My scale jumpes ALOT. Am I fluctuating or is the scale off?

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AnnDenny
AnnDenny Posts: 172 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Goodmorning! :happy:
I don't like to "blame the scale" and I usually weigh in only once a week because I tend to fluctuate. But recently I have been weighing in every day to see how much I do fluctuate. I weighed this morning at I was 6 pounds DOWN than yesterday morning. It was the same time of the day, wearing basically the same clothes. Is it possible that I can fluctate THAT much in only one day?? :noway: I certainly didn't gorge myself the day before. Does anyone else have this problem?

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  • sunnysweetpea
    sunnysweetpea Posts: 20 Member
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    I can fluctuate by a good 5/6 pounds! It is usually due to over-eating oops!
  • GSPL_GRL
    GSPL_GRL Posts: 8
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    Thanks for posting this. I have been obsessive about weighing in every morning. But I see the fluctuations and get discouraged. I'm glad I'm not alone. Perhaps a weekly weigh in is more useful?
  • AndyStanford
    AndyStanford Posts: 154 Member
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    You can easily fluctuate by 5lb over the course of a single day, so weighing daily is almost certainly excessive.

    Weighing no more than weekly is usually a more reliable indicator of actual body changes.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    I weigh multiple times a day, but only record once a week, on the same day, at the same time. I do not fluctuate more than about 1 lb. except during TOM. At that time, I can fluctuate by 5 or 6 pounds.

    There's nothing wrong with weighing frequently unless the fluctuations upset you. If they do, stop checking so much.
  • FitGoal165
    FitGoal165 Posts: 82
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    We have a digital scale and it will fluctuate based upon its location in the room!! I tend to weight myself 3 times (in the same spot in the room each time) to be sure that the reading is accurate.
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
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    Yes it can vary. I weigh every day...ups and downs don't bother me though.
  • Suewags
    Suewags Posts: 57 Member
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    It definitely can vary. Not only with what you might have just eaten, if you have drunk a lot of water or even if you haven't had a BM yet. I also notice that certain body types fluctuate a lot more. I have PCOS and I seem to fluctuate a lot. But it is definitely not body fat that is fluctuating that much. It is water weight, undigested food, a lot of sodium, etc. So it's much more accurate to record just one weight per week.

    I'm currently weighing myself every day because I knew I overate on the weekend and I wanted to see what it did to my weight. On Monday I was up 6 pounds from just those two days! So then I ate cleaner, worked out a bit more and drank a lot of water and then weighed myself every day to see how long it would take for me to get back to the original weight. The first day I went down almost 4 pounds, today about 1-1/2 pounds. So only 1/2 pounds left to go. That proves to me that it was water weight, high sodium, whatever! And it also showed me that I can get back on track and lose those fluctuating pounds within a couple days.
  • yankeedownsouth
    yankeedownsouth Posts: 717 Member
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    It definitely can vary. Not only with what you might have just eaten, if you have drunk a lot of water or even if you haven't had a BM yet. I also notice that certain body types fluctuate a lot more. I have PCOS and I seem to fluctuate a lot. But it is definitely not body fat that is fluctuating that much. It is water weight, undigested food, a lot of sodium, etc. So it's much more accurate to record just one weight per week.

    I'm currently weighing myself every day because I knew I overate on the weekend and I wanted to see what it did to my weight. On Monday I was up 6 pounds from just those two days! So then I ate cleaner, worked out a bit more and drank a lot of water and then weighed myself every day to see how long it would take for me to get back to the original weight. The first day I went down almost 4 pounds, today about 1-1/2 pounds. So only 1/2 pounds left to go. That proves to me that it was water weight, high sodium, whatever! And it also showed me that I can get back on track and lose those fluctuating pounds within a couple days.

    This is totally me. I don't have PCOS, but I sure gain weight if I eat too much sodium. I also weigh every day so I can track how what I eat affects my weight - mostly out of curiosity. Right now I'm up a ton because I've been eating out and eating too much sugar. I know some of it's real weight but most of it's water. It's just the way my body works.
  • ejha77
    ejha77 Posts: 63
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    Make sure you always have the scale in the same place, and that it's on a hard surface. You will appear to weigh less if you weigh yourself on carpet.
  • MadtownMadisonian
    MadtownMadisonian Posts: 66 Member
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    I tend to fluctuate 3 pounds up or 3 pounds down in a day, a total 6 pound spread. I weigh myself every day precisely because I fluctuate. If I were to weigh myself only once a week, I might see a low-end weight on week 1 and then a high end weight on week 2, and think I'd gained weight when actually it was all within the same fluctuating range. My thinking is this - weigh every day, celebrate whenever I see a new "low" weight, assume the new "low" will be followed by bounces that go back up for a few days or weeks. But eventually the new low becomes the new mid-range and I can be sure I have actually lost real weight.
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
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    You can easily fluctuate by 5lb over the course of a single day, so weighing daily is almost certainly excessive.

    Weighing no more than weekly is usually a more reliable indicator of actual body changes.

    In your opinion. There is nothing wrong with weighing yourself everyday or even am and pm. I like to know what my flucuations are so I know when I have truly lost weight. I may weigh myself multiple times throughout the week but I only do my official "weigh-in" once a week on the same day in the am.
  • seansquared
    seansquared Posts: 328 Member
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    Wake up.
    Evacuate waste (i.e. "use the restroom").
    Weigh yourself.
    Commence morning routine (i.e. brush your teeth, shower, whatever).


    Follow that exact order. Always weigh yourself first thing in the morning after using the restroom but before doing ANYTHING else.

    Also women's water stores can fluctuate wildly, even day to day, even on a sodium restriction.
  • Jim1960
    Jim1960 Posts: 194
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    My weight seems to fluctuate +/- 2 lbs day to day. I try to weigh in the morning after I use the bathroom. But still it fluctuates. Still getting used to it. I've checked my scale and it's pretty consistent if I stand on it right. I figure the main culprit is water retention (or loss). I want to weigh daily to try to figure out more about why I may be retaining water when I do.
  • AnnDenny
    AnnDenny Posts: 172 Member
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    Thanks everyone :) I just wanted to make sure my scale was okay. I normally record only once a week anyway, so that won't count when I weigh everyday. I guess I fluctuate alot lol

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