Weight loss and water retention

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ron2e
ron2e Posts: 606
in Health and Weight Loss
I weigh myself every day, as a computer geek I'm interested in the raw data, but am happy looking for trends as far as weight loss goes and am aware weight fluctuates. I just wanted to see if I could understand why. For me I have discovered something interesting in doing so. Firstly I have noticed when I travel on business, I get back and haven't lost the weight I expected for the period, but over the next two or three days I get quite a large drop. My theory was this was probably due to not drinking enough when I was away (I was aware of this) and high sodium hotel and restaurant meals. I've just had a period at home when my weight flatlined for three days, then went up by 0.8 of a lb on Sunday. I looked at possible reasons and realised before the flatline I had had a couple of high sodium days (slightly over my MFP allowance), I also, due to being very busy, had not drunk as much as I usually did, so made a definite effort to drink my usual amount Sunday and Monday and low and behold I dropped 0.8 between Sunday and Monday and 1.2 between Monday and Tuesday bringing my weight back to 2 lbs loss in 6 days, more or less what I would expect. Incidentally over this period I was slightly below my MFP calculated daily calorie allowance every day.

So if you weigh yourself only once a week and you flatline or even go up, it's possible it's due to water retention on weighing day and points out the importance of drinking sufficient water each day.

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  • Chadomaniac
    Chadomaniac Posts: 1,785 Member
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    Shows that one has to be as consistent as possible with water + sodium
  • pinalety
    pinalety Posts: 37 Member
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    Thanks for posting. This is an area that I realize I need to watch closer that I am right now. Very analytically explained and makes sense. I just have to be patient to get through the high sodium lag and drink more water. I drink tea but I suppose I need to supplement with water too. Since I'm living in a colder area it's become more difficult to drink just water....I seem to want the tea because it has flavor. This is something to work on for me, I'm glad you posted and made me think about this.

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