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fishshark
fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Due to daily fluctuations of your weight, how do you determine you true weight? Sometimes if i have a lot of sodium and water my weight can go up 3-5 pounds in a day. What is the best way/time of day to determine closest to what I really weigh?

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  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
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    Once a week. In the morning after having a poop and naked. That's how I do it :lol:
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
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    aimeerace wrote: »
    Once a week. In the morning after having a poop and naked. That's how I do it :lol:

    thats what i have been doing but then when i weigh at night I'm like.. oh there goes all my progress lol.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I go by my weight first thing in the morning after I get out of bed, use the bathroom, and take my clothes off. It's best I can do as far as controlling variables.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    You don't have one true weight. You have a range of ~5 pounds.

    You'll be at the lower end when your water weight is lower and higher when you're retaining more. That's all there is to it.

    ~Lyssa
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
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    macgurlnet wrote: »
    You don't have one true weight. You have a range of ~5 pounds.

    You'll be at the lower end when your water weight is lower and higher when you're retaining more. That's all there is to it.

    ~Lyssa

    I am aware, i am saying as far as making notes of my weight loss how do I keep track if everyday I fluctuate about 5 pounds.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    fishshark wrote: »
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    You don't have one true weight. You have a range of ~5 pounds.

    You'll be at the lower end when your water weight is lower and higher when you're retaining more. That's all there is to it.

    ~Lyssa

    I am aware, i am saying as far as making notes of my weight loss how do I keep track if everyday I fluctuate about 5 pounds.

    Are you just logging weight in MFP? You might benefit from logging in an app like Libra or Happy Scale which will show the fluctuations as well as the trend of your weight loss/gain. You can see a similar graph in the Reports tab here, but it's not as pretty.

    I use Trendweight.com because it updates when I log my weight in Fitbit.

    ~Lyssa
  • jaqcan
    jaqcan Posts: 498 Member
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    I'm getting frustrated with this too. I log the lowest weight I see. Then just keep tracking. The next lowest weight I see gets logged. I can't give up just because the scale isn't moving. They say CICO, and it's should be that simple, but it's not when it comes to the numbers. They don't correlate exactly with your calories in. I've been eating at 1000 calorie deficit for 47 days, and while i've lost 15 lbs, technically it should be a lot more than that. The weight is coming off, but it's SLOW GOING. It's just what happens. Keep at it, I will too, and the scale should follow!!!!
  • sandryc79
    sandryc79 Posts: 250 Member
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    For tracking purposes just weigh in the morning after you go to the bathroom and before you eat. Either weigh nude or wear the same clothing each time. That is as close as you are going to get.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    fishshark wrote: »
    Due to daily fluctuations of your weight, how do you determine you true weight? Sometimes if i have a lot of sodium and water my weight can go up 3-5 pounds in a day. What is the best way/time of day to determine closest to what I really weigh?

    for most intents and purposes, there is no such thing. body weight isn't static...nobody weighs exactly XXX Lbs. this is why trends are more important than the actual numbers. I'm maintaining and I fluctuate anywhere from 186 - 190 Lbs...my average over time has been about 188...so basically that is what I consider to be my "true weight"
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    fishshark wrote: »
    Due to daily fluctuations of your weight, how do you determine you true weight? Sometimes if i have a lot of sodium and water my weight can go up 3-5 pounds in a day. What is the best way/time of day to determine closest to what I really weigh?

    Don't get hung up on 'true' weight. fwiw I weight myself everyday right when I get out of the shower in the morning. I'm just looking for a general trend.
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
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    Keep a moving average of your weight. That will give you a trend line that is more reflective of your "true" weight:

    4w.png
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
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    thanks everyone! its just confusing when in the morning I'm light then at night I'm not so for tracking its confusing.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    fishshark wrote: »
    thanks everyone! its just confusing when in the morning I'm light then at night I'm not so for tracking its confusing.

    By the end of the day, all of the food and liquid you've consumed is mostly still in your system. That adds on several pounds, easy.

    Don't weigh at night. Only track the morning weight.

    I'll sometimes pop on the scale at night to see how much water weight I lose overnight, just for fun, but that's it.

    ~Lyssa
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    fishshark wrote: »
    thanks everyone! its just confusing when in the morning I'm light then at night I'm not so for tracking its confusing.

    I wouldn't include different weigh-in conditions in the same set of data because the results and what they mean are totally different
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    fishshark wrote: »
    thanks everyone! its just confusing when in the morning I'm light then at night I'm not so for tracking its confusing.

    I don't really see any point in weighing yourself multiple times per day. Guess what happens when you eat 1/2 Lb of food? It's going to show up on the scale because it has mass. So does the waste in your system...etc, etc, etc. When you're weighing yourself later in the day , you're also weighing everything you've consumed and the ensuing waste...
  • MonsoonStorm
    MonsoonStorm Posts: 371 Member
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    fishshark wrote: »
    thanks everyone! its just confusing when in the morning I'm light then at night I'm not so for tracking its confusing.

    weighing twice a day is fairly pointless. Do it in the morning when you wake, after toilet, before clothes. Weighing every day will give you more of an accurate trend rather than a once a week snapshot

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