the resulting graph has highlighted is that my weight spikes every Monday. Usually 2 to 4 pounds in ONE day (I currently weigh in the mid 170s).

While Sunday is normally my day away from the gym, I usually have my long runs on Saturdays that are more intense than my regular weekday gym visits. So I chalk those Monday weight spikes up to eating more poorly on the weekend when I'm at home and temptations are both more numerous and more conveniently satiated. But I find this perplexing, as the math really doesn't work out. It can't be true fat weight gain, as I'm pretty sure that while I'm snacking a bit more I'm not eating 14,000 extra calories.

Any thoughts? Too much salt on weekends leading to water retention? Not sweating out water on Sundays? Not eating as much fiber on weekends and thus eliminating as much ...other stuff from my system before the Monday weigh-in?

And yes, I know that I shouldn't obsess over daily weights. I don't; the metric I really care about is a 5-day running average weight and not the weight from ANY individual day. So this is more of an academic curiosity than anything and I thought I'd toss it out there.

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Water weight, if you eat worse on the weekend you are probably ingesting more sodium, which makes you retain water, and drinking less water, which also makes you retain water.
  • jlewis2896
    jlewis2896 Posts: 763 Member
    I am EXACTLY the same way. And I weigh myself daily also, as a reminder to keep myself on track. I think it's only detrimental when we get discouraged waiting for change and give up....

    I weigh in at work on Mondays as part of a weight-loss challenge, so I've started just flushing myself with fluids on Sunday night and that has helped me keep my weight and weight loss more steady through the week. I do have high sodium intake, and I've noticed it directly correlates to my weight fluctuation (yet another benefit of weighing daily, we can recognize patterns!!).
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