weight fluctuations

squishprincess
squishprincess Posts: 371 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
what factors can cause constant weight fluctuations? varying water intake? stress? just tired of up/down/up/down..

Replies

  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Water retention (dehydration, too much sodium, both), food in your stomach, poop in your body, clothing worn when weighing, time of hte day you weigh, etc.

    Maybe you should stop weighing as much as you are.
  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
    "poop in your body"

    haha.

    I'm five.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Most of mine is water retention which is increased by: increased by stress, lack of sleep, quitting smoking 5 weeks ago AND when I don't watch sodium.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    "poop in your body"

    haha.

    I'm five.
    I swear I lose almost a lb every time I poop! Don't even get me started on BIG poops.
  • squishprincess
    squishprincess Posts: 371 Member
    Water retention (dehydration, too much sodium, both), food in your stomach, poop in your body, clothing worn when weighing, time of hte day you weigh, etc.

    Maybe you should stop weighing as much as you are.

    i don't weigh too often, maybe once a week. or when i feel like i've lost/gained, as i'm usually right, i know my body pretty well. it's just the last couple of months have been stressful and i was wondering if that had a play in it, as i have a hard time sleeping too..
  • Mariachicat
    Mariachicat Posts: 311 Member
    PMS and salt give me false high readings. When this happens I reweigh myself after a long workout before drinking water and see if there's a change, then record the lower reading. If not, time usually helps and then the following week you should see a generally lower reading (provided you're really counting calories and coming in at or under your calorie goal), IMHO. I'm no expert at all but this has happened to me.
  • IGbnat24
    IGbnat24 Posts: 520 Member
    Being a female!!


    Workouts, hydration, sodium, carbs, heat/humidity. Don't sweat it.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    A million things cause fluctuations. The best way I have found to overcome letting these fluctuations bother you is to do the following:
    Weigh yourself daily, first thing upon waking after you pee. Record that number but pay little attention to it, it's meaningless. After 7 days take an average of the numbers. This number is slightly more meaningful. After a month, start comparing the 7 day averages. You should begin to notice a downward trend. This trend is quite meaningful. If after a month you do not see a downtrend in weight you can usually rule out things that cause fluctuations as being the culprit. At that point it is an issue of eating too much (either caused by having a calorie goal too high, or not accurately counting calories and accidentally eating over your calorie goal).
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
    Water retention is such a beast. Heh.

    Yeah, there are tons of factors that can cause weight fluctuations. Not to mention that weight loss isn't anywhere close to linear (as irritating as that can be).

    Lack of sleep and stress can be factors because they mess with body function and hormone regulation, yeah.

    I take it with a grain of salt (only not literally, hahaha) when I go up a bit in a week. It usually comes back off and then some the next week or so.
  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
    "poop in your body"

    haha.

    I'm five.
    I swear I lose almost a lb every time I poop! Don't even get me started on BIG poops.

    lolol gross.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Hormones, electrolyte imbalances, exercise, natural cycles of water retention/release, airline flights, more or less waste in your system, smaller meals/larger meals, etc, etc,etc...about a million things, most of which are out of your control...this is why trend analysis is far more important than the actual number.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    When they discuss stress and cortisol, they don't mean what most Americans think of as stress. Having a midterm you didn't study for, a crappy job, bratty kids or trouble making the mortgage payment after paying for car repairs - not that kind of stress. They mean the kind of stress that can't really be tested very well because putting people through that kind of thing is considered in humane if you aren't a nazi. You are likely in the clear on stress.

    If you take in a lot of sodium, the water level will rise and register on the scale.

    Periods - Oh, my God, do they register. I've gone up as much as seven pounds, but it's usually 4-5.

    Poop. Yes! I lose after a poop, too.

    Most fluctuations aren't actual fat gain or loss.

    Also, evil scales. Some scales are good. Others like to screw with you. They add weight for no reason. Sometimes (and this is he evilest), they dip down for no reason to make you cheer and then go up. They are very small creatures and cannot wreak the kind of havoc they'd like. If they were huge, they'd take over the world, but they're small and can only move numbers around a little.

    You could go all Termintor on the scale, but there are so many that it's not worth it, because the next one will be as likely to be evil.

    Ignore the evil scale. Just follow the trends. The scale's ability to mess things up isn't strong enough to mess up a trend. :)

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