Woke up earlier = unexpected weight gain?!?
nkayyy
Posts: 46
Hello, everyone! My name is Nicole. I've been a longtime member of myfitnesspal, but this is my first time posting on the forums.
I'm a college student on winter break, and lately I've been going to bed around 2-3am and waking up at 11. On those days I usually eat two meals: a late breakfast/lunch, and then dinner. I've put on a bit of weight this past semester that I'm trying to lose, so I've been closely monitoring my intake/exercise and weighing myself every morning--before breakfast, after using the bathroom, naked, always trying to get the most accurate number possible.
Yesterday I ate two moderately-sized meals, plus I exercised a lot: 4 hours of hiking, 2 hours of goofing off in the park with my friends (we're very mature college students). By the time I went to bed at 1:30, I was absolutely exhausted and extremely hungry, and confident that I'd weigh at least a pound lighter by the next morning.
I woke up at 8:15, and to my surprise weighted in at 134.0... not only did I not lose weight, but I actually gained from yesterday's 133.4! So my question is: why did I gain weight? Is it because I woke up 3 hours earlier than usual, or did I grossly overestimate yesterday's deficit, or what? I'm a bit of a scale junkie, and generally good at understanding scale patterns, but this absolutely stumps me. Any insights or theories would be great.
Thank you so much! x
I'm a college student on winter break, and lately I've been going to bed around 2-3am and waking up at 11. On those days I usually eat two meals: a late breakfast/lunch, and then dinner. I've put on a bit of weight this past semester that I'm trying to lose, so I've been closely monitoring my intake/exercise and weighing myself every morning--before breakfast, after using the bathroom, naked, always trying to get the most accurate number possible.
Yesterday I ate two moderately-sized meals, plus I exercised a lot: 4 hours of hiking, 2 hours of goofing off in the park with my friends (we're very mature college students). By the time I went to bed at 1:30, I was absolutely exhausted and extremely hungry, and confident that I'd weigh at least a pound lighter by the next morning.
I woke up at 8:15, and to my surprise weighted in at 134.0... not only did I not lose weight, but I actually gained from yesterday's 133.4! So my question is: why did I gain weight? Is it because I woke up 3 hours earlier than usual, or did I grossly overestimate yesterday's deficit, or what? I'm a bit of a scale junkie, and generally good at understanding scale patterns, but this absolutely stumps me. Any insights or theories would be great.
Thank you so much! x
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Replies
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Are you drinking enough water? Are you going to be on your period soon? Other things can contribute to it. But, don't stress out, it's only 0.6 lbs, you will probably lose them by tomorrow.0
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I woke up at 8:15, and to my surprise weighted in at 134.0... not only did I not lose weight, but I actually gained from yesterday's 133.4! So my question is: why did I gain weight? Is it because I woke up 3 hours earlier than usual, or did I grossly overestimate yesterday's deficit, or what? I'm a bit of a scale junkie, and generally good at understanding scale patterns, but this absolutely stumps me. Any insights or theories would be great.
Thank you so much! x
Hello Nicole,
I mean this with the best of intent for your success and well being.
The fact that you're even remotely concerned with a 0.6lb fluctuation over one day suggests to me that you need to put your scale away for a while and perhaps focus a bit more on the week to week processes rather than the minutia. Focus on long term trends. In your case I'd limit yourself to weekly weigh-ins at most.
Disclaimer: I don't mean this with any sort of tone so please don't take this wrong. You have a nice day and I like your hat.0 -
^What he said.
Focus on your week to week and even month to month. Pay attention to your inches, not pounds. A gallon of fresh water weighs 8.34 pounds. I drink 2 gallons of water per day. Don't focus too much on it.0 -
You muscle may get swollen from hiking and it would retain more water.
