Gained over a pound but only ate an extra 85 calories

Your weight naturally fluctuates, that's why it's not recommended to weight yourself daily.

I weigh myself daily - it's a habit. Plus I find it fascinating to see how my weight fluctuates from day to day. I can go up and down 4-5 lbs in one week due to hormones, sodium, not enough water, a new workout, etc. Totally normal. I weigh daily, but I track the trend over time, as well as taking photos and measurements for a better gauge of progress.

Water, poop.

yup.

I weigh myself daily - it's a habit. Plus I find it fascinating to see how my weight fluctuates from day to day. I can go up and down 4-5 lbs in one week due to hormones, sodium, not enough water, a new workout, etc. Totally normal. I weight daily, but I track the trend over time, as well as taking photos and measurements for a better gauge of progress.

more yup.

I weigh myself daily - it's a habit. Plus I find it fascinating to see how my weight fluctuates from day to day. I can go up and down 4-5 lbs in one week due to hormones, sodium, not enough water, a new workout, etc. Totally normal. I weigh daily, but I track the trend over time, as well as taking photos and measurements for a better gauge of progress.

Exactly, plus following my diary I can find out who the culprit was on why the scale moved up (certain exercise, upped sodium) and be able to counteract it for the rest of the week.

I weigh myself once per week, at the same time. So I weighed myself on Tuesday this week at 5:30 AM. I'll weigh myself next Tuesday at 5:30 AM. Weight does fluctuate though DAILY. The other day I weighed myself in the AM and then again at night, and I had gained 5 lbs by the PM, but weighed myself the next morning and I had lost 7 lbs overnight. Water and poop as someone else said! LOL.

Yeah, I weigh myself every morning too. But, I only record it once a week so it could easily be water weight. Don't worry!

Your weight naturally fluctuates, that's why it's not recommended to weight yourself daily.

Weighing once per week doesn't avoid fluctuations. Just reduces data points. More likely to provide a confusing picture of weight loss at 1/week than daily, especially if losing slowly. That said, if any gain triggers a freak out, weighing less frequently will reduce freak outs.

^this...

...oh hallelujah this.

In that past two years, my weight has frequently fluctuated +/-3 pounds and has occasionally been +/-5. Scale weight is very volatile.

#WeighingWeeklyIsn'tTheAnswerForEveryScaleProblem

Do this, weigh yourself every night before you go to bed and write that number down. Then, when you wake up and do your morning stuff...weigh yourself again, and write that number down. Do this for about 2 months, every day, and every night. Keep up with your normal eating and exercise regardless of what the scale says. Don't try to change anything about your diet or your exercise based on what the scale says....just keep doing what you do.

At the end of the 2 months, compare the first morning weight with the last morning weight and see if there is a drop, which, if you are eating at a deficit and accurately tracking, there should be.

This will give you an idea of how much your weight can fluctuate from day to day and not have any bearing on your overall goals. Just make sure that you are sticking with your normal diet and activities and not trying to sway the numbers.

Also, if you don't see any reduction after 2 months, then you may need to start adjusting your calorie intake or take a closer look at how accurately you're tracking your calories.

Your allotment is already at a deficit, unless you're set to maintain. If you're set at a pound a week loss, you're still 415 calories UNDER maintenance. It's not real.

Ohhhhh... I could weigh 7 pounds heavier and in a few days be back to normal. Please stop weighing so frequently.

But frequency of weighing isn't the real problem here. That same potential +7 will be in the weekly numbers too, and with fewer data points, would just take seven times longer to see the true average. I have some ranges of several months in my weight log where weekly weighing would have completely obscured the true trend.

Realizing and understanding the volatility inherent in scale weight is the "real" solution here...and consistent daily weighing is the easiest/quickest way to do that.

I've always thought a solution to this problem is one of the wifi connected scales but where you cover up the display. Weigh yourself daily under the same conditions every morning but don't look at the number...and after a month or two of this, *then* look. What you will almost certainly see is a number that bounces around all over, but when averaged, trends to a nice declining line (assuming you're eating at a deficit). Maybe you could also solicit the assistance of a spouse to record the number for you without divulging it.

(And that's another interesting observation. For whatever reason, when I'm eating at a deficit, my weight is *far* more volatile than when I'm eating at maintenance or a surplus.)

Many things could cause it. Weight is not just fat.

Yesterday, I went over my calorie allotment by 85 calories. I didn't eat anything that was particularly high in sodium nor did I drink any alcohol. Yet, when I weighed myself this morning, I weighed 1.2 pounds more than yesterday. I weighed myself on the same scale and at the same time of day. What could have caused this type of gain?

It's the pseudomonas syringae in the water. Totally legit.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I weigh myself daily - it's a habit. Plus I find it fascinating to see how my weight fluctuates from day to day. I can go up and down 4-5 lbs in one week due to hormones, sodium, not enough water, a new workout, etc. Totally normal. I weigh daily, but I track the trend over time, as well as taking photos and measurements for a better gauge of progress.

I LIKE weighing myself every single day. I've been at/near my goal weight for years, but seeing a number lower than 130lbs on the scale each morning never gets old, ever! So if you like to weigh every day, go ahead, but do get used to the ups and downs - and take a weekly average to measure your progress.

Wednesday, I weighed 127.5lbs. Yesterday, I weighed 126.5lbs. Today, 128lbs on the nose. Tomorrow, who knows.

Your progress chart will have peaks and valleys, but as long as the overall trend is downwards - you're winning. So, when you have a heavy day - look at your progress chart again to reassure yourself.

/very short threadjack

I love your ticker!!! LOL

/end threadjack

Yesterday, I went over my calorie allotment by 85 calories. I didn't eat anything that was particularly high in sodium nor did I drink any alcohol. Yet, when I weighed myself this morning, I weighed 1.2 pounds more than yesterday. I weighed myself on the same scale and at the same time of day. What could have caused this type of gain?

Hi Stacey, worry if that happens everytime you go over by 85 calories, otherwise, ignore it. Weight fluctuates all the time, your strength of character is shown by how you now handle this situation.

Continue with your eating plan and exercise, ignore the 1.2lbs increase, I bet that comes straight back off within the next few days, and some more.