Questions about weight variation

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thitemple
thitemple Posts: 9 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been eating in a low-carb style for a couple of months now and I was losing weight slowly but regularly. Three weeks ago I decided to join a Gym and lift and did so for the past three weeks, 4 times a week plus 3 times a week of cardio.
The first two weeks I saw even better results regarding weight loss and body fat percentage (I use one of those step-on scales). That with the fact that I was taking 1 scoop of whey protein after my training.

This week (the third) I started taking creatine (10g for loading) and a second scoop of whey (since I wasn't reaching the 1gr per lb), my diet remained the same but I am trying to progressively lift more weight and the results were that I gain 1lb and saw an increase in body fat, from 19.9 to 20.1.

Could that be related to the creatine? I'm asking because one of the side-effects is water retention and maybe that affects the scale as well.

Thanks

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    1 pound variance in weight is immaterial, your weight normally fluctuates more than that from day to day.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    It's mostly related to the fact that a scale's bodyfat measurement isn't anywhere near accurate enough to detect a 0.2% difference in bodyfat percentage. I see bigger fluctuations than that in my scale's readings on a daily basis.

    My scale showed 16.8% BF last Sunday and 18.1% on Monday, and my weight reading dropped 0.3 lbs. between those two days - there's no way I gained 1.3% bodyfat in one day while simultaneously losing 0.3 pounds of body weight. It then said I lost 1.5% bodyfat between two days, and then between yesterday and today, it showed me gaining 1.5% bodyfat while losing 0.2 pounds - none of those readings are realistic.

    Read the article that @quiksylver296 linked, scale fluctuations are very common and to be expected. Another good read is a study on how inaccurate BIA (bioelectrical impedance analysis) scales are: https://weightology.net/the-pitfalls-of-bodyfat-measurement-part-4-bioelectrical-impedance-bia/
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    The step on scales are meaningless for body fat %. They are not accurate. Creatine does cause weight gain, that's why body builders take it. Plus most people's weight naturally fluctuates 1-5 pounds day to day.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    The step on scales are meaningless for body fat %. They are not accurate. Creatine does cause weight gain, that's why body builders take it. Plus most people's weight naturally fluctuates 1-5 pounds day to day.

    I disagree, while I have no idea if the % is correct. The change up or down tracks my waist line very a accurately. So if you are trying to see if increasing or decreasing fat % it will do the job.
  • bustercrabby
    bustercrabby Posts: 66 Member
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    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Read this article, OP.

    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    This is one heck of a good article. Thanks for posting it!

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