Is the scales always true?

Ros_ie20
Ros_ie20 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys ,
I was just looking for a bit of advice, I have been using the scales to measure my progress for weightloss but also using pictures and how clothing better but I know due to water weight ,the scales can vary but I notice for the past week and a half the scales has stayed at 146 lbs , I was currently 150lbs and im aiming to lose a stone, is there anything I am doing wrong? Or should I just give it time?

Replies

  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    Give it time.
  • Hanibanani2020
    Hanibanani2020 Posts: 523 Member
    Are you weighing everything before eating it? If so then just wait it out as there are plenty of reasons weight fluctuates.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Ros_ie20 wrote: »
    Hi guys ,
    I was just looking for a bit of advice, I have been using the scales to measure my progress for weightloss but also using pictures and how clothing better but I know due to water weight ,the scales can vary but I notice for the past week and a half the scales has stayed at 146 lbs , I was currently 150lbs and im aiming to lose a stone, is there anything I am doing wrong? Or should I just give it time?

    Give it time.

    It is good that you are using other ways to measure progress like how your clothing fits. Sometimes the scale doesn't budge but you suddenly realize your jeans are much more comfortable. Other times your jeans will feel the same, but the scale goes down. Just keep doing what you are doing and it will all balance out.

    A plateau is 4 or more weeks with no change in the scale OR measurements. Short term stalls of a week or two are normal for how most people lose weight and are usually changes in water weight. Just because the scale isn't changing doesn't mean you are not losing fat.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,012 Member
    Give it time.

    Scales, like any device, can malfunction. (Low batteries or an uneven floor increase those chances.)

    It's important to realize that scales measure body weight, and what most of us are trying to lose is body fat.

    Fat loss is gradual, and depends on calorie balance. (Calories consumed < calories spent.) Even fast fat loss, within a healthy range, is a small fraction of a pound per day - mere ounces. It tends to show up clearly on the body weight scale only after weeks to months and beyond, not after a day or few.

    Something like 70%+ of our body mass is water. Water retention fluctuates routinely in a healthy body, often by multiple pounds within a day or over a few days, up to a small number of weeks. That water retention can mask fat loss on the scale.

    Some of our body weight is food in transit. If I hold a very large apple in one hand, and a 16-oz glass of water in my other hand, then step on the scale, the scale will read X pounds. If I drink the water, and eat the apple, standing right there with the apple core and the empty glass in my hands, the scale will still read X pounds. Full digestive transit can take up to 50+ hours. Eating different physical weights of food, some of which eventually becomes waste, also affects the body weight on the scale. Temporarily weight from food in transit can also mask fat loss on the scale.

    Muscle gain? Shows up over months to years, on the scale. Not even a consideration, in the weight loss scenario, it's such a minor factor, arithmetically speaking. (Still worth pursuing for other reasons, though! :) ).

    So, other measures can be useful, but mostly, patience is key. Fat loss, the important thing, shows up on the scale over the course of weeks. What shows up within a day or few is mostly changes in water or digestive contents.

    Read the fluctuations link quiksylver296 posted. It's good.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,012 Member
    Give it time.

    Scales, like any device, can malfunction. (Low batteries or an uneven floor increase those chances.)

    It's important to realize that scales measure body weight, and what most of us are trying to lose is body fat.

    Fat loss is gradual, and depends on calorie balance. (Calories consumed < calories spent.) Even fast fat loss, within a healthy range, is a small fraction of a pound per day - mere ounces. It tends to show up clearly on the body weight scale only after weeks to months and beyond, not after a day or few.

    Something like 70%+ of our body mass is water. Water retention fluctuates routinely in a healthy body, often by multiple pounds within a day or over a few days, up to a small number of weeks. That water retention can mask fat loss on the scale.

    Some of our body weight is food in transit. If I hold a very large apple in one hand, and a 16-oz glass of water in my other hand, then step on the scale, the scale will read X pounds. If I drink the water, and eat the apple, standing right there with the apple core and the empty glass in my hands, the scale will still read X pounds. Full digestive transit can take up to 50+ hours. Eating different physical weights of food, some of which eventually becomes waste, also affects the body weight on the scale. Temporarily weight from food in transit can also mask fat loss on the scale.

    Muscle gain? Shows up over months to years, on the scale. Not even a consideration, in the weight loss scenario, it's such a minor factor, arithmetically speaking. (Still worth pursuing for other reasons, though! :) ).

    So, other measures can be useful, but mostly, patience is key. Fat loss, the important thing, shows up on the scale over the course of weeks. What shows up within a day or few is mostly changes in water or digestive contents.

    Read the fluctuations link quiksylver296 posted. It's good.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 978 Member
    Get on the scales. Step off, pick up something heavy and step back on. Step off, put the weight down and step back on. Do you still weigh the same?

    Aside from flat batteries, the scales not being in exactly the same place every time, wonky feet or just generally being broken, scales may not register small changes.

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