Scale Fluctuations & Discouragement
vivmom2014
Posts: 1,649 Member
I was down 4 pounds, now the scale says I'm up 4 pounds. I know that we can expect small fluctuations in weight, but what about if you don't have very much to lose? Does it still fluctuate harmlessly by 4 pounds?
And, if so, what's the point of weighing at all? I should walk away from the scale for good, but oh no. It pulls me back every time. And every time it makes me so discouraged that I feel like throwing in the towel once and for all.
And, if so, what's the point of weighing at all? I should walk away from the scale for good, but oh no. It pulls me back every time. And every time it makes me so discouraged that I feel like throwing in the towel once and for all.
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My weight has always fluctuated by three pounds. I learned from working in a nursing home that its best to weigh yourself in the morning before breakfast. I used to weigh myself everyday and now i just weigh myself every monday that way i can see how much im losing every week and i dont get discouraged and i can tell if im ruining my progress by eating bad over the weekend.0
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I've decided I'm not going near a scale until the end of July. I'm going to eat properly and exercise a minimum of 3 times a week. My success/failure will be measured by whether or not those darn blue jeans are fitting any better or not. . .0
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I'm leaning towards not weighing yourself regularly. I know that from morning to night and from hormones, what I've eaten, humidity, etc, that I can have a 3-5 lb variation from morning to night, and day to day. I think also that when you have such a small amount to lose, measurements are key too.0
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I have a tough time with this! I am only looking to lose a few pounds and I vary so much from 1 day to the next and even time of day. I get very discouraged!0
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Thanks for the replies! Some days I feel energized and inspired to really stay with this - exercising and logging everything. But then *these* kinds of days roll around and I'm ready to scream because it all seems pointless. I need to stop seeing things in black and white, one extreme to the other. I think I will stay away from the scale for a good long time.0
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It's definitely frustrating! Weight loss isn't linear though and we have to try to pay attention to the trends rather than each day's weigh-in. I'm going to only weigh once or twice a month though because I was getting scale obsessed, haha
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And sorry for the big picture... my motivational ones always appear huge on here!0
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Agreed bookworm_847! We should focus on other non-scale victories: like how clothes fit or how good we feel (personally, I have started working out more and am also working towards some fitness goals). I need to stop hopping on my scale all the time because then I get frustrated.0
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Yes indeed! I wasn't paying attention to my NSVs or the fact my abs are starting to come out and say hello because I was so focused on the fact the scale wasn't doing what I wanted.0
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I don't even weigh every day. I tend to look at the scale on Friday mornings - before breakfast of course. If, by some miracle, I reach my goal weight I wonder how I will ever maintain it. That makes me think maybe I should just be satisfied with my current weight and call off the madness.
Love the success chart! Thanks for posting!0 -
I sometimes think my goal weight is completely unrealistic. Every time I get close, I gain back what I lost. I have been within 5 lbs so many times I can't even count and it all just goes horribly wrong. I can gain 8 lbs in a couple days of not being careful. It frightens me because I don't know what normal is any more. Is a weight I can't hope to maintain normal? I have to lose 18 lbs to get to my goal now because I took a week off. Just a week and I gained back 10 lbs. I didn't over eat but I had sugar, salt and processed foods which I don't typically have. I'm wheat, egg and milk free already due to allergies... Talk about discouraged and wanting to give up.0
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vivmom2014 wrote: »I should walk away from the scale for good, but oh no. It pulls me back every time. And every time it makes me so discouraged that I feel like throwing in the towel once and for all.
THIS EXACTLY FOR ME!!
I have no advice, just sympathy for our similar situations.
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Hi everyone my name is Wendy. I weight once a week and in the morning. At night you might have a variation up to 5 pounds. Also what works for me is that I also take mesurament of my hips ,tight, arm ect. And last I never weight my self the day after working with weight because the muscle are sore and tend to weight more. Hope could help you.0
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I sometimes think my goal weight is completely unrealistic. Every time I get close, I gain back what I lost. I have been within 5 lbs so many times I can't even count and it all just goes horribly wrong. I can gain 8 lbs in a couple days of not being careful. It frightens me because I don't know what normal is any more. Is a weight I can't hope to maintain normal? I have to lose 18 lbs to get to my goal now because I took a week off. Just a week and I gained back 10 lbs. I didn't over eat but I had sugar, salt and processed foods which I don't typically have. I'm wheat, egg and milk free already due to allergies... Talk about discouraged and wanting to give up.
You have to remember that the weight you are after a week of eating whatever you would like and weight you are after dieting stringently for a week will vary by several pounds even if your body fat % is exactly the same at the end of those 2 weeks. Remember, your weight isn't fat+muscle. It's fat+muscle+organs+water needed by your body for all sorts of reasons (and if you eat high salt fatty foods, your body may need more water)+food your body is digesting + waste your body will get rid of shortly+other products, like glycogen. Even your muscles aren't just muscle! They're muscles, plus water (if you're trying to work them) plus the aforementioned glycogen.
So, yeah, after a week of binging, you can gain 10 lbs. It doesn't mean it's all extra fat you've picked up (although it could be). I know for a fact that after 7 days at WDW, walking 15 to 25k a day but eating whatever I want, if I step on the scale within 3 days of coming home, it will have me, at a minimum, 7lbs up. Doesn't mean I've gained 7lbs of fat. It means my body is retaining a lot of water for my muscles to deal with the walking and being out in the heat all day and to process the food and waste I've on-boarded and even that I'm still processing that food and waste!0 -
azura - I feel your pain. tbolashana - thanks for the sympathy.
wanda & snarling - thanks for the insights. All of the input here does have a beneficial impact. I won't throw in the towel. I had a couple days of hissy-fit rebellion which is pretty stupid as I have to pay the piper now. I went over two days in a row by several hundred calories. Now trying to rein it in and eat under for a couple days.
