fluctuating

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monstergirl14
monstergirl14 Posts: 345 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys,

I'm hoping someone could lend me a hand. I tried to do research on my own, but unfortunately I got a variety of answers. Anyway, here it is.

Last Friday I was 151.6 pounds. This isn't good, considering in June I was 143 pounds. I know, I let myself go. I've been fighting to get back in the game and I finally have. I've been working my butt off for 3 weeks now. So anyway, I was under my calories today, came home after my workout, only to step on the scale and see 156.4. Now, I never weigh myself at night because I'm well aware of fluctuations, but for some stupid reason I decided to do it tonight, the night before my weigh in. I've read articles where weight fluctuates by 2 pounds, then some people said it could be 10 pounds. Can someone lend me a hand here? I was under the assumption that after a really intense cardio workout, that the scale would be lower than I'm used to because I used up water in my system.

Any advice would be appreciated, I'm in a panic right now.

Replies

  • monietrojan
    monietrojan Posts: 45 Member
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    Try weighing naked and first thing in the mornings for a more accurate weight. Also, are you losing inches? It's possible to be a certain weight and gain muscle.
  • monstergirl14
    monstergirl14 Posts: 345 Member
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    Try weighing naked and first thing in the mornings for a more accurate weight. Also, are you losing inches? It's possible to be a certain weight and gain muscle.

    I'm not losing inches, I did weight training a couple of days ago so that it won't affect my weigh in tomorrow morning. I just seriously hope that it's water weight and undigested food or something, because I've been so strict and I'm trying so friggen hard.
  • cns94
    cns94 Posts: 165 Member
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    I'm a daily weigher (I know all the criticism about that, but I do it anyways) and I can fluctuate anywhere from 2 to 5 pounds depending on the day. Most of it is water weight fluctuations. If you haven't drank enough, if you drank too much, your sodium intake, going to the bathroom, and up to 10 days before as well as the week of your period you can gain up to 10 lbs. You have nothing to worry about as long as you are keeping up a normal, healthy routine. Just make sure you drink at least half of your weight in ounces of water daily.
  • David_AUS
    David_AUS Posts: 298 Member
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    HI Monstergirl - don't panic weight fluctuations do happen you look for overall line trend - isolated measurements are not that helpful. Do not try to compare weights taken at different times of the day. By all means weigh yourself at night but only compare numbers taken / after meals / exercise. If you want to weight yourself twice a day then go for it - you will get an idea after a couple of weeks how much you "lose" overnight for me I think it is something like 100g per hour when I last checked - most of this is your body keeping itself warm and cool (sweat and breath water loss).

    You are doing great! I would keep an eye on the inches also now as you get closer to your "ideal" weight, I know you said these have not changed but weight alone can be misleading. Remember it is not weight loss we are looking for really it is fat reduction and muscle building.
  • mxmkenney
    mxmkenney Posts: 486 Member
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    Never weigh yourself after a workout! lol

    Try hard to only weigh yourself once a day (or less - once a week) at the same time, naked, and preferably right after you go pee after waking up. And be sure to use the same scale every time. Some scales can be off up to 5 pounds in either direction, whether electronic or weighted.

    Also keep your sodium in check. This can cause big fluctuations because excess sodium makes the body retain water.

    Are you stressed? Too much stress can keep you from losing weight and some times can cause weight gain.

    Are you weighing/measuring your food and logging correctly? Are you eating back your exercise calories? You may be eating ore that you think you are.

    If you are weight-training you may be gaining muscle and simultaneously losing fat, so the weight gain could be temporary.

    And lastly, I try to under-estimate my caloric burn from exercise. A lot of the numbers given here on MFP are too high. Unless you have a HR monitor, cut the estimates given here by 25% which will be closer to accurate.

    Don't give up! Hang in there, you will lose if you are tracking accurately and eating at a deficit.
  • RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle
    RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle Posts: 1,349 Member
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    When I was losing weight I focused on what I was eating and stayed at or under my estimated TDEE, over time the scale reflected my diet. I can fluctuate by five pounds on any day, but over time the trend is that weight goes down if your eating below TDEE on average.
  • monstergirl14
    monstergirl14 Posts: 345 Member
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    I weigh myself once a week, all I'm saying is that I foolishly weighed myself tonight because I felt skinny, and the scale definitely proved otherwise, haha. I was just seriously hoping that I could have more than 5 pounds of water weight in me due to an intense exercise session I just had. I always stay within my macros, track EVERYTHING I eat, stay under my daily goal, and eat back my exercise calories (most of the time, sometimes it's hard if I'm not hungry.) I am stressed, though. Trying to get a second job and pay down some debts before I move 4000 kms away to start college. :/
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    You do realize that whatever you ate and drank today has mass and therefore weight right? If you eat a few Lbs of food in a day, guess what....those Lbs show up on the scale...they don't just magically disappear because you ate the food.
  • monstergirl14
    monstergirl14 Posts: 345 Member
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    You do realize that whatever you ate and drank today has mass and therefore weight right? If you eat a few Lbs of food in a day, guess what....those Lbs show up on the scale...they don't just magically disappear because you ate the food.

    Thanks captain obvious. What I'm trying to figure out is if it's possible to have a weight fluctuation of more than 5 pounds, because since reading comprehension goes a long way, you would know that I'm already aware of the weight fluctuations. Hence the title, and everything else I've written. Thanks.

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