Weight Fluctuation

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dkilgore95
dkilgore95 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
What is a normal weight fluctuation in one day? Can you really gain 3 lbs in one day if you are sticking to the plan and exercising. in two weeks weighing once a week in the morning I've lost 5lbs, but walking by the scale today I'm 3lbs heavier. Is it the time of day?

Replies

  • janalayn
    janalayn Posts: 510 Member
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    It could be any number of things like sodium or how much water you drank today and when you last went to the bathroom. I only weigh once a week because the daily fluctuations are deceptive and frustrating.
  • gangstagirl625
    gangstagirl625 Posts: 187 Member
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    yes im always 2 lbs heavier at night
  • mrau719
    mrau719 Posts: 288 Member
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    First it's not a good idea to weigh yourself more than once a week.

    But yes your weight can fluctuate a few lbs in the same day. It will vary based on eating habits, waste, etc.
  • merrillfoster
    merrillfoster Posts: 855 Member
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    I'm always anywhere from 3-5lbs heavier at night. I stopped weighing myself after breakfast b/c it is so frustrating/deceptively discouraging.
  • SunshineCherie
    SunshineCherie Posts: 17
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    Your weight will always fluctuate. By the time of day, by the week, and monthly. My weight tends to go up and down all during the day and it gets worse at the end of the month. It can be a number of things, how much you have eaten that day, water, or TOM.
    I tend to weigh myself weekly and use that to track what I am weighing in as. I have weighed in differently within ten minutes. So don't worry it is not just you.
  • elid
    elid Posts: 209 Member
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    Yes, you can gain 3lbs in one day! But remember that it's almost certainly going to be water or food weight, not fat weight. The scale doesn't know whether you gained weight from water, fat, food, muscle, clothes, the cat stepping on the scale with you (hey that happened to me once), or whatever.

    It's best to weigh yourself just once a week (or less), and weigh yourself at the same time of day. I recommend once a week in the morning before breakfast, right after you've peed.
  • BakingGranny
    BakingGranny Posts: 112 Member
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    I've been a very good girl and stuck within my goals and I weighed this morning and was up 5#.Man I'm not having a very good day today.
  • Texaganian
    Texaganian Posts: 67
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    Yes, two to even as much as four pounds is pretty normal.

    And, contrary to the majority opinion on here, I was completely frustrated until I started weighing myself daily. In fact, twice daily. By seeing the fluctuations I was able to learn that weight reduction is not a linear process and therefore not to sweat the ups and downs. When I was only weighing weekly, if I hit one of my "high spots" when I weighed, I was completely at a loss as to what was going on and massively depressed over it all... for at least a full week. Not good. At least not for me.

    The other thing that helped me was entering my weight at the Hacker's Diet Online site (http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/online/). The tools here use statistical smoothing when they graph your weight loss so you see the actual trend, not the daily fluctuations. Very helpful.
  • honeyrabbit
    honeyrabbit Posts: 118
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    This happened to me...foolishly i weighed myself one afternoon and I was 3 pounds heavier than in the morning!!!

    As the others have said, due to weight fluctuations throughout the day it's best to set a day of the week to weigh yourself, stick to it, and even then only weigh yourself first thing in the morning and after you've been to the bathroom.

    If you weigh yourself outside of that time frame and you see that you weigh more, it only de-motivates you and discourages you.....SO my advice would be to step away from the scales (other than your allocated day and time).
  • dkilgore95
    dkilgore95 Posts: 2
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    Thanks everyone! I believe the mystery has been solved!. I had a meeting first thing at work and my routines were messed up so Before I weighed today I had only had Caffeinated coffee and caffeinated unsweetened tea and NO WATER...bad enough in itself, but even dumber to think getting on a scale would be wise. I've gotten my water intake back on track for the day. I'll stick with early morning weigh ins and remember that fluctuations do not equal failure :) I love this site!!

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