Am I Really losing weight?

Do you weigh at the same time everyday with the same conditions?

If not, it's really going to be hard to tell where exactly your at. Scale weight is affected by so many things that it is best if you can keep the conditions as similar as possible.

Lightest weight will approx be:
- first thing in the morning
- after going to the bathroom
- naked

Things that can change the number on the scale:
- different times of the day : are body weight will fluctuate throughout the day, so it is best to weigh at approximately the same time. If your like me, I don't get up at the same time every single day. Because of this fact, for me it means that I weigh within 30 mins - 1 hr of waking up. Even though the time based on a clock isn't the same, it is still roughly the same time to my body. If for example I weighed everyday at 12pm, I would be either having to wake up early or already been up for several hours with food/water in my body. Because of this there are too many variables for me to set an exact time on the clock and it is better to go with a time frame from when I wake up.

- clothing: if you weigh fully clothed, then your scale not only tells you your body weight, but your body weight + the weight of the clothing. Different articles of clothing will have different weights. Jeans in particular can be very heavy and add a few pounds.

- don't move the scale: Carpet, uneven flooring, different types of flooring…can all affect the weight on the scale. So when you weigh, you want it to be approximately the same spot for the most accurate number for tracking.

- Muscle repair : Muscles will hold onto water to repair, because of this it is not uncommon to see a gain for a little while after a workout. This weight comes right back off when they are done repairing.

- Water : Not drinking enough water can actually cause you to retain water. Recommended amount is 8 cups or 64oz. I drink 64 oz to 128 oz of water a day. It doesn’t have to be plain water either. I like to flavor mine with crystal light or tea.

-Sodium: Can cause you to retain water. This can also be amplified if you don’t drink enough to flush it out of your system. This is also another reason for temporary weight gain.

-TOM: A lot of women will retain water around their TOM, but its just temporary and will go away.

Have you been watching your sodium intake? My weight can fluctuate morning to morning by as much as 6 pounds, Usually caused by drinking a lot of alcohol and eating salty food. My recommendation? You may be like me where it takes a few days of low sodium (try 1500 mg) and really raise your water intake and then weigh in, it should balance out water weight and be more accurate. Cuz assuming you aren't having crazy binge days that's damn near impossible, that would have to be an excess of 3500 x 7 pounds. Which is a lot. Also on a side note, the three days prior and about three days into my period im usually up about 3 pounds, then it leaves.

Edited to add weigh naked, in the morning after bathroom time.

Does anyone know how to tell if my 9 pound weight loss is actually fat or just my water weight fluctuating?
Also is all the carbs I'm eating ok even if I'm still under my specified calorie intake?

Another factor we must consider is muscles. Muscles are much heavier than fats. Yes, maybe during the time that your muscular mass increased and your fat maybe also fluctuates. So, you must take the three as considerations in losing weight.

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Does anyone know how to tell if my 9 pound weight loss is actually fat or just my water weight fluctuating?
Also is all the carbs I'm eating ok even if I'm still under my specified calorie intake?

Another factor we must consider is muscles. Muscles are much heavier than fats. Yes, maybe during the time that your muscular mass increased and your fat maybe also fluctuates. So, you must take the three as considerations in losing weight.

You don't build muscle on a deficet ...

As for the OP the weight flucuations happen due to water and glycogen stores from exercise...just stop weighing yourself everyday...pick a day...weigh in the morning naked etc and that is your weight.

-Weigh yourself at the same time each time you weigh, under the same conditions, and with the same scale at the same spot.

Carbs are fine if you are staying within your calorie goal. A deficit in calories is needed for weight loss, that is all.

In the beginning, I believe that most weight loss is water weight. Our weight can fluctuate by around 5 lbs a day, which is why weighing at the same time of day is important. I've found that the more crazy my sleep/wake schedule is the more difficult it is to get a good idea on a consistent weight.

I weigh myself daily, but use Trendweight.com to help me make sense of the fluctuations. I couldn't have done daily weighing when I started losing weight because it would've made me crazy. If seeing your weight bounce around causes stress, stop weighing daily and move to less frequent weighing. Measuring yourself helps to see a loss in inches when sometimes the scale doesn't do what you want.