Strange thing happening when I weigh in

Luvs_Rage_Phish
Luvs_Rage_Phish Posts: 87 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've noticed a strange thing happening lately. I'm noticing that when I step on the scale after work (so in between lunch and dinner - usually around 6pm) I weigh less than I do in the morning. This goes against pretty much everything I've ever experienced in the past or have heard from others. But for months now I'm consistently weighing a couple pounds lighter at like 6pm compared to 7am. And if I'm lighter the evening before I'm right back to the higher weight from that morning the following morning... then down again in the evening. I'm not sure which number is an accurate reflection of what I weigh.

I know it doesn't really matter as long as I'm consistent with whichever time of day I go with, but I'd really like to know which is more accurate

Anyone else have this experience? Or opinion on which weight I should be going with?

Replies

  • MBrothers22
    MBrothers22 Posts: 323 Member
    Same thing happens to me. How physical is your job? I weigh about 2 pounds lighter after work which includes breakfast and a snack compared to before work with no food and using the bathroom.
    I use the "wake up, use the bathroom, strip down and weigh" method. I figure the after work weight is lighter due to losing sweat.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    So I've noticed a strange thing happening lately. I'm noticing that when I step on the scale after work (so in between lunch and dinner - usually around 6pm) I weigh less than I do in the morning. This goes against pretty much everything I've ever experienced in the past or have heard from others. But for months now I'm consistently weighing a couple pounds lighter at like 6pm compared to 7am. And if I'm lighter the evening before I'm right back to the higher weight from that morning the following morning... then down again in the evening. I'm not sure which number is an accurate reflection of what I weigh.

    I know it doesn't really matter as long as I'm consistent with whichever time of day I go with, but I'd really like to know which is more accurate

    Anyone else have this experience? Or opinion on which weight I should be going with?
    EXACT same thing for me recently in the last 4-5 weigh ins. I would weight 1-1.5 lbs lighter after work than I would when I weighed in when I get out of bed. It has become so commonplace that after work before I have dinner is when I weigh myself in.

    My job is not physical and it doest seem to just be an oddity becuase the next week when I weigh in after work on the weigh in day I am typically 1-2 lbs lighter than I was the previous week so it wasnt like just water loss from sweat or whatever.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    I always go with first thing in the morning right after using the restroom. Water weight can make you fluctuate all over the place during the day.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    as to whcih number to go with.....just always use the same one and of course...I use the one in the evening...
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    I feel like my main question is why are you weighing yourself multiple times per day? Just pick 1 time, any time you want, and use that for your time. Your actual weight will always fluctuate throughout the day. Day to day and hour to hour weights are meaningless. Once you establish what time of you day you will use for your weigh in, record a daily weight. After a week take an average. Compare the weekly averages too each other. This will prevent the volatility of daily weights from skewing your actual progress. If over the course of a month your weekly averages are not moving down, then something is wrong and you likely need to either eat less or exercise more.
  • __freckles__
    __freckles__ Posts: 1,238 Member
    I feel like my main question is why are you weighing yourself multiple times per day? Just pick 1 time, any time you want, and use that for your time. Your actual weight will always fluctuate throughout the day. Day to day and hour to hour weights are meaningless. Once you establish what time of you day you will use for your weigh in, record a daily weight. After a week take an average. Compare the weekly averages too each other. This will prevent the volatility of daily weights from skewing your actual progress. If over the course of a month your weekly averages are not moving down, then something is wrong and you likely need to either eat less or exercise more.

    Agreed.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    why are you stepping on the scale multiple times per day? Just be consistent and track the trend...you're getting wrapped up in way too much minutia. Nobody weighs exactly XXX Lbs...body weight isn't static and losing weight isn't linear. Pick a time of day that you can be consistent with and where you can pretty much weigh in under the same conditions and perform trend analysis...stop focusing on day to day numbers...and numbers within a given day. Too much.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    I feel like my main question is why are you weighing yourself multiple times per day? Just pick 1 time, any time you want, and use that for your time. Your actual weight will always fluctuate throughout the day. Day to day and hour to hour weights are meaningless. Once you establish what time of you day you will use for your weigh in, record a daily weight. After a week take an average. Compare the weekly averages too each other. This will prevent the volatility of daily weights from skewing your actual progress. If over the course of a month your weekly averages are not moving down, then something is wrong and you likely need to either eat less or exercise more.

    ^^This^^

    I weigh daily and input into MFP. On Saturdays, I average the weights for the week and put it into my "official" spreadsheet as my weight for that week. I see a much more consistent trend that way and it makes me less likely to freak out over one singular weight.
  • Luvs_Rage_Phish
    Luvs_Rage_Phish Posts: 87 Member
    Same thing happens to me. How physical is your job? I weigh about 2 pounds lighter after work which includes breakfast and a snack compared to before work with no food and using the bathroom.
    I use the "wake up, use the bathroom, strip down and weigh" method. I figure the after work weight is lighter due to losing sweat.

    My new job that I've been at since the beginning of the year isn't much more physical than my previous one. Maybe slightly but it's kind of negligible. But one major difference is that at my new job I don't snack anymore. My old job had a kitchen FULL of snacks I used to indulge in but not at my new one so I'm definitely eating less crap during the day - but that's just helping my overall weight loss and might not really explain this.
  • Luvs_Rage_Phish
    Luvs_Rage_Phish Posts: 87 Member
    I feel like my main question is why are you weighing yourself multiple times per day? Just pick 1 time, any time you want, and use that for your time. Your actual weight will always fluctuate throughout the day. Day to day and hour to hour weights are meaningless. Once you establish what time of you day you will use for your weigh in, record a daily weight. After a week take an average. Compare the weekly averages too each other. This will prevent the volatility of daily weights from skewing your actual progress. If over the course of a month your weekly averages are not moving down, then something is wrong and you likely need to either eat less or exercise more.

    I didn't use to weigh in multiple times a day. I've always just weighed myself after waking up and using the restroom. What happened was one day I stepped on the scale at my gym after work to see if it was similar to my scale at home - just curious. I noticed such a big difference that when I got home I stepped on my scale to see if the difference was the time of the day or the different scales... it wasn't the different scales. This piqued my interest so I started weighing in two times just to see if it was a crazy day or if that was consistently happening. It was, which I found curious - hence this post.

    I like your idea about weekly averages. I'll try that. Thanks.
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
    I feel like my main question is why are you weighing yourself multiple times per day? Just pick 1 time, any time you want, and use that for your time. Your actual weight will always fluctuate throughout the day. Day to day and hour to hour weights are meaningless. Once you establish what time of you day you will use for your weigh in, record a daily weight. After a week take an average. Compare the weekly averages too each other. This will prevent the volatility of daily weights from skewing your actual progress. If over the course of a month your weekly averages are not moving down, then something is wrong and you likely need to either eat less or exercise more.

    It seems to be a curiosity question, so I see no harm. I jump on my scale at odd times, just wondering what causes fluctuations and how quickly. I have my normal weigh in after waking and bathroom break, but I find it curious and interesting the odd things our bodies will react to.

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