daily weight loss-reason?

curvygirly911
curvygirly911 Posts: 105 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,

I had a question regarding weight loss. I have started to weigh myself daily just to motivate myself. I have noticed that for the last three days, I have lost a bit more weight each day. About 0.5 lbs each day give or take.
I am wondering how accurate this is because that doesn't seem likely to me that I burned half of 3500 calories in one day.
My appetite is a lot less than it used to be and I am struggling to eat 1200 calories. I am wondering if this is the reason.

Just curious if this weight loss is accurate, if not then what the reason would be?
I am not looking to lose weight that fast because I want to lose it safely and permanently rather than a quick fix where it piles back on. I just wanted to mention that in case posters think that I am trying to lose 30 lbs in a month or something like that.

Thank you in advance

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Nobody's weight is a static number, only affected by the number of calories ingested. Rather, it fluctuates on a daily, hourly, etc. It is affected by your hydration level, what you ingested (sodium, carbs, etc.), how much you ingested (eat 8 oz of food and you will weigh 1/2 pound more immediately afterward), your bathroom habits, etc.

    If you continue to weigh daily you will get a good feel for these fluctuations.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    You'll go down 0.5lb/day for a few days, and then go down 0lb for a few days, and then maybe up 1lb, and then down again. Weight loss isn't perfectly linear every day. It is going to fluctuate.

    Your daily intake/expenditure of water is over 10lb, which means that drinking or expending (sweat, bathroom etc..) slightly more/less will have a significant impact on the scale reading on any given day.

    The best way to overcome that is to watch trends. I love using trendweight.com, but there are many apps that do this or you can just use a spreadsheet program like excel.

    As for eating enough, eat to what MFP has as your goal. If you are having trouble hitting that goal, then think about what you used to eat and maybe eat some of that in small portions such that they fit your calorie goal. Or you can just eat slightly larger portions of what you are eating now. If your long term (4-6 week average) matches your MFP goal, then you are golden. If not, then adjust accordingly (eat more/less).
  • curvygirly911
    curvygirly911 Posts: 105 Member
    Thanks for your reply! It really made sense to me.
    I guess I will weigh myself daily but perhaps note my weight ONCE a week so I don't throw off my progress chart on MFP too much.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    curvygirly911 wrote: »
    Thanks for your reply! It really made sense to me.
    I guess I will weigh myself daily but perhaps note my weight ONCE a week so I don't throw off my progress chart on MFP too much.

    I recommend tracking it on a spreadsheet or notebook each day. Some people use an app too. Then you can go back and look at trends/norms.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    TrendWeight.com is one site that you can use to track the trend in your weight (as the name implies!). It works best with a smart scale, but you can input data manually too (scroll down for how).
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
    What you eat today doesn't necessarily show up on the scale tomorrow as far as fat loss goes. Water weight throws a monkey wrench into the thing. Eat more sodium than usual - bam, scale goes up 2-5 pounds or more. Eat more carbs than usual? Again, up goes the weight.

    Consider using an app like Libra or Happy Scale on your phone to track your daily weight. Each of those will show you the current trend, whether it's up, down, or holding steady. From there, pick a day to record your weight here if you only want to do a weekly "official" weigh-in.

    As long as you see a downward trend, you're good. If you see that you're holding steady or even gaining, double-check your logging for things like more carbs or sodium than usual. If you see those, stick with what you're doing, maybe back off on the sodium, and the number will go back down.

    ~Lyssa
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