Don't Let the Bathroom Scale Get the Better of You
NovusDies
Posts: 8,940 Member
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
I feel like I have posted the above link 391 times in the main forums. The reason I keep posting it is that misunderstanding the scale ruined many of my weight loss efforts.
I VERY distinctly remember being a teen and trying to lose weight (doctor approved). I ate only "diet" food, I stayed active, I exercised, in short I was doing everything "right". Ever so hopeful I would get on the scale and it would go UP! I responded by eating less and exercising more. The scale remained the SAME. I ate less and I exercised until I hurt and the scale when UP again. WTF!! Furious at being cursed to be overweight I did a massive 2 day overfeed and then I quit. What was the point? Genetics, set point, whatever had locked me into that weight.
The reality of course is that I was losing fat weight but my water weight and/or food waste weight had increased temporarily which kept me from seeing it on the scale. If I had known to be patient...
When I started this time I refused to touch the scale. I am not even 100 percent sure of my starting weight. When I look at my spreadsheet I have a sneaky suspicion I started higher than I think but that is inconsequential now. MFP helped me get over my TERRIBLE relationship with the scale and now I weigh daily. I still don't love it when the scale goes north instead of south but I have seen it do it so many times now I am mostly immune.
The longer story short is that it is PERFECTLY NORMAL for your weight to stay the same or even go up while you are losing fat weight. I very often have to wait a full 3 weeks to see a new low weight on the scale. This is a good reason to find your motivation somewhere other than numbers on the scale.
I feel like I have posted the above link 391 times in the main forums. The reason I keep posting it is that misunderstanding the scale ruined many of my weight loss efforts.
I VERY distinctly remember being a teen and trying to lose weight (doctor approved). I ate only "diet" food, I stayed active, I exercised, in short I was doing everything "right". Ever so hopeful I would get on the scale and it would go UP! I responded by eating less and exercising more. The scale remained the SAME. I ate less and I exercised until I hurt and the scale when UP again. WTF!! Furious at being cursed to be overweight I did a massive 2 day overfeed and then I quit. What was the point? Genetics, set point, whatever had locked me into that weight.
The reality of course is that I was losing fat weight but my water weight and/or food waste weight had increased temporarily which kept me from seeing it on the scale. If I had known to be patient...
When I started this time I refused to touch the scale. I am not even 100 percent sure of my starting weight. When I look at my spreadsheet I have a sneaky suspicion I started higher than I think but that is inconsequential now. MFP helped me get over my TERRIBLE relationship with the scale and now I weigh daily. I still don't love it when the scale goes north instead of south but I have seen it do it so many times now I am mostly immune.
The longer story short is that it is PERFECTLY NORMAL for your weight to stay the same or even go up while you are losing fat weight. I very often have to wait a full 3 weeks to see a new low weight on the scale. This is a good reason to find your motivation somewhere other than numbers on the scale.
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I was just thinking of posting something exactly like this. I'm just restarting my weight loss journey, but I'm committing to weighing in daily. I used to do it once a week, but it was so discouraging if that happened to be a day I was retaining water. I'd rather weigh every day and watch the trend line over time. And yes, I wish I had known all this about the numbers on the scale when I was younger.4
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Same! I quit so many time under the rationale of "I ate well all week and gained 5lbs, I might as well eat rubbish and just stay fat"
The forums were a life-saver in this respect and since I downloaded Libra (weight trend app - iOs alternative is Happy Scale) I've never looked back.
I recorded my weight daily in both Libra and MFP the first 6 months I was losing weight, so just in case anyone needs a visual of how peak/trough it can look:
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Oof, yes. Fluctuations can be frustrating. Just have to have patience...
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I still don't cope when the scale goes up. I know the reasoning behind it, but it's such a kick a teeth it makes me scared to jump on the scales. I only weigh once a month because of that. Just bought a new set of scales as well, so there may be an issue this month with there being a slight difference between the old and new...but if I weigh monthly I can be pretty sure of a loss. I think it's going to take me a long time to be able to accept a gain as "normal".6
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maiomaio71 wrote: »I still don't cope when the scale goes up. I know the reasoning behind it, but it's such a kick a teeth it makes me scared to jump on the scales. I only weigh once a month because of that. Just bought a new set of scales as well, so there may be an issue this month with there being a slight difference between the old and new...but if I weigh monthly I can be pretty sure of a loss. I think it's going to take me a long time to be able to accept a gain as "normal".
