If weight fluctuates how do I know if I actually lost 3 pounds?

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dniania
dniania Posts: 251 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I weighed myself three times in three weeks I started at 271.9 then last Friday I was 266 then two days ago 267.8 I'm thinking my weight is just fluctuating and I haven't lost anything yet

Replies

  • MsAmandaNJ
    MsAmandaNJ Posts: 1,248 Member
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    If you didn't take measurements before, grab a tape measure and get your numbers...they'll be more accurate than what a scale tells you.

    My weight fluctuates by about three pounds, it's a range. As long as you see a downward trend, then you're doing fine. Stick with it!
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
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    You'll get used to it. Start using a trending app (if you're an app person, I'm not) like Trendweight or Happy Scale. I use Weightgrapher.com. It will smooth out the fluctuations for you on a graph and you'll see the trends over time.

    You're just starting, and you'll see.

    Some things to keep in mind that make weight go up temporarily due to water:

    Higher sodium meals
    Extra carbohydrates
    Higher intensity exercise
    New exercise

    Disruptions to sleep and stress can also impact the scale and hormonal swings do their number on it as well. I started losing weight after menopause, so I don't have experience with that enough to talk about it.
  • VivianRosser
    VivianRosser Posts: 32 Member
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    I think everyones weight fluctuates during the course of the day I have made it a practice to weigh at 9am every day
  • lulalacroix
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
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    Yup my weight is all over the place too, although I weight at the same time every single day. Always is. I'm using the Libra app for Android. It tracks the trends so I can see that it is still a downward trend.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
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    +1 for Happy Scale or Libra. Also, we don't have a "true weight", we have a weight range of +/- a few pounds. This is why when most people hit maintenance, they aim for either staying within a certain range or staying below a top end weight limit.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
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    I think you're asking a version of the question, "How do I know my *true* weight?" There is no such thing- it's changing all the time. When it comes time for maintenance, you won't be maintaining an exact #, but a 3-5 lb range. You can rightfully claim you've lost 4 lbs (and great job, BTW!) and while sometimes water weight fluctuations can mask our loss, it shows up on the scale eventually.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    I gain at ovulation and right before my TOM. Because of this (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6846ZTBu08k&index=4&list=PLUXvX9BaxgqG9yO5XWB3gA_QshvrrcjVr
  • holly1283
    holly1283 Posts: 741 Member
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    This was just the site I needed to read today. I was in a real funk. I'm not new to the program but totally was inside my head. Thank you people for your encouraging words.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
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    I use trendweight to track the trend over time. It helps. My weight can fluctuate 3-5lb in the same day.
  • brdlady2
    brdlady2 Posts: 1 Member
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    Try weighting once a week, at the same time and day. I weigh every Tuesday as soon as my feet hit the floor. That's it. If I went by the scales weighing two and three times a day, I would go crazy!!!!!! Your weight fluctuates throughout the day and at a certain time of month or maybe how much salt you take in!
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    You kind of don't, really. What you want to look for is the overall downward trend.
  • kkress92
    kkress92 Posts: 118 Member
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    This points towards the argument to weigh yourself every day. There WILL be fluctuations., but if you only weigh weekly, you won't know if the number on the scale is a "high" or a "low" or if you're making progress or not.
    I'll also +1 for using a trending app (I like Happy Scale) It smooths out the fluctuations and wards off discouragement. Happy Losing :)
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    I've been using Happy Scale on the iPhone for 21 months, weighing myself every morning, and the data is SO useful!
  • crackpotbaby
    crackpotbaby Posts: 1,297 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Here's an example of my daily fluctuation over a month.

    I've been weighing every morning, first thing, after a wee (to get a feel for day to day variance).

    m0g6rb6s9a9n.png

    As you can see, the fluctuations can be dramatic but the trend shows the gradual weight loss.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    weigh and log once a week. there may still be fluctuations, but its an overall trend you want (so do this consistently for a month) and see where you are. if the number has not consistently gone down in that time frame, get tighter on your food logging and weighing and reduce the number of exercise calories you are eating back.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    For starters, you need a to have standard conditions to get meaningful results. That usuallly means weighing first thing in am, after the bathroom, naked or wearing same clothing, and before you do anything else. You'll still have day to day swings, but trying to compare weighing at different times each day will drive you nuts.

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