The Weird and Highly Annoying World of Scale Fluctuations
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I'm glad my food scale weighs the same amount of stuff the same every time. When I weigh 200g worth of stuff it's 200g. That's what gives me less annoyance about the body scale numbers. If I'm accurate there, the body scale numbers will follow my deficit over time (or maintain - like Anvil's case above).14
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I missed this while on vacation. Pure gold.3
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This is extremely helpful with the visuals. Thanks!1
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Yeah, I literally got 2.5 hours of sleep one night and magically lost 1.5lbs, I thought getting more sleep helped you lose weight but I guess I burned more energy while I was up (tending to popcorn children).2
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Great article, very interesting. I'm getting to grips with understanding my fluctuations and they are very frustrating indeed!0
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I'm well acquainted with scale fluctuations, but I'd go bat *kitten* crazy if my graph looked like the one in that article5
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As another example of how scale weight fluctuates, this is my Trendweight graph for a 6 month period of maintenance earlier this year. The gray line is daily scale weights, red line is weight trend:
That's a thing of beauty- you should have it framed!
I love how you clearly have a maintenance range of 3-4 lbs, but can experience fluctuations within a range of about 10 lbs. That would so freak some people out11 -
Bump2
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Monthly bump. Useful post. Needs to be seen by more people.13
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Yup, those fluctuations can be pretty crazy!
I’ve noticed that my weight is often higher after the weekend (more exercise, meals higher in salt? Who knows? I generally eat less on the weekend, strangely enough!) and at its lowest around the middle of the week. I used to find it quite interesting watching the scale fluctuations, and would try and figure out the reason for them.
I’ve only just started using a trending app- began because the scales weren’t moving for a few weeks- and it’s definitely a helpful tool in understanding the fluctuations!
I love how the trend line is going down, even if the scale weight has gone up for a day or two!!!
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Does anyone else play the weigh game where you weight yourself before and after potty? I am amazed at how much human waste can truly weigh ...11
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rhtexasgal wrote: »Does anyone else play the weigh game where you weight yourself before and after potty? I am amazed at how much human waste can truly weigh ...
Yep. I have been known to lose a kg in a single wee!4 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »rhtexasgal wrote: »Does anyone else play the weigh game where you weight yourself before and after potty? I am amazed at how much human waste can truly weigh ...
Yep. I have been known to lose a kg in a single wee!
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Oh man! I needed this today. Thank you!4
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My own weight fluctuations, from Day 10 (first day I could get a 10-day moving average) to Day 41 (today). The initial slope is high because I lost a lot of water weight on Days 1-9.
Purple diamonds are scale readings, blue circles are my 10-day moving average, gray dotted line is the slope you'd see if I lost exactly 1 pound per week.
(from my own Numbers spreadsheet, exported via screenshot)
I really kind of like the "boingy-boingy" parts - they're fun!
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I get too wrapped up in scale weight, i feel sometimes ive been doing so well but then step on the scales and bang ...up, ruined.this makes sense now , still need to get my head round it and even thnking of giving up weighing myself.4
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Good thread this and very useful.
Right now I also have an additional factor. We're in an evacuation apartment as we are having, while were have renovations in our place (1 year so far). The tiles in the bathroom floor are completely uneven meaning moving the scale even a cm or so will make the reading vary by up to 2kgs.
I can't even just leave it in the same place as the bathrooms so small (even by European standards) its completely in the way.
Oh well first world problems.6 -
Dealing with perimenopausal symptoms for quite a long time now, I have peaks and valleys when it comes to my weight, regardless of how accurate I log my food and underestimate my exercise calories to give myself a buffer zone. I was weighing myself frequently and for 1.5 months, I was 10 pounds higher than what my logging "should" indicate. Then, literally overnight, almost 12 pounds were gone! I got to enjoy that "lighter" feeling for about a week and then bam! literally overnight, here comes 11 pounds back again and I keep it and keep it and keep it and then about 2 months later, I lose it again, literally overnight!
So, I have stopped weighing myself ... I just don't want to know right now. I still track my food and exercise but nope - can't weigh in. I don't need to deal with that mental game. For now, I just go by how my clothes fit and so far, I have not had to buy new clothes. In the veeeeerrrrryyyyy long run, I am likely losing a little weight and maybe fat but it is so hard to really tell thanks to those pesky hormones. I figure if I can keep wearing my clothes without busting buttons and seams, I am doing ok.6 -
Hormones really stink with the weight bouncing around. It wasn’t a big thing 3-5 years ago, but now that I’ve crossed into the late 30s....bah. I can be up and down 4-5lbs a day, then hang at the same weight forever, despite assuming no calories burned for lifting, conservatively logging cardio, and eating on target.
I know the day of reckoning will come and the scale will reflect the effort, but it’s tough to wait it out when the last time I tried to lose it was far more linear and consistent (consistent small losses—.5lbs a week instead of wait wait wait lose 3-5lbs).1 -
Amazing article thanks for posting and bumping!!
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