Very Demotivated... anyone experienced this problem?

thatch1234
thatch1234 Posts: 276 Member
edited October 2014 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys, so im a 5ft 7 male weighing 16.4 stone last tuesday on my weigh in. I work out 4-5 times a week which consists of 3 lifting days and 2 running days usually. I also play football most weeks on a wednesday for an hour which using a heart rate monitor polar ft7 says U burn around 1000 cals in the hour of 5 a side. Now i eat 2000 cals a day religiously as this is set at 1.5 lb a week and lightly active on myfp. I weighed myself this morning and i was 16.3. Tonight was a special occasion so we ordered an indian, i had tandoori chicken and a chapatti. Now i left it a few hours But i weighed myself a second ago and i am 16.8 stone!! I have worked my but off including a lifting session and a 4 mile run last night! Im very sore in certain areas but i have been lifting for a year or so. The soreness is due to increasing the weight and varying angle of the muscle i hit. Is it really possible to gain 5+lbs of water weight i mean jeez? That seems like a lot. I weighed 16.9 2.5 weeks ago but went down to 16.4 on my first week of counting properly. Surely i cant hit a stop already when im doing it correctly? Anyway im at a point of thinking all my hard work is pointless. Anyone had similar experiences or can help in identifying possible problem? Please dont say my cals as i weigh everything up accurately and measure everything. thanks

Replies

  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Nobody gains a stone in one day. Either the scale was off or you need to call a doctor.
  • thatch1234
    thatch1234 Posts: 276 Member
    HI sorry it's a typo. I weighed 16.3 not 15.3. I've gained 5 lbs from this morning to now. Sure ill wake up and be a pound or 2 max lighter. But that's 3 lb more I'm carrying. I just can't get my head around it
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    edited October 2014
    Yep. If you focus on the scale in the short term you'll drive yourself crazy. Especially high sodium foods those can cause you to retain water. But even then, you could still gain lbs on just a Normal day. That's one of the reasons we are advised to weigh at the same time in the day preferably first thing in the morning and preferably after bathroom. Even then your scale will still fluctuate. "Weight loss is not linear"
  • sentaruu
    sentaruu Posts: 2,206 Member
    probably food/water weight.

    don't sweat it.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    This is why you shouldn't weigh yourself more than once a day. Food, drinks, sodium, bodily functions can all play a role in how much you gain throughout the day.
  • thatch1234
    thatch1234 Posts: 276 Member
    Hey, yeah I do get that it just seems 5 lbs is a hell of a lot. I understand the odd lb or 2 but yeah 5 seems alot. When you tear your muscles down I read that can cause water retention but again unlikely to be 5lb of it
  • VeganMagpie
    VeganMagpie Posts: 24 Member
    edited October 2014


    Pick a time of day to weigh yourself and stick to it! I can easily weigh a 5lbs more in the evening compared to morning.

    It is quite demotivating checking the scales daily, stick with it though and focus on the positive (i.e. more energy, being active etc.)
  • sentaruu
    sentaruu Posts: 2,206 Member
    thatch1234 wrote: »
    Hey, yeah I do get that it just seems 5 lbs is a hell of a lot. I understand the odd lb or 2 but yeah 5 seems alot. When you tear your muscles down I read that can cause water retention but again unlikely to be 5lb of it

    my weight has fluctuated as much as 8 lbs during the day...
  • JustFindingMe
    JustFindingMe Posts: 390 Member
    I'd say it's within a normal range. I went up 7.5 pounds in the span of 2 days, last week and eventually it left, 3-4 days later. ( Actually, my weight went down 2, up 1, down 4 and up 2 )

    As the others have said, there are many reasons our weight fluctuates and it could be one or a combination of. You will drive yourself nutty trying to figure it out daily. As long as your weight is generally on a downward trend, that's what matters. Give it some more time and drink that water :)

  • thatch1234
    thatch1234 Posts: 276 Member
    Hmm okay well I guess I will just check on it in a couple of days. The weekend are my rest days so hopefully some water etc will flush itself out. Thanks for the help
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Haha which is interesting because water was my next example. Water has no calories yet two 8 oz glasses will have you "gaining" a pound immediately.
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
    I had to weigh in twice a day to make sure I was losing the water weight after major surgery. I went up four pounds between morning weigh-in and evening more than once due to food and water in the gut.

    You're going to make yourself crazy. Op, stop weighing yourself mid-day. Weigh in once a week after your "morning constitutional".
  • hortensehildegarde
    hortensehildegarde Posts: 592 Member
    thatch1234 wrote: »
    but again unlikely to be 5lb of it

    Did you totally just make that up out of thin air because it sounds like you did. What makes you think that it's "unlikely" to be 5lb of it?

    Yes I absolutely can "gain" 5 lbs (or more) that is nothing more than scale fluctuation. My weight normally fluctuates well more than 2 lbs from undigested food and/or water. If ingest 3 lb of food/water where do you think all that weight goes at first? It doesn't magically just disappear.

    If you see the scale doing something you think is funky give it a while to adjust.
  • thatch1234
    thatch1234 Posts: 276 Member
    Hey, no i didn't me it up. I said it was unlikely. Purely based on my own experiences that I often gain a couple but 5 was rather a lot for me. Didn't realise you could gain that much but that's why I'm on here asking the question. I know I have a problem weighing myself constantly and I will do my best to break the habit as it irritates me doing it also lol. Thanks
  • fatcity66
    fatcity66 Posts: 1,544 Member
    edited October 2014
    thatch1234 wrote: »
    Hey, no i didn't me it up. I said it was unlikely. Purely based on my own experiences that I often gain a couple but 5 was rather a lot for me. Didn't realise you could gain that much but that's why I'm on here asking the question. I know I have a problem weighing myself constantly and I will do my best to break the habit as it irritates me doing it also lol. Thanks

    Yes, it's possible, nor is it unlikely. Do you know how much water weight I can gain during that time of the month?? 5 lbs is no big deal. CHILL.

  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,630 Member
    niccipotts1 wrote: »

    Pick a time of day to weigh yourself and stick to it! I can easily weigh a 5lbs more in the evening compared to morning.

    It is quite demotivating checking the scales daily, stick with it though and focus on the positive (i.e. more energy, being active etc.)

    +1
  • hortensehildegarde
    hortensehildegarde Posts: 592 Member
    thatch1234 wrote: »
    Hey, no i didn't me it up. I said it was unlikely. Purely based on my own experiences that I often gain a couple but 5 was rather a lot for me. Didn't realise you could gain that much but that's why I'm on here asking the question. I know I have a problem weighing myself constantly and I will do my best to break the habit as it irritates me doing it also lol. Thanks

    Ah I can see how if you've never seen it do that before and have been weighing yourself like that for months or maybe even weeks it'd be a shock. Hey just be glad you aren't a girl :)

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