I agree, I hate that one day I could be at my low weight them for no reason gain 2 pounds the next. To help combat this I took a question from @NovusDies and created a scatter plot graph with a trend line. I log my weight everyday and as long os the trend stays in the right direction I count it as a win. Gotta love those spread sheets lol. Maybe I will try some more crazy number crunching but seeing the downward trend helped me not worry about the daily fluctuations.2 -
tinkerbellang83 wrote: »Same! I quit so many time under the rationale of "I ate well all week and gained 5lbs, I might as well eat rubbish and just stay fat"
The forums were a life-saver in this respect and since I downloaded Libra (weight trend app - iOs alternative is Happy Scale) I've never looked back.
I recorded my weight daily in both Libra and MFP the first 6 months I was losing weight, so just in case anyone needs a visual of how peak/trough it can look:
^ if you were to look at my MFP graph of my weight fluctations it looks almost identical to this. Weight loss isn't linear (especially for us women), so anytime I see the scale goes up, even if its a little, I think of the small things I may or may not have done to cause that fluctuation. I also focus on how my clothes are fitting, or if I'm noticing any changes in my actual body composition.
For example, put on a pair of shorts yesterday that have always fit (because they are quite stretchy), but they were actually starting to become a bit loose. (particularly around the thighs oddly enough). This was encouraging, despite the fact that my weight is up a smidge over a pound from my lowest weight. I KNOW that I haven't been drinking enough water the last week, I KNOW that I haven't made 100% of the best choices food wise this week. So I knew that I was going to potentially have that increase, most likely from water weight than anything.
A lot of people though don't know that these fluctuations occur, and often get discouraged by them. I'm in a couple weight loss groups on here and on facebook and that's one of the most commonly talked about things. "I've been eating right and blah blah blah but I haven't lost weight/I've GAINED weight", and there is always those of us that remind them that the scale is not always your friend. Take measurements, look at how your clothes fit, or the way your body looks. There are so many other things to gauge your weight loss success on that numbers on an annoying, condescending little screen.5 -
Good post @brittanynicholex
I was actually going to add a comment that I made in the main MFP forums and your post reminded me.
Everything that we ingest has mass and so it has weight. On any given day 7-10 pounds of food and liquid pass through our lips and add to our total body weight. When you really think about it, it is actually quite remarkable that our body manages to get rid of so much of that in such a short amount of time. Unless you do a very high amount of sweating most of it flows out of us through urination and the rest leaves as solid waste. It is no wonder we fluctuate up and down each day. It might even be amazing that it is not bigger swings.
As a side note: When we use fat for energy ~80 percent of its mass leaves us by way of breathing. If you are in a calorie deficit right when you exhale you are sending one of the byproducts of your fat mass out into the world. The other ~20 percent is water leaves us through the normal means.5 -
Ohhh I was just going to ask , I wa going to weigh myself weekly instead of stressing about it daily... but maybe daily is better ? My scale hates me and always takes to long to read I think I’m too heavy for it lol1
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meghannkumar29 wrote: »Ohhh I was just going to ask , I wa going to weigh myself weekly instead of stressing about it daily... but maybe daily is better ? My scale hates me and always takes to long to read I think I’m too heavy for it lol
It really depends on you and your relationship with the scale. I weigh daily but I am not stressed over the result. I understand it will go up at times even when I do everything right. Many people are happier with weekly weighing but you may still see fluctuations and you will still very likely have some of your progress masked at times.
I had to buy a scale because the one we had would not measure me at all when I started. It had a 400 pound limit and I was heavier than that by a fair amount. It was actually a milestone for me when I dropped below 350 because I could be measured at the doctor's office on that old slide scale system.0 -
I weigh daily because I like numbers. I weigh in the morning and when I get home from work (though this metric point isn't always taken). I do the second number because I'm curious as my "get home from work" weight is my lowest (contrary to most folks who's morning weight is their lowest). Sometimes the numbers are opposite. Sometimes the morning's numbers are much larger than anticipated due to whatever I ate the day before and whether or not I got a water jump over time. I use the two data points mostly because I'm curious and more data isn't bad (in my eyes!).
I use Happy Scale (apple user) and watch the trend over time.
99% of the time, the numbers don't bother me because they are logical, finite, concrete. That doesn't mean that sometimes the feels don't rear their little heads and start telling me that I am not losing fast enough, what happened to my trend, etc, etc. But I have 7 years of historical data of daily weigh-ins to use as a sword to cut down that foe. I know, even if this week and the next are up, that eventually so long as I stick to plan, that it'll go down.
Weighing, how often and how much, is really up to you and how comfortable you feel as NovusDies said. For me, I feel WEIRD if I don't have a lot of data to base decisions on.
