Weight Fluctuation and Decreased Work Outs
Nysportsred
Posts: 224 Member
I know weight can fluctuate depending on a lot of factors (sodium, water weight, etc.) and can increase a lot overnight before coming down a few days later. My question is what would cause it to drop a few pounds overnight? Obviously it will go back up and the 179 is not accurate, but it confused me as usually it goes higher and not lower when it fluctuates.
The last 9 months I haven't been working out more than twice a week as we had another daughter in December and I realized my exercise schedule was cutting into the time I spent with my girls and at 3 and now 11 months I don't want to miss any time that I can possibly spend with them. When my oldest was younger I look back now and realize I stuck to my workout schedule and I regret a lot of the times I could've played with her and ended up selfishly doing my own thing. I absolutely respect and give all the credit in the world to all those that can balance raising small children and being able to stick to an exercise routine 3-6 days a week. Single parents also.....all the credit in the world. I couldn't do it without everything my wife does.
Some weeks it is only one work out. I feel like crap not exercising as much, but I have tried to stick to a 1960 a day calorie diet. Admittedly most days I am over, but usually by no more than 250-300 calories.
When I started decreasing the exercise I was 184. I am now 182.4. I was a 35 waist and the waist size is still the same. I was 235 in April 2011. Mentally I feel larger because of the less exercise, but the clothes fit the same and the waist measurement hasn't changed. This morning the scale said 179.4 which is obviously not correct and is a fluctuation, but again I am curious why it fluctuated lower rather than higher.
One benefit though is I was having a lot of chronic pain the last few years with neck, shoulders, and my back which radiated down the legs and I also have fibromyalgia. The less working out has actually cleared up a lot of the pain and even with my 1-3 (on a good week; in the summer its more as I run around with them for hours, but I don't count that towards MFP) for the first time in 5 years a lot of the chronic pain has gone away and am no longer scheduled for a procedure that I was supposed to have soon on my neck.
I've seen people on here before criticized for decreasing their exercise, but personally I just couldn't keep up right now.
The last 9 months I haven't been working out more than twice a week as we had another daughter in December and I realized my exercise schedule was cutting into the time I spent with my girls and at 3 and now 11 months I don't want to miss any time that I can possibly spend with them. When my oldest was younger I look back now and realize I stuck to my workout schedule and I regret a lot of the times I could've played with her and ended up selfishly doing my own thing. I absolutely respect and give all the credit in the world to all those that can balance raising small children and being able to stick to an exercise routine 3-6 days a week. Single parents also.....all the credit in the world. I couldn't do it without everything my wife does.
Some weeks it is only one work out. I feel like crap not exercising as much, but I have tried to stick to a 1960 a day calorie diet. Admittedly most days I am over, but usually by no more than 250-300 calories.
When I started decreasing the exercise I was 184. I am now 182.4. I was a 35 waist and the waist size is still the same. I was 235 in April 2011. Mentally I feel larger because of the less exercise, but the clothes fit the same and the waist measurement hasn't changed. This morning the scale said 179.4 which is obviously not correct and is a fluctuation, but again I am curious why it fluctuated lower rather than higher.
One benefit though is I was having a lot of chronic pain the last few years with neck, shoulders, and my back which radiated down the legs and I also have fibromyalgia. The less working out has actually cleared up a lot of the pain and even with my 1-3 (on a good week; in the summer its more as I run around with them for hours, but I don't count that towards MFP) for the first time in 5 years a lot of the chronic pain has gone away and am no longer scheduled for a procedure that I was supposed to have soon on my neck.
I've seen people on here before criticized for decreasing their exercise, but personally I just couldn't keep up right now.
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Replies
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Water weight, the weight of the food in your intestines. Don't concern your self with the fluctuations, this is normal. As long as the trend is downward, you are doing fine.2
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Your muscles aren't needing to hold the water to repair.2
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It's just as normal to fluctuate lower as it is higher.2
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If you're weighing yourself in the evening just before bed, your weight shouldn't be going up overnight. It can only go down assuming you don't take anything else in after that weigh-in. Your weight will always go down while you sleep from water loss. This is a non-refutable fact. If you are adding weight while you sleep, then you may be sleep-eating!
