Weight fluctuations

huggit
huggit Posts: 32 Member
in Motivation and Support
I have been doing my fitness pal for 2 weeks, I had lost 3 pounds and this morning I have put one back on, I have been exercise daily, and sticking to my calorie goal, including some of the exercise calories. I have entered in lightly active, and I want to lose a pound a week. Could this just be a normal weight fluctuation. I am trying to remain calm, because usually when I see a negative weight gain even a little, I give up totally.( Been trying to lose weight for years) Can someone give me a positive spin, so that I keep going. I really do want to lose weight this time.

Replies

  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    How often have you been weighing? If you weigh daily, you can see the fluctuations more clearly.

    You will weight more if:

    - You weight yourself earlier than usual
    - You're about to get, or have already got your period
    - You haven't been to the toilet yet
    - You ate something the day before that was high in salt
    - You ate your last meal later than usual

    Daily weighing isn't for everyone (you have to be sure it won't freak you out!) but it's what helped me understand my body's natural fluctuations. Period weight for example is pretty discouraging unless you've weighed yourself daily before and you know the weight gain is truly just temporary and will fall off as your period comes to an end.

    In the past, my weight has fluctuated up to a couple of pounds heavier from some of the above examples. It's never been 'real' though. It only becomes real if you freak out and start eating because you give up - if you accept it's temporary and will sort itself out, it magically goes wooosh overnight one night and you're back where you should be.
  • huggit
    huggit Posts: 32 Member
    Gone up a pound today ! Done nothing wrong. Teetering on the edge now 🥺
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,876 Member
    My weight is up over a pound today too. Probably because of my run yesterday, and a higher than usual carb intake.

    The above comments still apply :wink: be patient and it can't hurt to check some things:
    - Are you weighing everything you eat and drink? Making sure you are using correct database entries?
    - you've chosen lightly active as your activity level, did you choose this based on your daily activity level excluding your exercise?
  • huggit
    huggit Posts: 32 Member
    Hi thank you for responding. Really kind of you. Lightly active is because I do try to keep on my feet, cleaning, cooking etc why do you think I should reduce my activity? I do 30 minutes aerobic type exercise a day this is added on and I eat back half of this. I try to have a walk as well but don’t add this in.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,876 Member
    huggit wrote: »
    Hi thank you for responding. Really kind of you. Lightly active is because I do try to keep on my feet, cleaning, cooking etc why do you think I should reduce my activity? I do 30 minutes aerobic type exercise a day this is added on and I eat back half of this. I try to have a walk as well but don’t add this in.

    I just asked because some people include their exercise in their MFP activity level and on top of that log it separately and eat back the calories (aka 'double counting') But that's not the case for you, so no problem.
  • MichelleMcKeeRN
    MichelleMcKeeRN Posts: 450 Member
    I exercise regularly and don’t add back any calories. I set my weight loss to 1/2 pound loss per week and consider the exercise calories a bonus. I am 5’2 and have my calorie limit set to 1495.
    Also, I gain weight right after I work out really hard. I don’t know why but it is consistently true. When the soreness is gone, the weight drops down too. In addition, I would suggest doing measurements since you workout. I lost a few pounds but a couple inches off my lower waist (bellybutton line). The scale doesn’t reflect how much smaller and firmer a few pounds of added muscle and a few pound loss of fat looks.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    huggit wrote: »
    Gone up a pound today ! Done nothing wrong. Teetering on the edge now 🥺

    Do you understand the math? It is mathematically impossible to gain 1 Lb of actual fat in a day unless you consume 3500 calories over your maintenance...you would definitely know and feel that if you did. Bodyweight isn't static...it fluctuates naturally. Your body is comprised of roughly 55-65% water and that is always going to fluctuate...guess what...water has mass and thus weight. You're also always going to have varying degrees of inherent waste in your system...that also has mass and thus weight. Weight management is about long term trends over time, not day to day variances.

    My-Weight-Loss-Progress-Normal.jpg
  • Shortgirlrunning
    Shortgirlrunning Posts: 1,020 Member
    If you weigh daily it’s really helpful to use an app like Happy Scale (Apple) or Libra (Android) to track it. Either app will give you a moving average for your weight and smooth out the fluctuations.
  • podperson1
    podperson1 Posts: 207 Member
    As people have posted weight fluctuations are totally normal. I weigh every day as I find it useful to observe them, but if it's starting to demotivate you then maybe cut back to just weighing once a week? (I only record once a week) I have been doing this for almost 4 months now and my progress looks exactly like the diagram above but the overall curve is going down :D Stick with it x

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