I’m scared this is too much

jessackerman21 wrote: »

Someone please help. Either my scale is broken or I’m messing up bad. I weighed myself this morning and I’m up! Wtf😢

Heads up - a doctor told me years ago your WATER weight can fluctuate as much as four (4) kilos within a day. Roughly translated, it's about 8 (eight) lbs within a day. Make sure, even though it feels counterintuitive, to drink past your water goal for the day. If you don't, your body holds on to every drop and your weight goes up as result.

marialba67 wrote: »

jessackerman21 wrote: »

Someone please help. Either my scale is broken or I’m messing up bad. I weighed myself this morning and I’m up! Wtf😢

Heads up - a doctor told me years ago your WATER weight can fluctuate as much as four (4) kilos within a day

Yep, no doubt, but only under special circumstances. I've spent a lot of time drilling down on water weight, basically because I have no life beyond analyzing numbers and making spreadsheets LOL My water weight can vary by, yes, around 8 pounds, if I have a no-holds-barred gorgefest. It can then take up to 7 days to fully drain off. Conveniently, I have an example from this month:



Man, I wish I hadn't done that LOL But sometimes you have to just embrace the madness and move on.

I've determined that (at least for my body) there's 3-4 pounds more water retained at a maintenance level of calories and normal salty eating than at a reduced sodium, 1,000 calorie deficit. So, when starting a diet, I get that instant 3-4 pound "loss" (but not fat loss) spread over 4-5 days. Which was very exhilarating the first time, less so now Likewise, if I take a few days off of deficit eating, the scale creeps up 3-4 pounds, but of course it's just water, however it'll stick around until I get back to deficit eating. My point being that it isn't like water is this temperamental thing entering and exiting your body at random; there seems to be a natural, persistent amount of water weight for different caloric/sodium/carb intake levels.

8 pounds, that is a lot and I only get that when I'm either going from a deficit to a massive overeating fest, or from an overeating fest back to a calorie deficit.

But anyway, my conclusion is that there is no one exactly "right" weight you will see on a scale at any given point in time, except one. If you eat very low sodium and the same calorie deficit every day, after a week or more, you'll have expunged the excess water and will see something akin to a true "lowest possible" weight (for that level of calorie deficit). Any deviation from that, in additional sodium, carbs, or calories, and your body will retain water and you'll get a false picture of weight gain (or less loss, as the case may be).