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rochelleworld wrote: »In addition to what everyone is saying here about focusing on trends rather than day-to-day fluctuations, you might be interested in reading The Leptin Diet and in general reading about how leptin works.
Leptin is a hormone in the body that helps regulate your metabolic processes. Ironically, eating less than you normally do could be sending a signal to your brain that there is a "famine," inspiring your body to turn energy into fat and other things that might influence your weight.
So that could be happening here. Again guys don't hate on me lol but after 2 consecutive days of eating 1800 I weighed in this morning at 254. Put on a pound I don't think do. Like I've said I'm not concerned just curious. What Rochelle says sounds interesting as for 2 years I've literally ate what I've wanted and as I started driving around that time I've hardly exercised just a case of getting in and out of my car. Now I'm cutti g down to 1800-2200 daily and walking 3 miles per day my body may be holding on to the food?
No.
Fat loss - the thing we actually are striving for - doesn't show over a short period of days. Weight fluctuation shows over a period of days. Even within a day, drink two cups of water, and you'll weigh a pound more. There are too many confounding variables to see weight loss happening day by day, which is what the charts above are showing you.
You've lost well, on average. You're doing great. Actual fat loss shows up over a period of weeks to months, as that jaggedy bumpy line of daily weights gradually trends downward (assuming you're actually losing).
Weighing a pound or two up or down over a day or few? Just random coincidence of water weight (salt, sweat, carbs, urine, muscle repair, minor infections/illnesses, more) and digestive system contents (water or other liquids recently drunk, or food eaten in the last 48 hours or so, still in transit). It's not fat gain or loss. It's meaningless.
Watch the trend. Your trend is fine.
I'm not hating on you. Think of me as a concerned granny (I'm old enough) who wants you to stop stressing, and be patient with the very successful course you're on.9 -
Thank you. I'm very appreciative of your words. I know I'll get to my target and don't think daily weighing is something I'll be continuing with!3
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Thank you. I'm very appreciative of your words. I know I'll get to my target and don't think daily weighing is something I'll be continuing with!
I weigh daily, but I only track my weight once per week in MFP. I consider all other "weigh ins" somewhat of a science experiment so that I understand that weight fluctuations happen. For me, it helps me realize that if my weight bumps up on my actual "weigh in" day it might be just like the fluctuations I have seen on the scale by weighing myself daily (multiple times per day sometimes just to see how it changes from morning to night, etc.) For some people, this habit would be stressful. For me, I like data. Seeing it helps me keep emotion at bay. For people that find it stressful, put the scale in the closet. Hide it until your weigh in day. I've even heard of people weighing in once per month so they can focus on the journey instead of the scale.
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Commenting again just to add that I agree wholeheartedly with everything @AnnPT77 stated, expecially that you are doing great.1
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rochelleworld wrote: »In addition to what everyone is saying here about focusing on trends rather than day-to-day fluctuations, you might be interested in reading The Leptin Diet and in general reading about how leptin works.
Leptin is a hormone in the body that helps regulate your metabolic processes. Ironically, eating less than you normally do could be sending a signal to your brain that there is a "famine," inspiring your body to turn energy into fat and other things that might influence your weight.
So that could be happening here. Again guys don't hate on me lol but after 2 consecutive days of eating 1800 I weighed in this morning at 254. Put on a pound I don't think do. Like I've said I'm not concerned just curious. What Rochelle says sounds interesting as for 2 years I've literally ate what I've wanted and as I started driving around that time I've hardly exercised just a case of getting in and out of my car. Now I'm cutti g down to 1800-2200 daily and walking 3 miles per day my body may be holding on to the food?
Nope. Your body doesnt work that way. Ask people who are starving or who died of starvation how that theory holds up.
Fluctuations in weight are normal. Calories affect fat storage if you eat more than you burn. However your weight also temporarily depends on the weight of things you put in your body. Water has no calories but has weight. Drink 2litres of water and you gained 4.4 lbs. Eat 1lbs of broccoli or 453grams you gained a pound but only ate 154 calories. Weigh yourself and then panic as you are up 5.4 lbs on 154 calories.
In the end you have to accept that weight trend is what matters. The day to day numbers do not. They individually are near meaningless without context.
If you want to lose weight get in a calorie deficit and make consistency your ally. Give it time.
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2 litres of water weighs 4.4lbs? No way?!0
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Because you excrete water via urination, perspiration, respiration, etc. It's not permanently stored in your body once you drink it.
As others have already said, our water balance is in constant flux and there are many factors which affect it. Which is why it's important to observe your weight trend over time rather than day-to-day (or worse yet, hour-to-hour) fluctuations.
Take the time to watch this video, it's an excellent explanation of how fat loss actually occurs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE 7 -
Well, 1 liter of urine also equals 2.2 pounds. We don't hold onto every liter of water we drink perpetually. It comes and goes when your body needs it.
Cheat day with a little too much sodium? Your body retains water and the scale goes up. A few days later, the body finished processing the sodium, it doesn't need the water anymore, whoosh, you pee a bunch and the scale goes down.
Same thing is true for flying, dehydration, working out, extra carbs in your diet, a little extra stress, etc. Your body holds that water for a bit when it needs it but then lets it go when it doesn't. That's why no one has one true weight. Your current weight isn't a static number, it's a range of numbers within about 5 pounds of each other. Sometimes you're on the high end of that range and sometimes on the low end. The important thing is that your weight range goes down overall over time.6 -
diannethegeek wrote: »...Cheat day with a little too much sodium? Your body retains water and the scale goes up. A few days later, the body finished processing the sodium, it doesn't need the water anymore, whoosh, you pee a bunch and the scale goes down...
