Weight fluctuations - any weird patterns you’ve noticed?

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kiela64
kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I used to never have my own scale so maybe I’m still having too much fun with this. But after tracking your weight for a while, are there any weird/interesting/fun patterns you’ve noticed?

I’ve noticed my weight often goes up steadily during work days - days where I’m a little stressed, physically moving lots (well lots for me), and eating less/more healthfully. I’ve even had days where I’ve been physically unable to meet my goal calories because I feel too tired/full. I’ll watch the scale go up .2, .4, .8, 1.2lbs each day and be like “.....okay” lol. But then on non-work days, days where I get less activity, often eat at or even above my goal - sometimes days I’m over maintenance because I went out for a meal etc. Days when I’d expect the volume of food and salt etc to increase my water weight, I get this drop. It’s weird because it doesn’t match my reading here about fluctuations, but I’m glad my weight is going down! Not complaining but it’s just kinda weird & cool to me idk. 😛

If you’ve been doing this a while maybe it gets boring, but I’ve only had 2 months and a bit with my scale and it’s still fun! I wondered if anyone else has had some weird/fun/interesting scale fluctuations 🤷🏻‍♀️
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Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,398 Member
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    Yep, I also see fluctuations. My weight tends to increase slowly from Tuesday to Saturday morning. I have an office job and sit a lot, so that's probably the reason. Then my weight drops sharply on Sunday and Monday morning as I'm fairly active during my weekends.

    And of course TOM (only each 3 months or so due to longterm cycle pill), travelling, trying a new workout, or other things.
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
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    I'm losing a half pound a week now and once I see a new low, I'll bounce back up toward my previous low for a while before dropping back down to a new low. It's sort of a two steps forward, one step back kind of thing. It's actually become really predictable so it's kind of funny. I tend to see new lows at the beginning of the week.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    That seems totally normal to me...my guess is over time you will find that there's really not a pattern or rhyme or reason. There's not really a tit for tat relationship between what happens today and what the scale says tomorrow.
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
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    I tend to see a new low, then It jumps up a few pounds and stays that way for a month. Then another new low, and back up. But over the week, my weight generally stays the same give or take a pound or so. I do not retain as much water as one would think after a large meal or something like that. A new workout routine, and (most recently)traveling causes an uptick though. TOM used to go up to 5lbs or more, but I'm on a BC where TOM hits so sparingly it's more like Time of Year... so that's a bonus I suppose, lol. My weight can vary up to 5lbs from morning to nights too. I figure food, waist and all that contributes. So I just weigh in the AM and avoid weighing at night, lol. It's been fun playing with the libra app though. Since my weight likes to shoot up 3lbs the day after I hit a new low, it tells me if I'm still trending down or not. I like that reassurance to keep going.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    edited July 2018
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    My weight goes up a few days before my menses and then goes back down afterwards. I also gain about 5 lbs any time I eat a restaurant meal, even if it is only 500 calories. Weirdly, on days when my muscles are sore from lifting weights a few days prior, I am also a few lbs heavier. Makes no sense. I think others experience this too though. It must be water weight.
  • funjen1972
    funjen1972 Posts: 949 Member
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    My weight goes up 3 pounds a day after eating sushi, then gradually decreases to normal over the next 3-5 days. I know it is due to the excess sodium and it is awesome that I can now predict it and not panic!
  • crisma1974
    crisma1974 Posts: 52 Member
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    I am the oddball when it comes to weight. I tend to lose weight a couple of days before my period. And it stays off. Weird I know but I have always had an issue with hormone imbalance and now that they are under control, I am losing weight more easily.
  • etherealanwar
    etherealanwar Posts: 465 Member
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    I've noticed that when I go over my calories by several hundred I can gain 1-3 pounds the day after which then goes back to normal in usually a weeks time of hitting 1200 calories a day. It's such a setback and I really need to avoid doing this as much as possible. More carbs/sodium does this as well but not as much maybe a pound or 2 max.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    I've been maintaining 9years come September and even though I don't weigh myself regularly, I still have fun on the scale.

    I love weighing myself before and after trips. It is alway a fun roller coaster ride of what is water weight and what is actual fat, usually mostly the former.