One thing is certain: I am not weighing myself this Friday.0 -
snarlingcoyote wrote: »I sometimes think my goal weight is completely unrealistic. Every time I get close, I gain back what I lost. I have been within 5 lbs so many times I can't even count and it all just goes horribly wrong. I can gain 8 lbs in a couple days of not being careful. It frightens me because I don't know what normal is any more. Is a weight I can't hope to maintain normal? I have to lose 18 lbs to get to my goal now because I took a week off. Just a week and I gained back 10 lbs. I didn't over eat but I had sugar, salt and processed foods which I don't typically have. I'm wheat, egg and milk free already due to allergies... Talk about discouraged and wanting to give up.
You have to remember that the weight you are after a week of eating whatever you would like and weight you are after dieting stringently for a week will vary by several pounds even if your body fat % is exactly the same at the end of those 2 weeks. Remember, your weight isn't fat+muscle. It's fat+muscle+organs+water needed by your body for all sorts of reasons (and if you eat high salt fatty foods, your body may need more water)+food your body is digesting + waste your body will get rid of shortly+other products, like glycogen. Even your muscles aren't just muscle! They're muscles, plus water (if you're trying to work them) plus the aforementioned glycogen.
So, yeah, after a week of binging, you can gain 10 lbs. It doesn't mean it's all extra fat you've picked up (although it could be). I know for a fact that after 7 days at WDW, walking 15 to 25k a day but eating whatever I want, if I step on the scale within 3 days of coming home, it will have me, at a minimum, 7lbs up. Doesn't mean I've gained 7lbs of fat. It means my body is retaining a lot of water for my muscles to deal with the walking and being out in the heat all day and to process the food and waste I've on-boarded and even that I'm still processing that food and waste!
Hmm, I never thought about your muscles retaining water and the heat impacting weight gain. I gained my weight during a 90 degree heat wave we just had and the majority of it was after a day of yard work, working out and then eating dinner off my plan and picking on sugary things between meals (gummy candy is my Achilles heal) because I had my smoothie for breakfast and skipped lunch because I was busy. I work out daily, vinyasa yoga and cardio/ strength. I am on my feet from 5:30 am until 10 pm. I just eat junk sometimes. I don't even know why. I've lost over 120 lbs since 2009 and I feel like the end is still so far, but I keep trying to get there, I just sabotage myself when it's in reach. Maybe it's psychological? I'm afraid to see what id do if I were to stop weighing myself daily, I would probably let my eating sprees continue and find myself back up to 245lbs.0 -
Over time I tend to go off my diet once a week. That kept me in control but also controled my weight. You could try ever other week and see how it goes. I too wonder how I can keep what I am doing up over a life time. I take one month at a a time. Thin people do have cheat days now and again. It is the only way to stay sane.0
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azura: congratulations on your weight loss!! Wow, way to go. Feel GREAT about that. I am well versed in self-sabotage; it can manifest in several different realms. I'm trying again to stop biting my nails, something I've been successful at since age 34 (I'm 52 now!) and I always wreck it when I gain some progress. I guess that's life: constant attempts to improve ourselves. It's ongoing. No real finish line. But the attempts are valid!!
starfish: good idea to take it one month at a time. Sometimes I have to take it one DAY at a time! Anything worthwhile is going to take some perseverance. We will all stick with it. Some days feel very triumphant - they go a long way toward keeping the motivation alive & kicking.
Again, thanks for all the replies.0 -
I've been weighing myself every morning (post-pee, pre-breakfast) and using a trend tracker app (happy scale) and it really helps me see the daily fluctuations, but more importantly - the overall trend (which is down). It also gives you a kind of average weight, which is nice if you're moving up and down a bit day to day.
It's hard to feel successful when you're fighting for some arbitrary goal weight that's <10lbs away and your weight is fluctuating with cycles, water retention, etc.
Like you, I think I'm also getting to the point where the scale is mattering less and the body composition/size is mattering more.0 -
I've been weighing myself every morning (post-pee, pre-breakfast) and using a trend tracker app (happy scale) and it really helps me see the daily fluctuations, but more importantly - the overall trend (which is down). It also gives you a kind of average weight, which is nice if you're moving up and down a bit day to day.
It's hard to feel successful when you're fighting for some arbitrary goal weight that's <10lbs away and your weight is fluctuating with cycles, water retention, etc.
Like you, I think I'm also getting to the point where the scale is mattering less and the body composition/size is mattering more.
I do the same. I can weigh up to four pounds more at bedtime.0 -
I weigh daily but look at a weekly average and an official weigh in day to assess progress.
I've also come to the conclusion that my arbitrary goal (based on Internet ideal weight calculators) is not necessarily appropriate for my lifestyle. (I eat moderately healthy foods most of the time, but allow myself treats. I workout most days). Yes, I could eat only leaves and twigs, and up my exercise from about 5-6 hours a week to 10-12 hours, but that is not the life I want to live. I want exercise and eating well to be a part of my life, not my entire life!! Age also changes things a bit. I'm guessing that I'm working against evolution to try to be the same weight I was 30 years ago. I think nature needs us to be a bit fluffier at an older age! (I'm not talking an unhealthy BMI here, I am saying being on the higher end of healthy, rather than the lower end).
But I totally agree that the fluctuations are very frustrating!0 -
I never weigh myself after I ovulate because I always retain water until I get my period. It is just too darn discouraging.0
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