The Scale Lies!!

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lbmade2crave
lbmade2crave Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I weighed in this morning in anticipation of a good number. I had a great week with my eating and exercising. More exercise that most weeks and not only did I not lose, I gained a pound! I am trying not to get frustrated because I know I am doing the right things. I just wanted to show up on the scale. So, I choose to believe the SCALE lies!! lol
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Replies

  • ksfischer
    ksfischer Posts: 41 Member
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    I am assuming that you gained some muscle, which is a good thing! :happy:
  • raedelv
    raedelv Posts: 4 Member
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    Happened to my yesterday... We are starting a contest at work and I have been really good. The scale at home said one thing got to the scale at work and it was 7 pounds heavier than the one at home. Scales are the devil. Don't lose motivation! Maybe you are gaining some muscle!
  • Amanda_Gx6
    Amanda_Gx6 Posts: 320 Member
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    My picture is my happy place quote, when this happens just repeat reasons to be fit # 0647 because their is no reason to stop, even if i see no progress.

    scales suck. grab something you know the definate weight on ( 1 pound of rice ) and weigh it. Your scale may need recalibration. Or you gained a pound of muscle. Or the scale is just mean today lol relax try again tomorrow :flowerforyou:
  • jonesin_am
    jonesin_am Posts: 404 Member
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    The scale really is not a good measure of success. We put way too much emphasis on the number on the scale. Don't let it get you down or discourage you. Have you taken your measurements? I find that really helps if you need numbers to help motivate you. I choose to weigh myself once a month because the number on the scale is never what I want it to be and even though I know I shouldn't let it bother me...it always does. If you know you had a great week then don't worry about it. With the extra exercise your muscles could be holding onto extra water...or it could just take another week or two for it to show up on the scale. Nice job getting in more exercise and staying on track! Keep up the great work :)
  • daveymac1
    daveymac1 Posts: 784 Member
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    Same here. Hell, I gained 4 lbs, and I doubt its muscle....
  • savyjenn
    savyjenn Posts: 41 Member
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    Most likely muscle...it can be helpful to also track your measurements, you might find you gained a pound but lost several inches!!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I am assuming that you gained some muscle, which is a good thing! :happy:

    Probably not actualy muscle, but increased exercise can cause the muscle to hold water, making them appear larger and you weigh more. You are likely still losing fat. Just give your body time to adjust to the new level of exercise and your weight will start dropping again.
  • newmrswood
    newmrswood Posts: 194
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    I lost motivation from the scale for awhile so I not only weigh now I do my measurements too! That way when the scale says one thing I can always go to my measurments and say yea but I have lots this many inches or centimeters in since blah blah day!!!!
  • OkieinMinny
    OkieinMinny Posts: 834 Member
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    The scale is a Dirty *kitten* -- Measurements!

    I have only lost 1lb since May BUT dropped pant sizes - Thank you squats and DLs
  • sanndandi
    sanndandi Posts: 300 Member
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    If you know you had a great week then don't worry about it. With the extra exercise your muscles could be holding onto extra water...or it could just take another week or two for it to show up on the scale. Nice job getting in more exercise and staying on track! Keep up the great work :)

    this ^
  • mich1902
    mich1902 Posts: 182
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    I am assuming that you gained some muscle, which is a good thing! :happy:

    Probably not actualy muscle, but increased exercise can cause the muscle to hold water, making them appear larger and you weigh more. You are likely still losing fat. Just give your body time to adjust to the new level of exercise and your weight will start dropping again.

    This. I always find that when i first start exercising it shows no loss or a gain. Remember to replace your water intake, around 500ml for every half hour done.
  • dbrightwell1270
    dbrightwell1270 Posts: 1,732 Member
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    The scale did not lie. The springs are designed to measure weight. Society has lied to you about what weight means. The problem is not the scale. The problem is your interpretation of the information you received by using the scale.
  • goody2shews
    goody2shews Posts: 129 Member
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    My scale does that to me too. It's a digital one that can do all sorts of things except tell me what I want to hear! lol

    I weigh naked at home. I'm dressed at the doctor of course with shoes and so on. That makes a bit of a difference. Maybe you could weigh at home before you walk out the door with what you have on.

    I also weigh before my 24 oz coffee and protein bar each morning. I don't budge out of the house without it. That is a little more of a difference from in the buff and an empty belly.

    Then there is the retaining water issue. Mine gets out of whack if I miss any of my metformin doses or my thyroid medicine. I don't know if you take any of that but, that is an issue for me. Other than that the female body of course has it's revenge every month or so. That makes about a 3 lb difference for me each time.