Two nights ago, we were invited by friends to an Italian dinner. Lots of carbs, lots of sodium, lots of calories. Pasta, homemade sauce, meatballs, sausage, wine, chocolate cake for dessert, the works. We also spent the entire day on the lake out in the sun and I was slightly sunburned (another source of water retention). Yesterday morning I was up 4.4 pounds on the scale from the previous day's weigh-in. At this morning's weigh-in, 2.2 pounds of it was already gone. From past experience, I already know that in another day or two, I'll be right back down to where I was before that dinner.8 -
What you (ought to) care about is body fat loss . . . not water fluctuations. Think about what we're telling you here.
Water weight fluctuation is not stored body fat: You shouldn't worry about it. It's a distraction, a red herring.
If you eat two pounds of celery, you'd see a two-pound gain on the scale right away, even though the celery only has 146 calories (= about 4/100 of a pound worth of calories, assuming you didn't burn them off). The two pounds on the scale is almost entirely water and fiber from the celery that you haven't eliminated yet, because it has to go through your digestive system. That will hang around until you eliminate the water from the celery and the fiber in the celery via urination and defecation . . . which can take up to or beyond two full days. But that water and fiber in transit in your digestive system isn't stored body fat. You shouldn't worry about it.
Weight loss, long term weight loss, is about losing body fat. Losing body fat is about having a moderate calorie deficit - burning slightly more calories than you eat - over a period of weeks to months.
Work on fat loss, don't worry about water weight or digestive waste in transit.7 -
You guys really are great thanks for the responses. I'll watch the video above shortly.2
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Out of curiosity I weighed myself before and after going to the toilet. I lost 700 grams in less than a minute. Is it relevant to my weight? Not really because I gained it with my next meal. Although my weight fluctuates all the time for many reasons my fat levels don't. This is why trends are way more important than an individual number on the scale.4
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Your body is made mostly of water. It is the water weight that fluctuates, not your fat.1
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Two nights ago, we were invited by friends to an Italian dinner. Lots of carbs, lots of sodium, lots of calories. Pasta, homemade sauce, meatballs, sausage, wine, chocolate cake for dessert, the works. We also spent the entire day on the lake out in the sun and I was slightly sunburned (another source of water retention). Yesterday morning I was up 4.4 pounds on the scale from the previous day's weigh-in. At this morning's weigh-in, 2.2 pounds of it was already gone. From past experience, I already know that in another day or two, I'll be right back down to where I was before that dinner.
An update, just to illustrate how big the water weight swings can be: At this morning's weigh-in, I was down 2.9 pounds from yesterday, back to within 0.3 pounds of where I was before the big dinner indulgence. So in one day I gained 4.4 pounds, and have lost 4.1 pounds of it back in the last two days. I didn't do anything to compensate (as in crazy calorie deficits or tons of exercise) for the last two days - just went back to my normal eating/calorie levels.
Just a reminder that there's no need to freak out and drive yourself crazy over daily scale fluctuations. Keep your eye on the overall trend rather than the daily ups and downs, the trend is what tells the true story.5 -
OP, sounds like you are still a bit confused. If you drink 2 liters of water a day, you do not gain 4.4 lbs a day--your scale weight goes up, but you have not gained any fat. If you go 7 days drinking that water and creating at least a 500 calorie deficit in the calories in (food) compared to the calories out (what you burn through just living, and exercise), at the end of the week, you will have lost 1 lb of fat. In that same time, you drank 30.8 lbs of water--but you don't gain anything from that water. So, if you are weighing your food, logging carefully, and creating that 500 cals/day deficit every day for many days, you will eventually see the scale drop by roughly 1 lb/week of body fat for however long you maintain that deficit.
What causes the fluctuations that can make it hard to see the loss is that your body is processing out some of yesterday's water and food while taking in some of today's water and food. I weigh very consistently first thing in the morning, after I pee, naked, on the same scale in the same place. I'm very consistent with logging and creating my daily deficit. The scale is all over the place day to day, but roughly every week or two, I see a new low, and the fluctuations happen above that new low. The highest fluctuation goes down, too. So one from week to week I might see this:
235.2 (new low); 235.9, 236. 8, 236, 237, 235.8, 236. 3 (week 1)
234. 2 (new low); 236.9, 236.4, 235. 2, 235. 8, 236. 7, 235 (week 2)
233.8 (new low), 236, 235.8, 233.9, 234, 235.9, 236 (week 3)
In the above, my highest fluctuations dropped along with my lowest, from 237 -> 236.9 -> 236.
What's my "real" weight? It's a range, not a number, and right now all I care about is that I'm showing a 1 lb/week loss of body fat.
Hope this helps!1 -
Thank you. The scales I use in my gym are to the pound not like 251.6 or whatever it's just 252 or 253. My net this week, without checking, is something like 1900, 2000, 1750, 1800 and today 1850 with 5 miles walked everyday on the treadmill. Also very little sodium and 2 litres of water daily. The scales have read 254, 254, 254 and today 254.
However, as annoying as it is, I've taken on board everything and won't be weighing now until next Friday 6th when I'll update here. Surely it must drop by then????2 -
Can I also add I haven't poo'd in 2.5 days!3
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Can I also add I haven't poo'd in 2.5 days!
That will make a difference! Make sure you're eating enough fiber, drinking enough water (or equivalent), and eating enough fats - no need to go crazy with any of that, just come close to the default nutritional goals. Beyond that, patience.
BTW: I hope you'll see a drop next week, too . . . but remember, a week or two of weight holding steady will happen now and then (especially after you've had a week or two of pretty substantial loss, which you have). It's not really considered a plateau until you've stuck at a weight for a month or more. I know that can be crazy-making, but weight loss does require patience!
Best wishes!4
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