What usually happens when retaining water is that your weight doesn't decline as much overnight as it would normally. I usually lose 4-5 pounds overnight. When retaining water, I'll only drop 2-3.3 -
I weigh myself in the mornings at the same time. Around the same time anyway lol.0
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My weight flucuates every day. I've learned it to be normal and it doesn't stress me out. I always weigh less in the morning. Unless i have a glass of wine, then it'll go up like 4 lbs from water weight.0
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Nysportsred wrote: »I've seen people on here before criticized for decreasing their exercise, but personally I just couldn't keep up right now.
good for you knowing it, and letting your own body talk louder to you than the impersonal internet. there used to be a poster around here who would occasionally show how her body had changed after a long period of 'only' lifting when and as much as her health issues allowed. it was quite eye-opening.
imo, repair is usually > adding more stimulus - assuming there's any need for repair. on your weight drops, it sounds like you've had two ongoing sources of inflammation (workouts plus fm), and either/both of those could be letting your body shed water as the inflammation levels go down.
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What goes up must come down!0
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When you said fibromyalgia I knew, can't tell you what exactly what I knew, but pretty sure that is the key.
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corinasue1143 wrote: »When you said fibromyalgia I knew, can't tell you what exactly what I knew, but pretty sure that is the key.
Interesting....never even thought it had any impact on weight.
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If you're weighing yourself in the evening just before bed, your weight shouldn't be going up overnight. It can only go down assuming you don't take anything else in after that weigh-in. Your weight will always go down while you sleep from water loss. This is a non-refutable fact. If you are adding weight while you sleep, then you may be sleep-eating!
What usually happens when retaining water is that your weight doesn't decline as much overnight as it would normally. I usually lose 4-5 pounds overnight. When retaining water, I'll only drop 2-3.
Why is this “woo”-ed?0 -
Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep.3
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For those people who think weight can't go up overnight... I take it you've never eaten a meal with more sodium than usual for dinner?3
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it doesn't matter how much sodium you have for dinner. If you don't eat or drink anything after that your weight literally cannot increase. This is more likely due to scale fluctuations than anything. Think about it. If you put a gallon jug with half water and half chocolate on a scale it'll weight the same amount no matter how you mix the components unless you add or subtract from the jug itself. Your body is a water jug. It can't change weight without adding or subtracting something. If you're not adding anything, it ain't going up.3
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Just to update: January 1 I was 181.2. The weight keeps going up (this morning weight in at 190), but I also have not been "regular" in a while so I don't know if that is impacting it or not. I am always within my goal calories or at the very least maintaining weight so I doubt I would've gained 9 pounds in a month and a half. I also worked out Monday and yesterday an hour each day for the first time since November 24 and I know that retains water so the 3 pound weight gain from Tuesday's weigh in and today's is most likely my muscles retaining eater.
My body definitely feels better overall than before I took the break, but not as much as it did in the beginning of my rest. I have been happy to be less stressed about getting in work outs and finding time to spend with my kids (quality time - not a little while here and a little while there) so mentally it's been a big benefit the entire time. There are times when mentally I feel heavy, but the waist has basically stayed the same so I am hopeful the number on the scale is not indicative of anything other than being irregular and some water weight.1 -
TimothyFish wrote: »Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep.
Ummm, welcome to being female. Hormonal fluctuations cause my weight to go up overnight all the time. And I don't raid the fridge.
Gah. Fell for the thread resurrections.3 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep.
Ummm, welcome to being female. Hormonal fluctuations cause my weight to go up overnight all the time. And I don't raid the fridge.
Gah. Fell for the thread resurrections.
Is that not allowed? I didn't realize. I figured it's be better to update here then to start another thread about basically the same thing. My fault.0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep.
Ummm, welcome to being female. Hormonal fluctuations cause my weight to go up overnight all the time. And I don't raid the fridge.
Gah. Fell for the thread resurrections.
Sorry, but unless our understanding of the laws of nature is totally wrong you simply cannot add weight without taking something in. It's physically impossible.
Google 'conservation of mass'.0 -
Nysportsred wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep.
Ummm, welcome to being female. Hormonal fluctuations cause my weight to go up overnight all the time. And I don't raid the fridge.
Gah. Fell for the thread resurrections.
Is that not allowed? I didn't realize. I figured it's be better to update here then to start another thread about basically the same thing. My fault.
Nah. It's fine. But I probably didn't need to comment on someone who wouldn't see it, because he made the comment two years ago.0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep.
Ummm, welcome to being female. Hormonal fluctuations cause my weight to go up overnight all the time. And I don't raid the fridge.
Gah. Fell for the thread resurrections.
Sorry, but unless our understanding of the laws of nature is totally wrong you simply cannot add weight without taking something in. It's physically impossible.
Google 'conservation of mass'.
Water retention equals "weight" on the scale in the morning. The number on the scale in the morning doesn't "always decrease" like Mr. Fish alleges.2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep.
Ummm, welcome to being female. Hormonal fluctuations cause my weight to go up overnight all the time. And I don't raid the fridge.
Gah. Fell for the thread resurrections.
