Over night weight difference

Options
mieddy
mieddy Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So last night i weighed myself after a full day of eating and drinking. I weighed 153...this morning my scale said 149. How does my weight fluctuate that greatly in 7 hours?

Replies

  • mieddy
    mieddy Posts: 19 Member
    Options
    So if it's water, which weight do I go with to calculate BMI.. Lower I'm assuming? Thank you
  • rickiimarieee
    rickiimarieee Posts: 2,212 Member
    Options
    I would go with the one in the morning that's how much you weigh your body weighs without withholding food and water that hasn't been digested yet.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Options
    Usual recommendation is to weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after going to the bathroom, for consistency.

    And of course you weigh more in the evening after eating and drinking throughout the day. Those things have weight, right? That doesn't magically disappear when it enters your body.
  • mieddy
    mieddy Posts: 19 Member
    Options
    Yep, I knew it was due to water and food but 4 pounds seems so much. Normal fluctuations though, got it. Thank you for your responses and thanks to the community.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    Options
    mieddy wrote: »
    Yep, I knew it was due to water and food but 4 pounds seems so much. Normal fluctuations though, got it. Thank you for your responses and thanks to the community.

    I tend to lose 5 pounds overnight. I love it!

    Water weighs more than most people realize. A pint is a pound the world around. For every 16 ounces of water you drink, you're putting on a pound. That said, you also lose it pretty quickly, not just by going to the bathroom but also via normal respiration (ever notice how you can fog up a mirror by breathing on it? That's water loss).
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    Options
    Yeah, it's not really that useful to weigh yourself at night, especially if you're going to compare it to your weight in the morning. Your body uses a lot of energy while you're sleeping. Add in a restroom run first thing in the AM, and that's four pounds easy.
  • Alassonde
    Alassonde Posts: 228 Member
    Options
    Back when I used to weigh myself at night and in the morning, the night weight was always 3-4 pounds higher. Now I don't bother weighing any time except right away in the morning, just to keep it more accurate and consistent.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,210 Member
    Options
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Besides the water - which is by far the largest contributor to overnight loss - the fat you lose leaves your body predominantly . . . by exhalation: Burned up, then the largest portion of the residue exhaled, like smoke up a chimney. You could look it up.

    For those of us not doing an intermittent fasting (IF) plan, sleep is the longest time where we're exhaling steadily without ingesting, so fat loss also tends to show up overnight.

    Yes. In addition to the approximately 4 ounces of bodyfat burned while sleeping (~60 calories/hour), the springs in your scale might be stiffer in the morning, if it's colder then. :+1:
  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
    edited October 2017
    Options
    Your weight is always your weight. If you want to track overall changes through time, I would suggest taking consistent measurements, usually in the morning before consuming anything. The difference can be explained usually through the exhalation of water vapor and good old evaporation.

    Also sometimes electronic scales will give you different readings depending on the temperature.
  • NancRose
    NancRose Posts: 2 Member
    Options
    We always weight more at night than in the morning. To be consistent weigh yourself at the same time every time!
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Options
    Everyone loses weight during the night. A small part of it is fat loss. Most of it is water that leaves through your urine or that evaporates from your skin during the night.

Categories