    I was away for 2months then flew home 3weeks ago weighing in at 107.6, up 4.2 from my usual 103.4.

    My weight over the three weeks has been all over the place. A big 3 lbs drop 2 days after getting home (peed like an elephant), up 4 lbs after welcome home meal, down 2, down 0.6, up 2, you get the drift weight trying to find an equalinrium.

    Today weighed in at 102 on the dot. Lower than I expected as we are having an abnormally high heatwave, and I retain water in the heat, so I will continue my weighing in for the fun of it and see what happens. This is my longest daily weigh in streak in years.

    Keep weighing in a stress free way and enjoy finding a rhythm in your fluctuations.

    Cheers, h.
  • Fursian
    Fursian Posts: 524 Member
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    Q: Weight fluctuations - any weird patterns you’ve noticed?
    A: It used to be that I'd see a jump in weight (either direction) the morning after alcohol consumption and higher food intake, but now for several months, I've noticed that jump in weight to appear not the next morning, but the day after, lol

    Like you OP, I do find observing the weight fluctuations somewhat fun, and I went as far as weighing myself each night, as well as the mornings, for a few weeks. What I found was rather interesting. By noting my nightly scale readings, I was able to kind of predict if I was going to have a new low reading or not the morning after. going by an average of what I usually lost each night.
  • Loveslupins
    Loveslupins Posts: 67 Member
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    I've noticed my weight fluctuates by up to 3 lbs throughout the day and is up and down all week.
    How do you record your weight on here then!? I hate recording a weight and then having it go up the next day and and not come back down for another week!
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
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    I use the Libra app to average my weight, and only enter my weight on MFP every couple of weeks or so. Basically when I remember lol. The weight trending apps are nice because they'll tell you if you are on track when your weight seems all over the place. To record your weight on MFP (android), go to your home page and press the add button in the lower right corner. Click the weight button, and add your weight in.
  • peggym4640
    peggym4640 Posts: 156 Member
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    I seem to have six week cycles. I'll lose a little fairly steadily and then at around week 6 I plateau for anywhere from a week to three weeks. I might go up a bit as well during that time but only up to a pound. Like you, I enjoy watching the trends.
  • walking2running
    walking2running Posts: 140 Member
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    I do seem to have the same unexpected fluctuations, ie when I eat at maintenance, and I expect the see the worst on the scale, it is usually the day that I hit a new low on the scale. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to my fluctuations.

    Also, I am losing at a rate of about a pound per week, and it takes a substantial amount of time for me to actually confirm that a certain weight loss has occurred. Even Happy Scale throws me off, sometimes predicting a weight gain, when it is physically impossible for me to be on a weight gain trend.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
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    walking2running wrote: »
    I do seem to have the same unexpected fluctuations, ie when I eat at maintenance, and I expect the see the worst on the scale, it is usually the day that I hit a new low on the scale. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to my fluctuations.

    Also, I am losing at a rate of about a pound per week, and it takes a substantial amount of time for me to actually confirm that a certain weight loss has occurred. Even Happy Scale throws me off, sometimes predicting a weight gain, when it is physically impossible for me to be on a weight gain trend.

    I use happy scale too and I’m definitely....sceptical of their predictions. I love the layout but I don’t use their specific prediction calculations, but the more simple option that they say “sometimes lags”. I’d rather it lag than jump too far ahead of me!
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    This is an interesting read, thanks for sharing. I thought it was super duper weird what my weight is doing, but yeah during my work days I am stressed, get less sleep, eat dinner or a snack later in the day, and weigh in earlier the next morning :smiley: That explains the Thing!
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,398 Member
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    Loveslupins wrote: »
    I've noticed my weight fluctuates by up to 3 lbs throughout the day and is up and down all week.
    How do you record your weight on here then!? I hate recording a weight and then having it go up the next day and and not come back down for another week!

    Weigh in the morning after going to the bathroom, naked. That at least eliminated some uncertainty. Don't step on the scale during daytime, and certainly not with clothes unless you wear exactly the same each day. always leave the scale at the same spot and make sure it's really level (I line mine up with bathroom tiles). other than that: just accept that weight fluctuates.

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