Sorry, but unless our understanding of the laws of nature is totally wrong you simply cannot add weight without taking something in. It's physically impossible.
Google 'conservation of mass'.
Water retention equals "weight" on the scale in the morning. The number on the scale in the morning doesn't "always decrease" like Mr. Fish alleges.
Right, but weight cannot increase without taking something in. It might not decrease as much as normal because you are retaining water but it cannot increase. Simple fact of the matter is that every single one of us loses mass every time we exhale and our weight will always go down unless we otherwise replace that mass.
You might be able to increase your weight overnight if you sleep in a fog chamber or something where you are breathing in more moisture than you are exhaling. I'm not sure if this is actually possible but it's one way that it could happen.1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep.
Ummm, welcome to being female. Hormonal fluctuations cause my weight to go up overnight all the time. And I don't raid the fridge.
Gah. Fell for the thread resurrections.
Sorry, but unless our understanding of the laws of nature is totally wrong you simply cannot add weight without taking something in. It's physically impossible.
Google 'conservation of mass'.
Water retention equals "weight" on the scale in the morning. The number on the scale in the morning doesn't "always decrease" like Mr. Fish alleges.
Right, but weight cannot increase without taking something in. It might not decrease as much as normal because you are retaining water but it cannot increase. Simple fact of the matter is that every single one of us loses mass every time we exhale and our weight will always go down unless we otherwise replace that mass.
You might be able to increase your weight overnight if you sleep in a fog chamber or something where you are breathing in more moisture than you are exhaling. I'm not sure if this is actually possible but it's one way that it could happen.
Dude, I get it. I understand what you are saying.
But what would your response be to Mr. Fish's first comment?
"Weight doesn't go up overnight. It always decreases unless you are raiding the frig in your sleep."1 -
Mr. Fish is absolutely correct. Weight does not go up overnight unless you are somehow adding mass by drinking or eating. Weight can only go down over time barring any other inputs.
You can't agree with me and not agree with Mr. Fish. We are saying exactly the same thing. Unless there's something I'm missing?2 -
Mr. Fish is absolutely correct. Weight does not go up overnight unless you are somehow adding mass by drinking or eating. Weight can only go down over time barring any other inputs.
You can't agree with me and not agree with Mr. Fish. We are saying exactly the same thing. Unless there's something I'm missing?
I can personally attest to this not being accurate. Specifically at ovulation, and approximately 2-3 days before menstruation.2 -
You may have lost muscle mass.0
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Mr. Fish is absolutely correct. Weight does not go up overnight unless you are somehow adding mass by drinking or eating. Weight can only go down over time barring any other inputs.
You can't agree with me and not agree with Mr. Fish. We are saying exactly the same thing. Unless there's something I'm missing?
I can personally attest to this not being accurate. Specifically at ovulation, and approximately 2-3 days before menstruation.
I'm certain that the men (sorry if I'm wrong on the gender, Mr. Fish) must be implying a weigh-in before bed, as well as upon waking. I myself doubt that you are gaining weight whilst sleeping, no matter what the hormones are doing. Perhaps what they're missing is the fact that they hadn't specified weighing before bed?1 -
Weight can totally appear to go up overnight because the scales most people have at home are pretty *kitten*. It's not that the weight goes up it's that the scale is not terribly consistent.1
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I am weighing the morning. I should have said that earlier if that matters.0
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spikeraw22 wrote: »it doesn't matter how much sodium you have for dinner. If you don't eat or drink anything after that your weight literally cannot increase. This is more likely due to scale fluctuations than anything. Think about it. If you put a gallon jug with half water and half chocolate on a scale it'll weight the same amount no matter how you mix the components unless you add or subtract from the jug itself. Your body is a water jug. It can't change weight without adding or subtracting something. If you're not adding anything, it ain't going up.
If you're breathing, you're bringing air into your body, water is dissolved in that air. your body can process that water...
You certainly can gain weight as you sleep.. Although that's not the usual pattern2 -
stanmann571 wrote: »spikeraw22 wrote: »it doesn't matter how much sodium you have for dinner. If you don't eat or drink anything after that your weight literally cannot increase. This is more likely due to scale fluctuations than anything. Think about it. If you put a gallon jug with half water and half chocolate on a scale it'll weight the same amount no matter how you mix the components unless you add or subtract from the jug itself. Your body is a water jug. It can't change weight without adding or subtracting something. If you're not adding anything, it ain't going up.
If you're breathing, you're bringing air into your body, water is dissolved in that air. your body can process that water...
You certainly can gain weight as you sleep.. Although that's not the usual pattern
If you're breathing, you're expelling moisture with each breath. Unless you live in a cloud I'm skeptical that you can take in more moisture than you expel.1
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