Potential Scale Problems?

ColeHoop
ColeHoop Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Happy Friday all.

My plan has me on pace to lose 1.5 pounds per week. This week I consumed roughly 900 calories more than my goal, which by my calculations should have resulted in a loss of 1.25 pounds.

I weighed myself on the same scale today wearing the same clothes and following the same pattern I do every check-in day...and the scale says I lost 3.5 pounds. There was only one meal that I estimated caloric intake for food. There's no way my calculations were 2.25 pounds off.

I'm not logging the walks I take with my dog as they are only about 30-45 minutes and we don't walk at an extreme pace.

Does anybody have a logical explanation for why I am 2.25 pounds lighter than I mathematically should be? Not that I'm complaining :)

Thanks in advance,

-Cole

Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    Weight loss is not linear.
  • crazyjerseygirl
    crazyjerseygirl Posts: 1,252 Member
    Biology is complicated, while the weight loss you calculated might be accurate you have a ton of other things going on in your body, water retention and loss, Mistakes in logged kcal/exercise, fun with hormonal fluctuations, sodium, not to mention the things we don't know yet! So many thing!

    My guess for you, you dropped water.
  • ColeHoop
    ColeHoop Posts: 3 Member
    Great, thanks for the feedback! I'm just going to log it and not worry about it. A couple of pounds here or there aren't going to impact my mental outlook, I just wanted some clarity.

    Appreciate it!
  • mirrim52
    mirrim52 Posts: 763 Member
    You need to look at trends over months and months, not individual scale readings.
    Some weeks you will lose the "right"amount, others more, others nothing, others you will go up, even though you did everything right. That is just part of being human. The overall downward trend is what you want to see.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    Don't worry about it this once. Scale weight can be impacted by a lot of factors (water weight, the last time you pooped, etc). However, if this starts consistently happening, you may want to reexamine what you're doing.

    Basically, 1 time doesn't = a trend. Watch your trends to assess your methods, not any individual reading.
  • crazyjerseygirl
    crazyjerseygirl Posts: 1,252 Member
    Just remember that when it goes the other way too! Based on your name I'm assuming you're male, but as a lady I've gained between 5-7lbs due to water retention (hormones are fun) and lost it all 2days later. It happens.

    There are a few sites that you can plug your weight into that will smooth out inconsistencies like this. I don't recall them, but yay Google!
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    crazyjerseygirl wrote: »
    Just remember that when it goes the other way too! Based on your name I'm assuming you're male, but as a lady I've gained between 5-7lbs due to water retention (hormones are fun) and lost it all 2days later.
    Hey, guys can do that too, the cause is just different... it usually involves Tex-Mex and a lot of salty chips.

  • crazyjerseygirl
    crazyjerseygirl Posts: 1,252 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    crazyjerseygirl wrote: »
    Just remember that when it goes the other way too! Based on your name I'm assuming you're male, but as a lady I've gained between 5-7lbs due to water retention (hormones are fun) and lost it all 2days later.
    Hey, guys can do that too, the cause is just different... it usually involves Tex-Mex and a lot of salty chips.

    Ha! I never see men starting "HALP I ATE A TACO AND NOW IM BLOATEDDD"! Threads so I just assumed!
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    crazyjerseygirl wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    crazyjerseygirl wrote: »
    Just remember that when it goes the other way too! Based on your name I'm assuming you're male, but as a lady I've gained between 5-7lbs due to water retention (hormones are fun) and lost it all 2days later.
    Hey, guys can do that too, the cause is just different... it usually involves Tex-Mex and a lot of salty chips.

    Ha! I never see men starting "HALP I ATE A TACO AND NOW IM BLOATEDDD"! Threads so I just assumed!

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