YMMV! Good luck!3 -
I weigh daily as well. You'll see lots of fluctuations up and down, and learn they're normal. Like @dhiammarath I use a weight trend app, Libra (Android). Don't focus on individual numbers -- since small ups and downs are usually the amount of water you're retaining and food still in your digestive tract.2
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Daily weigh-in for me. For the most part the fluctuations of up down, down up do not bother me until this week.
Funny thing though, I took the last reading this morning and challenged myself to keep doing what I've been doing because I have lost weight over time AND I decided to actively go onto MFP and make new friends as a positive, affirming action.
So, that's how I found you lovely people at LL, grin!
Pam
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hansep0012 wrote: »Daily weigh-in for me. For the most part the fluctuations of up down, down up do not bother me until this week.
Funny thing though, I took the last reading this morning and challenged myself to keep doing what I've been doing because I have lost weight over time AND I decided to actively go onto MFP and make new friends as a positive, affirming action.
So, that's how I found you lovely people at LL, grin!
Pam
Is it okay if I am thankful you had a weight fluctuation this morning if it helped you find your way here?
I can't be a robot about my results all the time. Usually I can quickly dismiss my upticks but on occasion they hover a little longer than they should. I figure it is just another area where accepting that I am human and imperfect is probably best.
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hansep0012 wrote: »Daily weigh-in for me. For the most part the fluctuations of up down, down up do not bother me until this week.
Funny thing though, I took the last reading this morning and challenged myself to keep doing what I've been doing because I have lost weight over time AND I decided to actively go onto MFP and make new friends as a positive, affirming action.
So, that's how I found you lovely people at LL, grin!
Pam
Is it okay if I am thankful you had a weight fluctuation this morning if it helped you find your way here?
I can't be a robot about my results all the time. Usually I can quickly dismiss my upticks but on occasion they hover a little longer than they should. I figure it is just another area where accepting that I am human and imperfect is probably best.
Ah, perfectionism!
I think we could start a thread on that topic and I could contribute endlessly, lol.
Yes, @NovusDies, I am ok with being thankful for the mysteries on how folks find their way to LL, be it a scale weight or whim, or as @merphie remarked, staying late on a Friday night after work.
I'll even expand that thought further by stating that I truly believe I am where I need to be at any given time, on any given day, just based on my thoughtful and deliberate choices. Now, how do I translate this into making thoughtful and deliberate choices each and every meal? Working on it!
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I keep coming back to this thread, I think it's keeping me sane! I had a whoosh this month that saw me get to 5st down but then it was my husband's birthday on the 22nd and it all went wrong from there...
Between the 1st and 22nd I lost 7.8lb (which was a lot) but then we had pizza and cake and over the next 3 days gained 6.8lb!!!
It's been steadily dropping off since until yesterday when I had a huge cafe sandwich for lunch and a supermarket pizza for dinner and I got 2lb up today.
Overall for the month I'm down 3.6lb so happy with that but without the daily weighs I wouldn't have known about my milestone.
I know these mad numbers are just fluctuations as other than 2 events I've stuck to plan, and averaged out no way have I eaten even at maintenance over the last 10 days.
But pizza, cake, a night out, a stressful week, feeling a little bit under the weather and the time in my cycle are all making me hold on to that pesky water.1 -
Jackie9003 wrote: »I keep coming back to this thread, I think it's keeping me sane! I had a whoosh this month that saw me get to 5st down but then it was my husband's birthday on the 22nd and it all went wrong from there...
Between the 1st and 22nd I lost 7.8lb (which was a lot) but then we had pizza and cake and over the next 3 days gained 6.8lb!!!
It's been steadily dropping off since until yesterday when I had a huge cafe sandwich for lunch and a supermarket pizza for dinner and I got 2lb up today.
Overall for the month I'm down 3.6lb so happy with that but without the daily weighs I wouldn't have known about my milestone.
I know these mad numbers are just fluctuations as other than 2 events I've stuck to plan, and averaged out no way have I eaten even at maintenance over the last 10 days.
But pizza, cake, a night out, a stressful week, feeling a little bit under the weather and the time in my cycle are all making me hold on to that pesky water.
Those kinds of swings can make anyone take pause. Even when the answer absolutely cannot be fat gain it still can make you feel slightly unnerved. I upticked 2.4 today myself and while I was expecting an increase I never actually want it to happen and certainly not over 2 pounds worth.0 -
@NovusDies it's very frustrating indeed, it always seems to take ages to sort itself out too.0
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Jackie9003 wrote: »@NovusDies it's very frustrating indeed, it always seems to take ages to sort itself out too.
Yeah and I think it helps to talk about it. It is okay to be frustrated but it has to be something that we let go.
Since this is the end of the month I decided to go back and look at the last 2 months. Since July 1st I have had 17 upticks which is really low for me.
