Anyone else addicted to the scale? How do you survive the 1 pound gain?

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Puppybear1
Puppybear1 Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am in my first week and I can not wait to weigh in every morning! Then, today, up 1 and 1/2 pounds. Ugh! I know it's normal but it still sucks. What do you do to encourage yourself on days like this?
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  • jprewitt1
    jprewitt1 Posts: 264 Member
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    Just keep doing it everyday and it will get easier. Log your weight, no matter the increase or decrease. Doing it everyday will help keep your mind focused on the bigger picture. Some days you will do great, others you will not. It's what you do in the day between that will matter most.
  • 2011rocket3touring
    2011rocket3touring Posts: 1,346 Member
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    Don't weigh yourself daily and don't fret over a 1lb gain. It could be dozens of reasons. I've had weeks where I gain a lb and the next week lose 2 (1lb a week is my goal). I week variation I literally don't give a hoot.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
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    I do understand. I am a former anorexic and weighing myself is the one behavior I can't stop. Mind you it isn't once a day but multiple times a day-every time I eat and every time I go to the bathroom. I know exactly how much I lose when I sleep etc. It's a science experiment for me.
  • wwkwag
    wwkwag Posts: 60 Member
    edited October 2016
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    I weigh myself daily so I can see the water fluctuations. My weight fluctuates up and down 5 pounds in a week!! I use a weight trend app called Libra. That helps to see my "trend". Weight is not linear so sometimes I can do great one week but it could take three weeks to show on the scale.

    My suggestion would be that if you do get frustrated, only weigh once a week because the fluctuations are sometimes all over the place.

    Good luck! And congrats on your first week!!
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    There is no such thing as a one pound gain. Weight fluctuates more than that, and for no particualar reason.

    Weigh yourself as often as you see practical.
  • Chadxx
    Chadxx Posts: 1,199 Member
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    Oh yeah, your weight is going to fluctuate but it is only water. Just get used to it and focus on the big picture and you will do fine.

    For me, swings of several pounds are normal.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    The average person can fluctuate up to 5lbs per day depending on hormones, activity, and nutrition. Maintaining weight is within 10lbs.
    Let me ask you this, if you trained hard one day and we're completely wiped, then drank a glass of OJ resulting in some glycogen overcompensation within the muscle resulting in a 3lb fluctuation up, are you losing the weight battle?
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    Weight and move on...there is NO such thing as 1 pound FAT gain from one to another.. Its fluctionss that are normal and well within +/- weight fluctuation..

    I have dealt with and over come scale stress syndrome an long time ago. It takes time.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Trendline apps

    Libra, happy scale or sites like weighographer or trendweight. Your weight will go up and down within a range. You don't have a scale weight you have a scale weight range of within 5 lbs
  • Puppybear1
    Puppybear1 Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks for the advice! I'm going to check out Libra and happy scale :)
  • MiMi_5151
    MiMi_5151 Posts: 41 Member
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    I weigh often. I have been steadily losing but, this morning, I was up a pound. I did not panic. I knew the plate of chicken mole enchiladas and 2 ice-cold mugs of Shiner Bock at a local Mexican restaurant the evening before was the culprit. I enjoyed that meal and knew that my temporary weight gain was due to water retention and a lot more sodium than I was used to consuming in one meal.

    I only record my Monday morning weight/measurements so I can track my progress. But I like to take a peek every morning/afternoon/evening to see how my intake affects my weight at any given time.
  • janekana
    janekana Posts: 151 Member
    edited October 2016
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    This was the reason why I told myself that I wouldn't weigh myself on the scale everyday when I first started MFP. I didn't want to get discouraged if I saw a gain the next day even if it was just water fluctuation, so I settled to weighing myself once per week or once per two weeks because I just forget to check the scale since I don't check myself daily.

    It has helped my confidence and motivation heaps. Two weeks ago I was still 65 kg, and then I weighed myself recently and saw that I was 63.6 kg. I was so surprised and thought it was just water fluctuations, that I weighed myself two days later to see if it was the same weight, and it was! I feel like I would have taken it differently if I saw only small losses/gains each day, I wouldn't notice the losses as much as I would have.
  • ronjsteele1
    ronjsteele1 Posts: 1,064 Member
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    singingflutelady wrote: »
    I do understand. I am a former anorexic and weighing myself is the one behavior I can't stop. Mind you it isn't once a day but multiple times a day-every time I eat and every time I go to the bathroom. I know exactly how much I lose when I sleep etc. It's a science experiment for me.

    Yep. Right with you on this one. :neutral:
  • tamaraworrall
    tamaraworrall Posts: 166 Member
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    I used to be whilst I was loosing weight and even after I still was though so many people told me to go by my clothes and how I looked and felt .
    Eventually it clicked and I keep an eye on my weight once a week on the scales at the gym and that's it
  • RobynTheresa
    RobynTheresa Posts: 15 Member
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    I weigh myself everyday too, but I don't worry about small fluctuations. I weigh everyday to stay on track, because I find if I don't it is easy to slack off. Depends on the individual and what works for you. Weekly doesn't work for me because I could be on an up fluctuation day and would feel as if I was gaining weight, whereas with daily fluctuations, if I was down daily and up one day because I didn't drink enough the day before, I can "see" that and move on. But I know some people can't do daily because they become almost paranoid. What works for you is what counts.

    I went to Florida for 2 weeks at the end of September, didn't weigh myself while I was away, drank and ate too much, no exercise and gained 5 kilos in 2 weeks. ( 1 kilo = 2.2 pounds). Has taken 4 weeks to lose 3 kilos! Two more to go. Grrrrr.
  • clicketykeys
    clicketykeys Posts: 6,568 Member
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    Also remember that feelings happen. But what you DO about the feeling is your choice. You may feel discouraged, even though you know that you're on track. Okay, so... what do you do?

    Because the days that are the most frustrating for me are the ones where everything seems to be going well, and I *still* feel discouraged or mopey. There's no reason that I can pinpoint; it just is what it is. I try to remember that this will pass just like everything does, and keep going.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    You trust the science and log properly so you know it can't be fat.
  • Ming1951
    Ming1951 Posts: 514 Member
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    Yep I weigh everyday too, and my weight fluctuates up to 2 lbs up or down. For instance my scale showed me this morning that I lost 2 1/2 lbs since yesterday. But I've learned that from past weeks I will see 1 1/2 back up tomorrow. So I wait a few days before I log it to see if its real or not. I drank a lot of extra water yesterday so I'm sure is water loss. Waiting for tomorrow. :D
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    Some people find weighing daily makes you less worried by fluctuations. Others find it makes it worse and prefer to weigh weekly or even less often. Experiment. Ultimately what you're trying to do is detach emotionally from the number on the scale. You can only control your eating and activity, you can't control the number on the scale. You need to find another source of encouragement as the scale is a fickle friend and will let you down regularly.

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