Weight fluctuations?

ehaleyhoward2778
ehaleyhoward2778 Posts: 49 Member
edited November 13 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I've been weight training for about an hour 5 days a week and jogging/walking the other 2 plus I average about 15,000 steps a day 2300 cal burned on a low day and 2700 on a really active day according to Fitbit. I'm eating at around a 250 cal deficit trying to tone up and get my body fat % down. I'm a 22 y.o. 5'5 female weighing anywhere from 122-126 lbs. (I don't really know what to go by on weight since it seems to fluctuate a lot.)I've been trying to stay away from the scale weighing in about once a week in the morning. My question is how often should I be weighing to consider a trend up or down? I weighed 123.6 3 days ago and stepped on this morning out of curiosity and weighed 126.4. Should I be concerned that I'm not actually in a deficit? I am pretty tight on my logging in my opinion. And if I'm aiming for a 250 cal deficit that should leave plenty of room for logging errors where I won't be losing fast but still shouldn't be gaining weight. Is +/- 3-4lbs considered a "normal" fluctuation or could it be the weight training causing the upward trend? Should I be in more of a deficit to avoid this?

Replies

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    If you can tolerate frequent weighing then I would suggest you weigh in daily under identical circumstances.

    Then, take an average of the weigh in data over 1 week and call that your week 1 average.
    Do the same each week, and just look at how the average weekly values change.

    Doing this should smooth out the day to day fluctuations.

    Base your decisions about activity and intake primarily around rate of change of average weight.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,165 Member
    I also think that daily weigh ins are a good idea. That will help you to start to understand your fluctuations. The menstrual cycle can cause fluctuations both at ovulation and TOM. A high sodium day or a new exercise that causes muscle soreness can also cause water retention.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Use an app like Libra or something...it will plot out the data and give you a trend line. Body weight isn't static...you have to look at it as a trend.
  • leajas1
    leajas1 Posts: 823 Member
    I do daily weigh ins and track them on a free app called Happy Scale. I've had wild fluctuations but at the end of the day when I see that graph line moving in the right direction I know it's all good.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Some people fluctuate alot more than others, I can see a 0.5lb variation on any given day but that number can rise to 2/3lbs due to high sodium intake or hormones.
    As others suggest, use a trending weight app and you'll be more content seeing these fluctuations. Its perfectly normal and thats why most of us have a goal range rather than one number.
  • ehaleyhoward2778
    ehaleyhoward2778 Posts: 49 Member
    Thanks for the responses everybody. That really helps a lot. It can definitely be disappointing to see the scale go up 3lbs within a few days when it took me 3 months to lose 10. But I'll start watching trends more and monitoring sodium intake more closely.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    ehaleyhoward2778 wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses everybody. That really helps a lot. It can definitely be disappointing to see the scale go up 3lbs within a few days when it took me 3 months to lose 10. But I'll start watching trends more and monitoring sodium intake more closely.

    I went to the movies on Sunday and shared a popcorn with my family...I was 7 Lbs heavier on Monday morning...sodium!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited November 2016
    . double post.
    deleted
  • jacksonkris8
    jacksonkris8 Posts: 51 Member
    I weigh every morning but only post if there's a loss. I get too bent out of shape at the fluctuating so for me I don't log those...
  • NewSouthernBelle
    NewSouthernBelle Posts: 14 Member
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    I started maintenance August 1. As you can tell, lots of fluctuations later, the overall trend is still in the right direction. I weigh in daily so I can become friends with those damn fluctuations and it's working for me (most of the time ;-))
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