How Much Can Food & Water Shift The Scale?

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alexreyn13
alexreyn13 Posts: 52 Member
edited March 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
So at the beginning of February this year, i started to weigh myself every day first thing in the morning before breakfast. The scale consistently showed around 98-99kg (216-218 Pounds) give or take. I stopped stepping on the scale and stuck to a 1800 calorie deficit through February-present. I started weighing myself again recently and now the scale is showing 94.0-95kg (207-209 Pounds).

I guess my question/concern is whether or not I've actually lost body weight, or if it can be related to food, water, salt and regularity more-so.

Replies

  • katej37
    katej37 Posts: 56 Member
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    well you've clearly lost weight - how much is water and how much was fat depends on how much you have to lose. Water weight can be lost quickly. Depending on your stats and how well you log your food will dictate how fast/slow you lose weight.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    It depends on the individual. In my cases a heavy day can shift the scale by up to 2.5 kg which I end up losing and more after a 3-4 days. If you are in a true deficit, you inevitably have lost real body weight on top of your water/food weight. To keep the worrying and guess work out (my weight can stall for up to two weeks sometimes) I keep a daily weight diary on https://trendweight.com/

    If you decide to use the above website, keep in mind that it takes about a month for it to start making accurate predictions, and it may not show real results at first.
  • VisofSer
    VisofSer Posts: 130 Member
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    This concern is a major reason why the scale should not be your sole means of tracking changes. Trend weight is very helpful to see progress, but on top of what was already said about taking a month is do not change your start date. I did and it wiped 3 months of my data. What is helpful is to take tape measure in centimetres. At least chest/waist/hips, but if you can get into doing a weekly 9 point track of chest/r. arm/l. arm/2" above navel/navel/2" below navel/hips/r. thigh/l. thigh, then you can see fine shifts in your physique regardless of whether the scale is cooperating or not.
  • jakkrk
    jakkrk Posts: 54 Member
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    Go by how you feel and how your clothes are fitting. The scales are bad IMO. Don't look into mirrors expecting to see a change either. You will not see it. Take a pic(selfie), every two weeks and compare.

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