Sodium intake?0 -
Weight will fluctuate.0
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Weight fluctuates daily, so while there could be a lot of factors that caused that increase - things like water retention, dehydration, too much sodium etc. It is nothing worth recording and likely won't hang around.0
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As I stated before, I'm a bit addicted to the scale, but I've been weighing myself daily for the past couple years and it really helps me stay on track and catch myself when my weight begins to creep up. I normally wouldn't care about a gain of 0.6, it's just that I exercised SO much yesterday and expected a big loss.0
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I woke up at 8:15, and to my surprise weighted in at 134.0... not only did I not lose weight, but I actually gained from yesterday's 133.4! So my question is: why did I gain weight? Is it because I woke up 3 hours earlier than usual, or did I grossly overestimate yesterday's deficit, or what? I'm a bit of a scale junkie, and generally good at understanding scale patterns, but this absolutely stumps me. Any insights or theories would be great.
Thank you so much! x
Hello Nicole,
I mean this with the best of intent for your success and well being.
The fact that you're even remotely concerned with a 0.6lb fluctuation over one day suggests to me that you need to put your scale away for a while and perhaps focus a bit more on the week to week processes rather than the minutia. Focus on long term trends. In your case I'd limit yourself to weekly weigh-ins at most.
Disclaimer: I don't mean this with any sort of tone so please don't take this wrong. You have a nice day and I like your hat.
^yep0 -
You stated that you are good at understanding scale patterns. Chalk that .6 of a pound up to a normal fluctuation and go back to what you were doing.0
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As I stated before, I'm a bit addicted to the scale, but I've been weighing myself daily for the past couple years and it really helps me stay on track and catch myself when my weight begins to creep up. I normally wouldn't care about a gain of 0.6, it's just that I exercised SO much yesterday and expected a big loss.
And I am implying that this is a problem and I'd encourage you to find ways to correct it.0 -
As I stated before, I'm a bit addicted to the scale, but I've been weighing myself daily for the past couple years and it really helps me stay on track and catch myself when my weight begins to creep up. I normally wouldn't care about a gain of 0.6, it's just that I exercised SO much yesterday and expected a big loss.
If you've been weighing daily, you should know that weight fluctuates and that it's all about the longer term trend, not the day-to-day. Get a grip.0 -
As I stated before, I'm a bit addicted to the scale, but I've been weighing myself daily for the past couple years and it really helps me stay on track and catch myself when my weight begins to creep up. I normally wouldn't care about a gain of 0.6, it's just that I exercised SO much yesterday and expected a big loss.
Some days I exercise my *kitten* off and expect to see "whooooeeee look at that loss" the next morning... and my scale is up.
Some days I eat like a pig and go over in my cals and expect to hear my scale scream "you're a big fat cow" in the morning, and jeeze, I'm at an all time low.
Thing is, your body is not like a debit machine. The transactions you make today, do not instantly show up in the account.
Instead... think of it as a credit card.... the impact of your purchases and deposits accumulate over time and you're hit with the bill later... and most likely when you have forgotten exactly what you did to succeed (or fail) haha.
That said... I like SideSteel's answer much better than mine. And he's right, it's a cool hat.0 -
It's your sleep fat. It wasn't expecting you to be up so early so it was still metabolizing. Stay in bed longer tomorrow and it'll all be gone.0
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I agree with those advocating for a weekly weigh-in over daily... I sometimes get into the daily weigh-in obsession and it really just drives me crazy. I find my mood influenced too much by what my scale says!
Also, I notice that the day after I have done a lot of exercise (e.g. a 4-hour hike). I tend to retain extra water &/or am a bit swollen, which would account for a .6 gain (sometimes it's as much as 2-3 lbs.).0 -
This is common. The later you weigh yourself the less you'll weigh. If you have been waking up at 11 and weighing yourself and lets say tomorrow you wake up at 12 or 1 you'll weigh less than you normally do. When I have morning classes and weigh myself at 8am, I always weigh more, than when I weigh myself at 11. I may weigh myself to keep myself in check, but I only compare my weight when I weigh in at the same time of day0
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I woke up at 8:15, and to my surprise weighted in at 134.0... not only did I not lose weight, but I actually gained from yesterday's 133.4! So my question is: why did I gain weight? Is it because I woke up 3 hours earlier than usual, or did I grossly overestimate yesterday's deficit, or what? I'm a bit of a scale junkie, and generally good at understanding scale patterns, but this absolutely stumps me. Any insights or theories would be great.
