Trends in the weigh loss curve

Hujambo
Hujambo Posts: 27
in Health and Weight Loss
HI,

I like to make a graph of my weight loss, I have been tracking it since last May. The nice thing is that eventually patterns start to appear, which in turn is a nice way to get some feedback from your body about what affects your weight. I saw how salt affects may weight (you know, it goes up), or eating a lot one day can move your weight up by many kilos (and it takes many days to come down again) and increasing exercise intensity/duration makes your body retain water, which suddenly I lost after 15 days (and my weight made a big drop). Recognising these patterns is very useful, because I (and many of you) try to make lifestyle changes (not only lose weight) and for this you need to learn to listen to your body/become aware of what influences your body, and this is one way.

One thing from my graphs I don't understand: My weight can go up for several days in a row and go down the next days, go up again. It's not unusual for my weight to be 3 kg higher than my lowest weight of a few days ago, and this can even be 6. The big extremes I understand, because it's very clear that I ate a lot of salt/food, but the smaller extremes are weird. My weight may be higher for no apparent reason and also lower.

What process in the body may cause you to vary this much in weight? It must be water retention, but then I don't understand how water retention could make your body go 2-3 kg higher.

I hope that was clear. Thanks in advance!

By the way, I am curious about the patterns that you see in your graphs! :)

Replies

  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Water is heavy. Our bodies are mostly water. Your weight will also vary based on the undigested food you're carrying and a few other things. We're constantly changing, letting substances in and out, sweat, water, food, urine, etc. Who knows how exact our scales even are. :smile:
  • Hujambo
    Hujambo Posts: 27
    Good points.

    Indeed, the scale may also not be totally reliable. :)
  • blankney94
    blankney94 Posts: 95
    I've plotted my weight loss so far, started two months ago and losing 14lb so far. I'm aiming to take off another 4-6lb.

    Yes there are blips in my graph - it's not all a downward trend. So far I'm marking in when my monthly is, as I'm suspicious there is a slight gain just before it arrives.

    I have had other slight gains (2lb) where I've eaten well in the preceding days, not going over any calorie or sodium limits.

    Another thing I've noted is that sometimes my weight will stay static for quite a few days before I can make a breakthrough, and then I'll lose 2-3lb in a row easily, before hitting another period of static.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    I started weighing daily now and plotting it in a graph and yes, I vary between 2-3 kg. My weight goes up around ovulation by about 1-1.5 kg then a few days later I will have a little whoosh and be about 200-300gr below my previous low and then in the week leading up to my period my weight will be up by 2-3kg and a couple of days after that I will drop about 800gr below my previous low after ovulation.

    I attribute that to water and biomass (i.e. constipation), but it does show that the scales are really only reliable if used over a period of time. I used to weigh myself every Thursday and get depressed if I caught myself on a high day, whereas now I can see that the trend is downwards, so it's all good :-)

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