The month of June alone I had 14.
The difference is much less restaurant food and less food overall which is keeping my glycogen depleted since I have started my much less sustainable "hurry up" mode which I started the first of July.0 -
@NovusDies "unnerved" perfectly describes how I'm feeling today. I've been weighing weekly rather than monthly for the last month or so. Last week, I lost 1.1kg which I thought was quite high, but I've slowly increased my exercise so I guess I was kind of expecting it. Today, I've put on 2kg. What? I've kept at or under my calories limit every day, I don't eat out, cook all our food from scratch, have pretty much done the same exercise which is a 5-6 km daily walk (except I missed Friday's walk). I'm feeling pretty low right now. I was expecting a loss and I get a huge gain. Picking myself up and carrying on but gosh it's hard. Can this be water weight? Really? I'm about to take a school team away for a week to tournament so I can't weigh while away...I'm going to obsess about this till I'm back next Sunday and can weigh again. 😭
ETA:without this thread and reading all of your experiences, I would probably have thrown in the towel at this stage if this had happened in my previous attempts. So a big thank you to this group and your sharing. I'm going away with my school kids this week with a determination to keep working at it and hope the scale says nicer things to me next Sunday.1 -
maiomaio71 wrote: »@NovusDies "unnerved" perfectly describes how I'm feeling today. I've been weighing weekly rather than monthly for the last month or so. Last week, I lost 1.1kg which I thought was quite high, but I've slowly increased my exercise so I guess I was kind of expecting it. Today, I've put on 2kg. What? I've kept at or under my calories limit every day, I don't eat out, cook all our food from scratch, have pretty much done the same exercise which is a 5-6 km daily walk (except I missed Friday's walk). I'm feeling pretty low right now. I was expecting a loss and I get a huge gain. Picking myself up and carrying on but gosh it's hard. Can this be water weight? Really? I'm about to take a school team away for a week to tournament so I can't weigh while away...I'm going to obsess about this till I'm back next Sunday and can weigh again. 😭
ETA:without this thread and reading all of your experiences, I would probably have thrown in the towel at this stage if this had happened in my previous attempts. So a big thank you to this group and your sharing. I'm going away with my school kids this week with a determination to keep working at it and hope the scale says nicer things to me next Sunday.
It is hard, I was so pleased to tick my stone off and now I seem so far away from it again. I know it's water as my rings are tighter again - I too would have given up previously and thought why bother.
Try not to obsess if you can, stick to your plan as much as possible but enjoy the time too. Don't dispair at a gain, a change in eating habits and exercise will also affect water retention.. Literally everything affects water retention 😂.2 -
maiomaio71 wrote: »@NovusDies "unnerved" perfectly describes how I'm feeling today. I've been weighing weekly rather than monthly for the last month or so. Last week, I lost 1.1kg which I thought was quite high, but I've slowly increased my exercise so I guess I was kind of expecting it. Today, I've put on 2kg. What? I've kept at or under my calories limit every day, I don't eat out, cook all our food from scratch, have pretty much done the same exercise which is a 5-6 km daily walk (except I missed Friday's walk). I'm feeling pretty low right now. I was expecting a loss and I get a huge gain. Picking myself up and carrying on but gosh it's hard. Can this be water weight? Really? I'm about to take a school team away for a week to tournament so I can't weigh while away...I'm going to obsess about this till I'm back next Sunday and can weigh again. 😭
ETA:without this thread and reading all of your experiences, I would probably have thrown in the towel at this stage if this had happened in my previous attempts. So a big thank you to this group and your sharing. I'm going away with my school kids this week with a determination to keep working at it and hope the scale says nicer things to me next Sunday.
I doubt you accidentally ate the 15,400 calories it would take to gain 2kg. If weekly weighing is new to you is it possible you missed hormonal upswings in the past? Even if that is not the cause there can be so many.
Try to stay strong. This is temporary. It happens to everyone and it always sucks a little.2 -
@maiomaio71
I upticked again today so now I am 4.8 pounds (2.17 kg) heavier than 2 days ago. I am a little surprised but overall I know I have been in a deficit so it will sort itself back out like it always does. I suppose I decided if you were going to be 2kg heavier I would be too.2 -
The scale is not being kind to me too. I gained 5 pounds this weekend according to that little devil. I know that I ate more than I have been, and drank some adult beverages. Guestimating my intake I was about at my TDEE so there is no way I ate/drank 17500 calories extra. I expect by Thursday/Friday this week it will stabilize and sort back out. Like @NovusDies always says, just an uptick.3
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The scale is not being kind to me too. I gained 5 pounds this weekend according to that little devil. I know that I ate more than I have been, and drank some adult beverages. Guestimating my intake I was about at my TDEE so there is no way I ate/drank 17500 calories extra. I expect by Thursday/Friday this week it will stabilize and sort back out. Like NovusDies always says, just an uptick.
