Fluctuating Weight DRASTICALLY!

cujo4mvp · July 2017

Only been at this for about 2 weeks and only weigh in about every 3rd day. I am a very large guy and in 1st week lost approx 16 lbs. Was able to exercise 5 days that first week too.

This week, weighed in this evening and was back up 5 lbs from Monday's check in. I have not been able to exercise in a couple days because I sprained my foot so I assumed part of it was from that, and yesterday we had a pretty high sodium meal for dinner.

Any idea what causes such a big fluctuation? 5 lbs is a bunch for a couple days. I am eating under 2000 cal daily, not starving whatsoever, but the huge jump in a few days is a concern early on. Our meal was "heavy" yesterday with a couple baked potatoes, also was high in sodium. Today was a low sodium day, but not sure "how heavy" chicken weighed me down either.

NOTE: I don't normally weigh myself at night either.

Thanks all!!! Just trying to stay motivated and dropping the pounds until this pain goes away in my foot to get back out again.

vespiquenn · July 2017

cujo4mvp wrote: »

Only been at this for about 2 weeks and only weigh in about every 3rd day. I am a very large guy and in 1st week lost approx 16 lbs. Was able to exercise 5 days that first week too.

This week, weighed in this evening and was back up 5 lbs from Monday's check in. I have not been able to exercise in a couple days because I sprained my foot so I assumed part of it was from that, and yesterday we had a pretty high sodium meal for dinner.

Any idea what causes such a big fluctuation? 5 lbs is a bunch for a couple days. I am eating under 2000 cal daily, not starving whatsoever, but the huge jump in a few days is a concern early on. Our meal was "heavy" yesterday with a couple baked potatoes, also was high in sodium. Today was a low sodium day, but not sure "how heavy" chicken weighed me down either.

NOTE: I don't normally weigh myself at night either.

Thanks all!!! Just trying to stay motivated and dropping the pounds until this pain goes away in my foot to get back out again.

Probably the part in bold. I'm currently up 4lbs from my morning weight and I'm significantly under my calorie goal for the day. Weight loss is not linear, and you need to be consistent with weigh ins. Same time of day, same amount of clothing (or none), etc.

usmcmp · July 2017

Sodium and carbs cause water weight gain. Eating and drinking through the day cause water and waste weight gain. Stick to weighing yourself in the mornings right after using the bathroom.

cujo4mvp · July 2017

95% of the time I do you weigh myself in the morning (always did this the first time through as well), however being 5 pounds up from Monday, albeit weighing myself at night this time compared to Monday morning, was concerning and a "deflator" for morale.
My calorie intake and is well below the number they say I can eat, but I certainly am not hungry to the point I need to eat anywhere close to it.

CharlieBeansmomTracey · July 2017

my weight can fluctuate 3-5 lbs from one day to the next and being female sometimes the scale will go up 7lbs but I know its water retention. weight fluctuates hour to hour,day to day. If you increase exercise your water retention will increase as well masking any weight loss.16 lbs in one week is a LOT of water weight(not all will be water but Im sure in a short time a good bit of it was).

vespiquenn · July 2017

cujo4mvp wrote: »

95% of the time I do you weigh myself in the morning (always did this the first time through as well), however being 5 pounds up from Monday, albeit weighing myself at night this time compared to Monday morning, was concerning and a "deflator" for morale.
My calorie intake and is well below the number they say I can eat, but I certainly am not hungry to the point I need to eat anywhere close to it.

If you get that easily demoralized by normal fluctuations, I suggest not weighing yourself as often. Or accept that the time of day can change the reading due to water, food, waste, etc being in your system.

Silentpadna · July 2017

cujo4mvp wrote: »

Only been at this for about 2 weeks and only weigh in about every 3rd day. I am a very large guy and in 1st week lost approx 16 lbs. Was able to exercise 5 days that first week too.

This week, weighed in this evening and was back up 5 lbs from Monday's check in. I have not been able to exercise in a couple days because I sprained my foot so I assumed part of it was from that, and yesterday we had a pretty high sodium meal for dinner.

Any idea what causes such a big fluctuation? 5 lbs is a bunch for a couple days. I am eating under 2000 cal daily, not starving whatsoever, but the huge jump in a few days is a concern early on. Our meal was "heavy" yesterday with a couple baked potatoes, also was high in sodium. Today was a low sodium day, but not sure "how heavy" chicken weighed me down either.

NOTE: I don't normally weigh myself at night either.

Thanks all!!! Just trying to stay motivated and dropping the pounds until this pain goes away in my foot to get back out again.

It's not that drastic. I fluctuate up to a 5 pound swing quite often. I've just learned it's not a big deal. If you haven't been used to weighing yourself a lot, you probably haven't noticed that you've done that most of your life.

Your 16 pound loss initially was only partially fat loss. Your 5 pound "gain" was not a fat gain - especially if you are eating at a deficit. Fluctuation is normal and can exaggerate and/or mask fat loss. You need time and patience.

Stay motivated by trusting the process. If you are eating at a deficit, you will lose weight over time. And you cannot stop the fluctuations, so just learn to understand that they exist.

hoffman2300 · July 2017

if you're logging your food and know you haven't eaten 17,000+ extra calories, it's just water. Go back over your food logs and see where sodium might be hidden. I find that processed and even simply prepared restaurant food tend to have a lot of salt (and it usually takes me three days to undo the damage). If I salt my own food (at home) that isn't made with pre-made broth or sauces, I don't have the same problems. Mainly - to reiterate what everyone above said, it's shocking to see the numbers on the scale but don't freak out about it.

Silentpadna · July 2017

hoffman2300 wrote: »

undo the damage

Unless you are way overdoing sodium all the time, it's not really "damage". Not to mention that many things that the body does when retaining fluid are things it's supposed to do. Muscle repair after working out is one of the those really good reasons to retain some water weight. Scale numbers going up is not a bad thing. In fact, many times it's a good thing.

I only nitpick here because there is sometimes an attitude on the forums that any kind of fluid retention is bad. That's not always the case. The best thing is just to understand why it happens. There are lots of good reasons to keep your sodium intake under control, but my contention is that retaining fluid is not at the top of that list.

JetJaguar · July 2017

Maybe start weighing yourself more often and start tracking your weight in an app like "Happy Scale" to smooth out the noise of daily fluctuations and allow you to see your overall trend. I weigh myself daily, first thing in the morning, but consider the 7-day moving average my official weight. As long as that's moving in the right direction, I'm happy.

FWIW, as an experiment I weighed myself every couple of hours for a few days and found that my weight can fluctuate over a ~5 lb. range over the course of 24 hours. I even drop a pound or more overnight while sleeping.

Fluctuating Weight DRASTICALLY!

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