Weight gain without ingesting anything

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  • sarahthes
    sarahthes Posts: 3,252 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Digital scales are also affected by humidity. I'm not sure how much of an impact it would have at the pound/kilogram level (usual see it at the mg or ug level) but it's a possibility anyway.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Did you weigh yourself in two different rooms, where one is significantly higher than the other? :wink:

    It's likely just the scale. They all have inaccuracies. Congratulations on your loss.
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
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    Weighing yourself several times throughout the day is a valuable exercise to show how much weight readings can fluctuate quite a bit due to several factors such as hydration, mechanical errors, etc... Even daily weighing is only reliable for trending. The only truly valid measurements are enough of them done over a longer time period.

    Trendweight.com is a great resource if you have a WiFi scale since it uses a rolling weighted average to smooth out high and low daily measurements and gives a much more accurate record and trending of your weight, body fat, lean mass, etc...
  • Mentali
    Mentali Posts: 352 Member
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    If I lean my weight on the balls of my feet my weight is higher than when I lean back on my heels, which is lower than if I stand straight. Scales are stupid!

    I agree with using standards to check though, because I'm curious too - do you have anything big and heavy you can test it with? A big bag of rice or flour? Weights?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Water from oxidation of fats ?

    Theoretical possibility.
  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
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    Maybe it's not the scale. Someone mentioned on another post that since our bodies are made up of such a high percentage of water we are in a constant state of fluid flux. It may just be fluid retention.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    edited August 2016
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    yarwell wrote: »
    Water from oxidation of fats ?

    Theoretical possibility.

    While fat metabolism does take oxygen from the air and form water, for every atom of oxygen that is brought into the body, you lose a greater amount of carbon atoms into the air (approximately equal for saturated fats, but polyunsaturated fats take fewer molecules of oxygen because they have fewer hydrogens).

    Oxygen is heavier, but to gain 1.6 kg of mass would require an incredible amount of fat oxidation. A fairly typical saturated fat oxidation reaction would be:

    C18H36O2 + 26 O2 -> 18 CO2 + 18 H2O

    Since the O2 and CO2 are exchanged in the lungs and the overall amount of each within the body is tightly regulated and not going to show big changes over time, the net change in mass within the body is:

    C18H36O2: atomic mass ~284
    to
    18 H2O: atomic mass ~324

    For a net gain of ~15% mass.

    To gain 1.6 kg from this 15% increase would require about 10 kg of fat to be oxidized - not reasonable for overnight :smile:
  • MarkusDarwath
    MarkusDarwath Posts: 393 Member
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    Thank you for the chemistry math. My head hurts now :) At least you didn't pull out Avegadro's (sp) number.
  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 667 Member
    edited August 2016
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    I agree that your scale is probably off. I think mine changes depending on the surface the scale is sitting on. My bathroom floor is vinyl & I try to keep it in the same spot so that it will be as consistent as possible. I think it's more accurate when it's on concrete.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
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    I fluctuate 5 pounds every day......during the day. You are making a big thing out of nothing.
  • MarkusDarwath
    MarkusDarwath Posts: 393 Member
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    I actually had to 'build a floor' for mine. My bathroom is too small to keep the scale in there, and the hallway has carpet. It's only commercial grade carpet squares on concrete, but it was enough to screw up the consistency of my scale. I had a box of stick down parquet tiles left over from when the previous owner did the dining room floor, so I got some 1/4" plywood subfloor to attach the tiles to and have that laying on top of the carpet. It did the trick. I get consistent numbers so long as I don't step on the scale really awkwardly.
  • Jessie24330
    Jessie24330 Posts: 224 Member
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    Wetcoaster wrote: »
    I fluctuate 5 pounds every day......during the day. You are making a big thing out of nothing.

    Hahahahaha, I literally said it doesn't bother me in the original post and that it's just curiousity in another. I fail to see how I'm making a "big deal" out of anything.
  • Jessie24330
    Jessie24330 Posts: 224 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies. I'm thinking that my scale is probably just not the greatest quality. To answer a few questions though...
    I don't move it so it wasn't that the floor was different.

    It's a glass digital scale that cost about 22 so it isn't top of the line by any means.

    Ewww....I'm gonna go wash my sheets right now at the thought of two pounds of dead skin. Lmbo.

    I didn't realize that heat and humidity would effect a scales reading, even if that's not the case it's an interesting fact.

    I don't think it's the batteries as I've just bought it in the last week. But then again, who knows how long it was sitting on the shelf with the battery slowing draining?

    It is very possible that I was standing on it differently.

    Anyway, thanks everyone for your insight and suggestions. It's literally not a big deal to me that my weight goes up or down in the course of a day. Just I had a question so I thought I would ask.

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