Doubting the scale!

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nicolerah
nicolerah Posts: 440 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I dont know if I'm gonna sound stupid here but hey, whatever..

I know we shouldn't weigh ourselves everyday... for fear of driving ourselves crazy. I have purposed to weigh in on Mondays as I did for the past two Mondays. I recorded minimal loss. I took a chance and hopped onto my scale last night and saw the figure I started with!! How do I know if what I got last Monday was indeed correct?? What if, that was just a temporary drop... what if the real figure is what I saw last night?

Help!!

Replies

  • DanOhh
    DanOhh Posts: 1,806 Member
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    They're both real. Water weight flux our body's weight daily, anywhere from -3 to +3 lbs. in a day. That's why they say to keep it at the same time of day on the same day every week. Good luck!
  • maureendonahue
    maureendonahue Posts: 468 Member
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    Please don't fret!! Weight is higher later in the day due to fluid retention/food intake and all that stuff. It's why they tell you to try on shoes in the late afternoon when your foot is swollen!

    There are a lot of reasons why it could be up on a day to day basis. Continue to do what you know to be right (exercise, eat better, log your food) and it will come off eventually!

    You can do this!!

    By the way, asking questions and looking for support is never stupid. It's what we are all here for!

    Good luck!
  • RobinMSills
    RobinMSills Posts: 27 Member
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    I used to weigh in on Mondays and Wednesdays. Monday was always a bit artificially inflated because my cheat meal was scheduled for Saturday. Now I just weigh in on Thursdays. Do you measure yourself? Keeping track of your body fat percentage will give you a much better idea of what's going on.
  • jb_2011
    jb_2011 Posts: 1,029 Member
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    If you weighed at night after a day of food and water, the scale would naturally be higher. Try weighing in the morning before you eat anything. I weigh daily just because I like to see how it fluctuates from day to day. This week it's being very stubborn.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    You said you weighed yourself last NIGHT. That means you also weighted your weight and all the food and drink you had that day minus what was eliminated on the toilet and through sweating. Best time to weigh yourself is in the morning upon getting up but after going to the washroom. Once you start eating and drinking, the number will change as much a 4 pound (sometimes even more) during the day.
  • nicolerah
    nicolerah Posts: 440 Member
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    thanks for the responses... I guess I'll have to see what happens next Monday and really resist getting on the scale before that!!
  • Opusarlo
    Opusarlo Posts: 53
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    I usually pick the weight I like the best and stick with that :D
  • nicolerah
    nicolerah Posts: 440 Member
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    I usually pick the weight I like the best and stick with that :D

    Very funny Arlo!
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
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    Your true weight is your weight in the morning before youve eaten or drunk anything and after youve been to the toilet. Thats the closest to your actual body weight you can get, without food or drink in it. Doesnt matter how often you weigh.
  • abalicious
    abalicious Posts: 361 Member
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    They're both real. Water weight flux our body's weight daily, anywhere from -3 to +3 lbs. in a day. That's why they say to keep it at the same time of day on the same day every week. Good luck!

    I really needed to hear this! out of curiosity I weighed myself before and after my workout. Before read that I weighed 4 lbs less! Throughout my workout I continually drank water and I'm guessing thats what the 4 lbs was.
  • jackiebo
    jackiebo Posts: 115 Member
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    IF you are not cheating, only pay attention to the lowest measurement. 70% of your body is water, there are bones to weigh, organs, muscle. And fat, but we won't mention that :-) The water fluctuates like mad and water weighs more than fat does. So if you're staying at or below what is recommended, you'll lose fat. It's science!
  • Tiffanyluvsaaron
    Tiffanyluvsaaron Posts: 219
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    Dont stress....The scale goes up and down especially in the evenings when you are retaining fluids
  • nicolerah
    nicolerah Posts: 440 Member
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    Your true weight is your weight in the morning before youve eaten or drunk anything and after youve been to the toilet. Thats the closest to your actual body weight you can get, without food or drink in it. Doesnt matter how often you weigh.

    I think your explanation is quite good!

    Thanks to all for your replies...
  • nicolerah
    nicolerah Posts: 440 Member
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    IF you are not cheating, only pay attention to the lowest measurement. 70% of your body is water, there are bones to weigh, organs, muscle. And fat, but we won't mention that :-) The water fluctuates like mad and water weighs more than fat does. So if you're staying at or below what is recommended, you'll lose fat. It's science!

    Staying at or below is not the problem, I do it "religiously" and I think I'm doing great with eating well and getting my workouts in... I'm just paranoid cause I really wanna succeed at this!
  • Opusarlo
    Opusarlo Posts: 53
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    They're both real. Water weight flux our body's weight daily, anywhere from -3 to +3 lbs. in a day. That's why they say to keep it at the same time of day on the same day every week. Good luck!

    I really needed to hear this! out of curiosity I weighed myself before and after my workout. Before read that I weighed 4 lbs less! Throughout my workout I continually drank water and I'm guessing thats what the 4 lbs was.

    Water is approx 8.3 lb/gal which means if you drank a half gallon you would have ingested about 4 lbs. There are countless reasons why, but the human body weight is a dynamic rather than a static. For instance, when you first weigh yourself in the morning you have a lower weight usually. If you were to eliminate and then return to the scale you may show an increase in weight,which would be odd since the only thing that happened between the first and second weighing was you visibly "losing weight" if you will. This happens often (to me anyway) and scientist have no real answer for it. It is kind of like the phenomenon that you lose a certain amount of grams in weight the moment you die even though you lose no mass. For this reason most experts agree that you should weigh yourself no more than once every 3-4 days at the extreme most. I choose once a week.
  • jmruef
    jmruef Posts: 824 Member
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    I weight myself before and after I shower/do my hair in the morning...and go by the after-shower number. For some reason it's almost always a pound (sometimes 2!) less than the first. Weird.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    It doesn't matter how often you weigh yourself. Just remember, and take into account the context. I've gone through phases where I weighed myself three times a day just to see what those number looks like. I've also gone 6 months without stepping on a scale.

    Sounds to me like you're just curious about your weight as you are upset about not losing anything. If you're looking for more information. Weigh yourself every day, just remember you're looking for a downward trend line over several weeks. Not day to day fluctations.

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