Retaining Water

aliciacallahan7
aliciacallahan7 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I started my Journey in June and I am down 26 pounds since then, but the scale fluctuates everyday sometimes I gain 4 pounds overnight!!! How do I avoid water retention? Anybody else have this same issue? It gets frustrating when I don't see a drop in the scale.

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,688 Member
    Scale weight fluctuation from water weight (and changes in digestive system contents) is part of how a healthy body functions. Embrace it.

    I advocate the idea that we don't have "one true current weight".

    I think we have a current weight range within a day or over multiple days: Slowly changing lean mass + slowly changing fat mass + frequently varying water weight + frequently varying digestive/bladder contents.

    We also have a long term weight trend over weeks to months: The current weight range cycles gradually downward during weight loss, like little up and down bumps on a downhill slope. During weight gain, the bumps gradually assume an uphill slope, and for weight maintenance, the bumps are on level ground.

    Understanding how your body works, and being patient . . . those are the most effective strategies, IMO.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Your body is about 60% water. Eat a somewhat consistent level of sodium and carbs and stay properly hydrated and you'll have done all you can to control water weight. After that, water weight fluctuations are due to hormonal fluctuations and general weight fluctuations are also due to how much food is in your digestive tract.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Totally normal.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    Means you are hydreted. Why do you care about the scale number if you already know it is water? Why is it so important that you weigh less? Are you going to compete in a sport that you need a specific weight? I thought you wanted to lose fat.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    aliciacallahan7 wrote: »
    Hi, I started my Journey in June and I am down 26 pounds since then, but the scale fluctuates everyday sometimes I gain 4 pounds overnight!!! How do I avoid water retention? Anybody else have this same issue? It gets frustrating when I don't see a drop in the scale.

    If the scale is bumming you out you either need to use it less frequently, get one of those trending apps, or shift your faith in weight loss to your calorie deficit where I think it belongs. At the very core of weight loss is eating less than you burn. That is what guarantees you are losing weight even if you don't see it on the scale the moment you want.

    You also need to make sure that the source of your frustration is the scale and not that you are depriving yourself more than you should. I am pretty happy with what I eat. It is not a hardship and I am seldom hungry unless it is right before I eat. I think I could do this the rest of my life so even if the scale tries to give me bad news it is really of no concern to me. I know I am in a deficit because I weigh my food and log accurately so the rest is about being patient and waiting for the scale or a new NSV.

    I don't think a diet becomes a lifestyle the moment you start it, at least not for everyone, but if you can't imagine doing what you have been doing since June the rest of your life you may need to reconsider some of your eating habits.
  • jasondjulian
    jasondjulian Posts: 182 Member
    aliciacallahan7 wrote: »
    Hi, I started my Journey in June and I am down 26 pounds since then, but the scale fluctuates everyday sometimes I gain 4 pounds overnight!!! How do I avoid water retention? Anybody else have this same issue? It gets frustrating when I don't see a drop in the scale.

    Only way to avoid is completely is to assume room temperature. But then, at that point, you're not worrying about anything anymore.

    So you can't. Just factor it in when looking at the scale and calculating weight loss over time. It's perfectly normal. Some people fluctuate up to 10lbs per day, so you're doing good! I know that I always weight between 2.5 and 3.5lbs more in the evening than I do in the morning. I just accept that and move on.

    Besides, if you're losing inches, and your clothes are fitting better, and you feel better and can be more active and are generally healthier, then the number on the scale could read 500bs and it wouldn't matter. Fun fact, if you weight 200lbs on Earth and in fact had a surface to stand on, on Jupiter, you would in fact weigh 505.6lbs.

  • beatyfamily1
    beatyfamily1 Posts: 257 Member
    Lower sodium and increase potassium. I find that happens to me when I eat foods with a lot of sodium. Sodium holds onto water and potassium helps flush out water. You need to have a higher ratio of potassium compared to sodium. If you eat a lot of vegetables, you shouldn’t have a problem getting enough potassium.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    While water retention is normal, I agree that it is also irritating. If you weigh every day and use a trending app such as Happy Scale, the fluctuations get smoothed out and you may find them less annoying.

    Weigh every day is how I learned I retain water when I ovulate, as well as premenstrually. That was good to know.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I have a question about retention - is it a full body thing or in the case of following working out a muscle group pretty hard can it be local? I did some long (for me) runs the last few weeks and it really seemed like my tired hips and quads were puffier than normal.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited September 2018
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    I have a question about retention - is it a full body thing or in the case of following working out a muscle group pretty hard can it be local? I did some long (for me) runs the last few weeks and it really seemed like my tired hips and quads were puffier than normal.

    Yes, it can be local. Muscles tend to hold on to a little extra water while they repair themselves. Total body water retention is usually caused by hormones, what you ate, normal system processes.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    Why does it bother you? That is a normal bodily function
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    I have a question about retention - is it a full body thing or in the case of following working out a muscle group pretty hard can it be local? I did some long (for me) runs the last few weeks and it really seemed like my tired hips and quads were puffier than normal.

    Yes, it can be local. Muscles tend to hold on to a little extra water while they repair themselves. Total body water retention is usually caused by hormones, what you ate, normal system processes.

    Good to know, thanks!
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    hesn92 wrote: »
    Why does it bother you? That is a normal bodily function

    By all the threads that get started about it and comments made about avoiding and minimizing, it's clearly one of those things people think of as something undesirable and avoidable, like I dunno, constipation or high blood pressure, something you get when you're not "doing stuff right" kinda thing.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,688 Member
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    hesn92 wrote: »
    Why does it bother you? That is a normal bodily function

    By all the threads that get started about it and comments made about avoiding and minimizing, it's clearly one of those things people think of as something undesirable and avoidable, like I dunno, constipation or high blood pressure, something you get when you're not "doing stuff right" kinda thing.

    Constipation and high blood pressure are signs of less than ideal health.

    Moderate (short term/few days, small/usually < 10 pounds) water weight fluctuations are part of how a healthy body behaves.
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