Thank you so much! x
Hello Nicole,
I mean this with the best of intent for your success and well being.
The fact that you're even remotely concerned with a 0.6lb fluctuation over one day suggests to me that you need to put your scale away for a while and perhaps focus a bit more on the week to week processes rather than the minutia. Focus on long term trends. In your case I'd limit yourself to weekly weigh-ins at most.
Disclaimer: I don't mean this with any sort of tone so please don't take this wrong. You have a nice day and I like your hat.
He is right. Stressing over the scale can actually cause a cortisol release, and cortisol will hinder your progress. Also, you are a woman. Estrogen causes a water weight increase. Your body releases estrogen twice a month. I finally resolved only to weigh in monthly on the day that my period starts. That is the one day of the month that my water levels should always be precisely the same as the month before.
Now I'm not going to lie and say that I don't get on the scale daily. But the only day that the number on the scale matters to me is that one day of the month. And I don't really stress about the scale anymore.0 -
I woke up at 8:15, and to my surprise weighted in at 134.0... not only did I not lose weight, but I actually gained from yesterday's 133.4! So my question is: why did I gain weight? Is it because I woke up 3 hours earlier than usual, or did I grossly overestimate yesterday's deficit, or what? I'm a bit of a scale junkie, and generally good at understanding scale patterns, but this absolutely stumps me. Any insights or theories would be great.
Thank you so much! x
Hello Nicole,
I mean this with the best of intent for your success and well being.
The fact that you're even remotely concerned with a 0.6lb fluctuation over one day suggests to me that you need to put your scale away for a while and perhaps focus a bit more on the week to week processes rather than the minutia. Focus on long term trends. In your case I'd limit yourself to weekly weigh-ins at most.
Disclaimer: I don't mean this with any sort of tone so please don't take this wrong. You have a nice day and I like your hat.
Definitely what he said. And do measurements. The scale is going to fluctuate with water retention and muscle gain.0 -
Hello Nicole,
I mean this with the best of intent for your success and well being.
The fact that you're even remotely concerned with a 0.6lb fluctuation over one day suggests to me that you need to put your scale away for a while and perhaps focus a bit more on the week to week processes rather than the minutia. Focus on long term trends. In your case I'd limit yourself to weekly weigh-ins at most.
Disclaimer: I don't mean this with any sort of tone so please don't take this wrong. You have a nice day and I like your hat.
I think this is the best advice, I try not to use the scale too often (deciding for myself to only weigh in at the end of the month) I'd get so obsessed of why I gained/didn't lose on the day to and get discouraged or try to restrict my eating too much. I don't want these journey to get stunted before it starts. I think he says it great
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Hello, everyone! My name is Nicole. I've been a longtime member of myfitnesspal, but this is my first time posting on the forums.
I'm a college student on winter break, and lately I've been going to bed around 2-3am and waking up at 11. On those days I usually eat two meals: a late breakfast/lunch, and then dinner. I've put on a bit of weight this past semester that I'm trying to lose, so I've been closely monitoring my intake/exercise and weighing myself every morning--before breakfast, after using the bathroom, naked, always trying to get the most accurate number possible.
Yesterday I ate two moderately-sized meals, plus I exercised a lot: 4 hours of hiking, 2 hours of goofing off in the park with my friends (we're very mature college students). By the time I went to bed at 1:30, I was absolutely exhausted and extremely hungry, and confident that I'd weigh at least a pound lighter by the next morning.
I woke up at 8:15, and to my surprise weighted in at 134.0... not only did I not lose weight, but I actually gained from yesterday's 133.4! So my question is: why did I gain weight? Is it because I woke up 3 hours earlier than usual, or did I grossly overestimate yesterday's deficit, or what? I'm a bit of a scale junkie, and generally good at understanding scale patterns, but this absolutely stumps me. Any insights or theories would be great.
