Grr. My weight fluctuates.

Okay, I'm sure this has been a topic before. But, my weight fluctuates SO freakin' much. It can fluctuate 4 lbs. worth in a day, usually just 1-2 lbs. tho.

I know it depends on when I last ate, drank, worked out, time of the month (i'm a woman)... and, yada yada yada. But, what does it mean if my weight fluctuates? Can it be anything bad, or hindering my weight loss?! It's kinda hard to tell if I'm losing weight or how much I even weight to begin with.

It just means that you are a human being. Honest!

The scale is really only useful for measuring trends over time. It's of no help on a day to day basis and certainly not on an hourly one.

It's a very good idea to also use other measures, like how your clothes fit, photographs and body measurements to track your progress.

Trust me, it can and will fluctuate. 5 pounds up and down is considered within a healthy range (although its less for smaller people, more for larger)

Think about it. A liter of water weighs 1 kg. Drink a 500ml bottle of water and you gain a little over a pound.

Put your watter bottle on a scale and see for yourself!

So glad you posted this. I am the same way and get so side tracked because of it. I feel like I am working so hard but yet still gaining weight!

I always weigh about 5-6 pounds more at the end of the day vs the morning time. It's normal. But for my morning weighs I never fluctuate more than .5 pounds

I do four pounds in a morning.
I wake up, have two cups of coffee (16oz) drink two bottles of water while working out (32oz) and have a protein shake after my workout (16oz).

By the time I get in the shower I'm up four pounds. Not a big deal.

My weight also fluctuates up to 3 lbs in a day, I also noticed that was more common in the morning. I wouldn't worry too much about it, it's not fat weight more likely it's water weight. I try not to weigh myself in the mornings anymore, if only to not discourage myself. Lol

I understand the arguments of weekly vs daily weight checks. The weekly isn't as depressing, supposedly. I like turning myself into a science project. I have weighed myself before I go to bed and discovered I lose 2 tenths of a pound per hour of sleep. I checked my scale for accuracy by weighing myself before and after drinking a 16 oz. bottle of water--exactly 1 pound increase in weight.

Whenever I have exceeded my sodium intake by 1000 mg I will weigh 1/2 to 1 pound heavier in the morning than if I held the sodium down. A lot low calorie food has higher sodium to compensate for lack of taste.

I wear a heart monitor and monitor my body-fat percentage (that is probably more important than weight). Am I obsessing with numbers? I think I am educating myself about myself.

I feel the more you learn about your body the more you can master it.

Same here. Seems everyone weighs in the morning after going potty and before drinking anything but for me that never works. I weigh on Saturday afternoons after my work out.....but honestly my weight fluctuates daily by 2-3lbs until weigh in day. Its weird.

"
Overview (why I'm posting this)
Over the course of about 7 months on here, I have seen many people suceed, I have also seen some drop off the map. I expect this is because some succumb to the demon that is temptation, and some to the devil that is dissapointment. I wanted to give a few "heads up"s to both new commers and vetrans to the site. Some may know already, some may not. But either way, if this helps anyone to set more realistic goals in their own head, I feel like it has done it's job.

Phase 1. The start of a brand new day! (or week, or month, or year)
Expectations are sky high, usually so is motivation and intentions. This is where most people lose the most weight. At the start it's not uncommon to see 4 to 8 lb losses per week. The reasons for this are mostly (sorry to disappoint) water weight. You drop excess water quickly, and you can have up to 5 lbs of water weight. The next biggest reason is the fat that is right next to the blood vessels, the stuff that you put on in the last month or three, it will melt like butter usually.

Phase 2. Reality setting in.
At about week 3 to a month or so, people suddenly realize that they are no longer dropping 8, 6, or even 4 lbs a week. This is a crutial phase in your journey. Expect this, it is natural. You have shocked your body by changing both eating habits and exercise routine. Now it has had a little while to become used to the new lifestyle, it's going to compensate. Your body still doesn't believe it's permenant yet, so it will still try to store some fat, so now that it knows how to regulate it's new metabolic levels, it tryies to store fat in earnest. It's not uncommon for people to hit a wall here, no loss for weeks. Expect this as well.

Phase 3. The routine.
At about 2 months or so, your routine is pretty much set, your body is beginning to believe that you really want to STAY the way you are going now. You will start to see more consistant (but lower, usually 1 to 2 lbs a week) loss, also, you should start seeing some muscle tone (depending on how much you had to lose in the first place). If you stop to think, you should realize that you have improved dramatically in your exercise levels. If you do cardio, you should notice how much longer and harder you can work. This is important to realize as it is just as big of an indicator as weight loss. Also, by now you may notice that your clothes no longer fit right. This is also very important. The weight may not be falling off anymore, but you are becomming a smaller person. Weight is arbitrary, if you are building muscle (which your body is doing at a furious pace by now) you won't notice huge losses, but you will notice wholesale changes in the mirror!

Phase 4. Really digging in.
This is where the second wall can happen. You're probably at between 3 and 4 months by now, and if you have gone this far, you feel like you have already suceeded. This is where many people stumble. they are tired of the routine, tired of eating different things from all their friends, limiting their alcohol intake. Basically the shine has worn off. this is when your really need to plant your feet. Maybe change up your exercise routine, make a concentrated effort to find different, but still nutritional food. Talk to people. And examine how far you have come. At this point, no matter how much external motivation you receive, it's all about believing in yourself!

Phase 5. End game.
5 or 6 months in you are probably working on that "last 10 pounds". This can be discouraging for many as it is a slow burn. Remember, your body probably feels like it is where it needs to be, your brain might think you need to lose 10 more, but your body is quite proud of itself now, it feels like it has "Done enough" and it wants to stay RIGHT HERE. The body LIKES to have a little fat around just in case, especially for the ladies (sorry girls, it's just human physiology). If you feel like you still need to lose it, prepare yourself for some guerrila warfare against your body. Design an exercise regimen that is very dynamic, forget the "same thing every day". Make a plan that challenges you both physically and mentally. Make sure you give yourself a day off here and there to just veg. And by all means, remember, muscle burns fat at rest. So get some weight or resistance training involved.
The last 10 may take 3 to 6 months to lose. I know nobody wants to hear that, but it's true. And forget the idea of increasing your calorie deficite, healthy bodies need good nutrition, your body no longer has the fat reserves to handle the large deficites you could when you were 30 40 or 50 pounds overweight. Better to make it a 3 or 400 calorie deficite (NET, please count your exercise calories too!). It may take a bit longer, but your body will like you for it. Plus it feeds those new muscles and keeps them burning fat, keeps your skin healthy (elasticity is important when you want those places that were stretched out to "snap back") and keeps you from getting head aches and depressed.

Conclusion:

this is what I have learned, not just from my journey, but from others as well on here. It saddens me sometimes to see people hit one of these stages and not recognize it for what it is, a part of the process. If we all can have realistic expectations, then we are more prone to win the fight and stay healthy in the long run. Note that some people will hit these stages harder then others, some may take longer, but for the most part, this is the rule that the exceptions will come from.

Best health to you all!

-Banks "

bump