    The cool thing is since I started if I weigh one day and it says 185 and the next day it says 183, I will bump back and forth from the 183 to the 181ish for about a week or more. It seems that when I drop quickly the next couple of weeks are slower but then it drops all of a sudden again like 3 lbs. I try to do a little zig zag calorie counting. I will eat about 1200 two or three days then 1400 a couple then 1200 for two or three days. I heard that it helps and it has been working for me so far. I don't work out much because of my disability so my zig zag numbers are lower than some peoples.



    I hope that helps.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    One pound, at a deficit? Probably water weight. Check yo sodium, girl.

    Otherwise, hell yeah the scale lies... that's why so many people recommend body fat % checks. Measurements using a soft tape measure. Pictures. Caliper. Body fat % scale.

    Recent experience: Gained 3 lbs of water weight from the holidays (not too shabby), with only .5 inch going around my stomachs and legs (bloat). I also lost .5 off my hips and .5 off my arms. If I had just looked at the scale, I would have been pretty bummed... and if I measured more regularly, would have realized that I probably had more coming off, but oh well.
  • goody2shews
    goody2shews Posts: 129 Member
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    Oh I just remember one more thing....

    I have been going to massage about everey two weeks for the past 2 months. My husband says it is helping me lose weight something to do with lactic acid and toxins. I'm not sure what he meant but maybe you understand those things.
  • Superchas
    Superchas Posts: 129 Member
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    My weight fluctuates during the day by up to three pounds so I never weigh myself other than
    first thing in the morning naked or
    before exercise as want to check amount of fluid I lose

    For my weekly weigh in reported it is clothed as nurse not particularly interested in my naked body.

    Today have finally managed to lose the eight pounds gained between 20 December and 1 January. It is tough at this time of year.

    No great secret to loss just 220 miles on the exercise bike and MFP

    Party on
  • bpasz
    bpasz Posts: 1
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    WATER WEIGHT! Your body is holding on to it, especially with the increased workouts. Its thirsty! Don't worry, keep drinking that water, and keep up the awesome work...Then one day you'll see those numbers drop unexpectidly. :)
  • Sister_Someone
    Sister_Someone Posts: 567 Member
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    The scale does not lie, nor is it evil. The scale shows you how much your body weighs at any given moment you choose to step on it. What people should do is educate themselves, track their food and weigh themselves (at least) daily for a while in order to learn what kind of influence different foods have on our bodies and stop freaking out about the number.

    This may well seem counter-intuitive, but I only stopped obsessing about the scale when I started stepping on it any time I pass by it. Seeing my weight go from an all-time low (in terms of my weight loss experience) to a whopping 11 lb gain in a day due to an allergic reaction, which continued to go back down over the next three days, all the while my body hadn't visibly changed in the slightest, made me realize that the number on the scale can greatly vary based on a number of circumstances, most of which I can't control.
  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
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    That is why I prefer to just go with the body fat analyzer scales, it still isn't perfect. But. that way If I am looking at what looks like a gain, but my fat mass dropped by one pound, my Fat Free mass went up a pound (ie muscle for the most part) and my total body water went up by five pound, well, that certainly doesn't look like fat gain to me, even though a standard scale might tell me I've gained.
  • Linli_Anne
    Linli_Anne Posts: 1,360 Member
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    Scales are a silly thing, and yet we put so much value on them.

    So many things cause our weight to fluctuate, and it isn't all just fat. (Oh, and an FYI 1 pound of fat weighs the same as 1 pound of muscle!) When you are exercising, you may have small tears in your muscles (good thing, not injury) but your body will hold on to water to help rebuild the tissue. Extra water in your body = extra weight on a scale.

    Same thing with sodium - if you had something particularily salty, your body will hold on to the water to counter the sodium. Extra water = extra weight.

    Personally my weight can flucuate up and down as much as 4 or 5 pounds. I weigh myself daily because I like to know how certain choices affect my body weight, for me I think it helps to make choices that will be easy to keep up with for the rest of my life. From this I konw that I am extra sensitive to excess sodium, so I try to really watch that in my foods.

    So, the number on the scale may not be what we always want to see from day to day/week to week but fat loss isn't linear, and there are so many other changes that happen in our bodies that don't always show up on the scale. Try complimenting tracking your weight with tracking measurements and take pictures once a month. You just might be surprised at the changes happening that didn't show up on the scale.

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