Thank you so much! x
OM gosh I feel for you I really do, I am a scale junkie too lol!
But it really does depend on everything all the previous posters have said.
It can even just be a poo lol!
I really shouldn`t worry about it too much. Keep up with what your are doing and the scale will work itself out x0 -
As I stated before, I'm a bit addicted to the scale, but I've been weighing myself daily for the past couple years and it really helps me stay on track and catch myself when my weight begins to creep up. I normally wouldn't care about a gain of 0.6, it's just that I exercised SO much yesterday and expected a big loss.
The extra exercise could have also released cortisol. Or perhaps your muscles are retaining extra glycogen. The point that we are trying to get across to you is that the day-to-day fluctuations shouldn't matter this much to you.0 -
Haha yeah, I probably just need to get a grip and stop obsessing over tiny fluctuations like this. You were all very helpful, so thank you to everyone!0
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As I stated before, I'm a bit addicted to the scale, but I've been weighing myself daily for the past couple years and it really helps me stay on track and catch myself when my weight begins to creep up. I normally wouldn't care about a gain of 0.6, it's just that I exercised SO much yesterday and expected a big loss.
Some days I exercise my *kitten* off and expect to see "whooooeeee look at that loss" the next morning... and my scale is up.
Some days I eat like a pig and go over in my cals and expect to hear my scale scream "you're a big fat cow" in the morning, and jeeze, I'm at an all time low.
Thing is, your body is not like a debit machine. The transactions you make today, do not instantly show up in the account.
Instead... think of it as a credit card.... the impact of your purchases and deposits accumulate over time and you're hit with the bill later... and most likely when you have forgotten exactly what you did to succeed (or fail) haha.
That said... I like SideSteel's answer much better than mine. And he's right, it's a cool hat.
love it
and i also love the dont obsess over the scale0 -
when you woke up did you check your pockets for bacon?0
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Lots of exercise equals sore muscles... Sore muscles equals water retention.. Water retention equals gain. I couldn't log daily would drive me nutty. Weight can change significantly over a day so best to weigh in at the same time... I would say you give it a day or two and try again. Weight loss is not linear... You'll not always get what you hope for!
Zara x0 -
Haha yeah, I probably just need to get a grip and stop obsessing over tiny fluctuations like this. You were all very helpful, so thank you to everyone!
I can fluctuate that much in a matter of hours. Sodium and water retention. Also, after a heavy workout, it is pretty normal for your body to retain more water as the muscles repair. I never weigh myself after an intense workout day or if my muscles are sore and fatigued. I also figured out that I'm much happier weighing in weekly...I used to do it daily and even a few times a day and I quickly figured out that was for the birds and needed to focus on the overall trend.0 -
>>Yesterday I ate two moderately-sized meals, plus I exercised a lot: 4 hours of hiking,
>> 2 hours of goofing off in the park with my friends (we're very mature college students).
>>By the time I went to bed at 1:30, I was absolutely exhausted and extremely hungry,
>>and confident that I'd weigh at least a pound lighter by the next morning.
To lose a pound of body fat, you need to run a deficit of 3500 calories over the period in question. Unless that was a hell of a hike , and olympic-grade goofing around.... its not credible that you burned thousands of calories in those activities.
Best Advice is to lower your expectations as to the amount of body fat that can be lost in such a short period of time as a single day. Consistency over a period of weeks and months is the only way you can win this game.0 -
I have found when I sleep in on weekends (usually an extra couple hours or more), I weigh less. When I get up early on Monday, my weight is more than it was when I slept in on Sunday. I chalk this up to more time sleeping=more time breathing out moisture/water which results in lower weight on days I sleep in and weigh later in the morning. So I could see how getting up earlier would have the opposite effect. If i weight in at 3:00am vs 9:00am after less time sleeping, I would figure the scale wouldn't have dropped as much overnight.0
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I discovered the same thing as well after I exercise strenuously. I would just chalk it up to water retention. If you keep eating modestly, you'll probably find a happy dip in your weight later on in the week. That's what usually happens to me!0
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