@jjlewey
When I have alcohol it seems to add 2 more days to my retention. Your mileage may vary.
I am up another .8 pounds today so nearly 6 pounds in 3 days. I relaxed a little and had more food over the holiday weekend. I didn't have any alcohol so I should lose most of this by Friday.0 -
I wish this didn't bug me so much and I could have faith that it would just even out. I guess once I see that scale go down I'll relax and go with the flow more easily next time. I've managed to increase my NEAT this week although not do any actual planned exercise. Have kept with my calories--I think--no scales so I'm guesstimating everything, but feeling pretty good.0
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maiomaio71 wrote: »I wish this didn't bug me so much and I could have faith that it would just even out. I guess once I see that scale go down I'll relax and go with the flow more easily next time. I've managed to increase my NEAT this week although not do any actual planned exercise. Have kept with my calories--I think--no scales so I'm guesstimating everything, but feeling pretty good.
It got easier for me each time it happened. It has never become a fun experience. I have upticked now 4 days in a row for a total of 6.2 pounds. I was expecting 2 to 3 pounds based on what I have eaten and how it normally affects me. I am a little surprised at 6. Ah well... maybe it is good for me to be doing this alongside you.0 -
maiomaio71 wrote: »I wish this didn't bug me so much and I could have faith that it would just even out. I guess once I see that scale go down I'll relax and go with the flow more easily next time. I've managed to increase my NEAT this week although not do any actual planned exercise. Have kept with my calories--I think--no scales so I'm guesstimating everything, but feeling pretty good.
I would urge you to get a scale, probably the best investment I made. They are not too expensive around 10 dollars or so on amazon.
Etekcity Food Digital Kitchen Weight Scale Grams and Oz, Backlit, Stainless Steel(2019 Upgraded) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0113UZJE2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SZZBDbMW9QJT8
That is the one I got and it works well enough for what I need.3 -
maiomaio71 wrote: »I wish this didn't bug me so much and I could have faith that it would just even out. I guess once I see that scale go down I'll relax and go with the flow more easily next time. I've managed to increase my NEAT this week although not do any actual planned exercise. Have kept with my calories--I think--no scales so I'm guesstimating everything, but feeling pretty good.
I would urge you to get a scale, probably the best investment I made. They are not too expensive around 10 dollars or so on amazon.
Etekcity Food Digital Kitchen Weight Scale Grams and Oz, Backlit, Stainless Steel(2019 Upgraded) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0113UZJE2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SZZBDbMW9QJT8
That is the one I got and it works well enough for what I need.
I think she meant that she didn't have a scale with her while she is on the trip but I am not certain.0 -
I should have posted my uptick after a challenging few weeks (empty nest, first travel since surgery and hosting a huge party) here. I posted under "falling off the wagon" which I didn't really like. I never felt like I was going to permanently give up, even if I wasn't always happy with my decisions. I had one day, in particular, that looked a little too much like the past (eating a bunch of junk food in my car).
I pretty much gave up alcohol before my surgery but I drank a lot this last week. 😂 My husband and I were pretty excited to celebrate (moderately) successfully raising 4 sons. And I make a mean sangria which we had in abundance at our party.
So overall, no (or few) regrets. Mostly because you all are teaching me how to live a happy life and lose weight!2 -
real_change wrote: »I should have posted my uptick after a challenging few weeks (empty nest, first travel since surgery and hosting a huge party) here. I posted under "falling off the wagon" which I didn't really like. I never felt like I was going to permanently give up, even if I wasn't always happy with my decisions. I had one day, in particular, that looked a little too much like the past (eating a bunch of junk food in my car).
I pretty much gave up alcohol before my surgery but I drank a lot this last week. 😂 My husband and I were pretty excited to celebrate (moderately) successfully raising 4 sons. And I make a mean sangria which we had in abundance at our party.
So overall, no (or few) regrets. Mostly because you all are teaching me how to live a happy life and lose weight!
I am happy you are mostly happy. I am less happy that you had sangria without inviting me. I know... I can't have any because I am pre-op right now...
The one thing I had to come to grips with is that my life cannot be paused now or after the weight loss phase is over. If I wanted to live my life heavily restricted for forever I could have gone and had weight loss surgery. I chose a messier path for myself. I believe will mean that for forever I will have periods of being back in a deficit to offset all the great food I still want to eat during special occasions.5
