Why does my weight fluctuate by around 4-5 pounds throughout the day?

livster713 · February 7

Hi! so I’m rather new to this and using the app in general. I’ve noticed that my weight fluctuates throughout the day. I eat about 1600 calories per day because i really need to lose the extra weight i’ve put on in the past few years, I'd exercise too and burn calories, but sometimes after I workout, the scale goes up. I don’t understand how someone can fluctuate from 241 to 235 in a day, please help me— and if there’s anything i can do to prevent it please let me know.

sollyn23l2 · February 7

livster713 wrote: »

Hi! so I’m rather new to this and using the app in general. I’ve noticed that my weight fluctuates throughout the day. I eat about 1600 calories per day because i really need to lose the extra weight i’ve put on in the past few years, I'd exercise too and burn calories, but sometimes after I workout, the scale goes up. I don’t understand how someone can fluctuate from 241 to 235 in a day, please help me— and if there’s anything i can do to prevent it please let me know.

It's what we call water weight. You probably drank a bunch of water during/after your workout. Water has weight.

Retroguy2000 · February 7

You might retain water due to working out. Muscles need water for repair. You shouldn't attempt to influence that.

You might retain water on a monthly schedule if female. You shouldn't attempt to influence that.

Salt will encourage water retention too. You should probably avoid meals high in sodium, and those kinds of meals are usually not the best for dieting anyway.

Weigh yourself at most once per day, first thing in the morning after bathroom, near naked. Track a multi-day average. There are apps for that. I think one is called Libre? Not sure.

Lietchi · February 7

Everything you eat or drink has weight until it is digested/ processed into waste and exits the body as waste. Drink a glass of water and your weight will increase half a lb (or however large your glass is). Eat a meal and your weight will have gone up for example 1lb depending on meal size/weight. Exercise for an hour and you will have lost weight from sweating, or perhaps have gained weight if you drank more than you sweated. Etc.

There's nothing to prevent, it's normal.

Retroguy2000 wrote: »

Weigh yourself at most once per day, first thing in the morning after bathroom, near naked. Track a multi-day average. There are apps for that. I think one is called Libre? Not sure.

Fully endorsed, and it's Libra (for Android) and Happyscale (for iOS) and a few others.

mprytkov · February 7

Hi

yirara · February 7

Yeah, what the others said: food in transit, going to the loo, drinking, different clothes... all influences the weight on the scale. How would a dumb (or smart) scale know what is all of this background noise and what is your actual weight?

mtaratoot · February 7

If you are trying to lose WEIGHT, what you're really trying to lose is FAT. The number on the scale measures more than fat. It measures your bones. It measures your muscles. It measures what you had for breakfast and that's still inside the tunnel that runs through you from your mouth to the other end. It measures the liquids you've consumed that also haven't left by sweat, exhalation, or urine. It measures the water in your hair if you just took a shower.

It can be frustrating. Don't let it take up space in your head!

The most reliable way to weigh yourself is when you arise from sleep in the morning after you visit the toilet while wearing the outfit you were born with. This will be the most consistent from day to day, but it will still vary up and down. Write down the number, and ignore it. Instead use a spreadsheet or online tool to calculate a moving average, or better yet a weighted moving average. That's what really counts and will show the trend over time.

Key things to keep in mind are:

Be patient
Keep sticking to it
Be kind to yourself
Be patient

AnnPT77 · February 7

Others explained the details.

Short (TL;DR) answer: Why? Because you're normal. That's what bodies do, all of us.

It's like being a naive new parent: They watch the baby, don't see torso moving, check to see if they're still breathing. They are. Second child, they have more knowledge, less anxiety.

New calorie-counters see the scale go up and down through the day, worry about it. It's normal.

Now you have more knowledge. I hope you have less anxiety.

Kiwi2mfp · February 8

Perfectly normal. Some people get obsessed and will try to reduce this afternoon weight by drinking less water...bad idea. Drinking plenty of water actually helps you shed water weight, it doesn't contribute to water weight. Carbs and salt can also encourage your body to maintain water weight. If you eat too many carbs and/or salt and also don't drink enough water, your morning weigh in can go up as much as 5 pounds and take days of drinking plenty of water (8-10 cups a day) to help shed it back off. Either way, you still haven't gained any fat if you haven't been eating way over your caloric needs. If you've been eating Ina. Deficit or at maintenence and still see your scale jump over night....review your food log ( if you've been logging accurately), is your sodium over what MFP recommends? Is your carbs above what MFP recommends? I personally (as a female) try to keep my carbs below 135 a day because anything over that seems to negatively impact my body (everyone is different though). With time, you'll find what your body likes and where you feel your best. Please don't let the scale discourage you. Watch the morning trend. This will fluctuate up and down too but you can start to see your peak days will be lower than your last peak days and your low days will get lower then your last lower days. It takes time to establish the trend so give this a few weeks. Hang in there!

Why does my weight fluctuate by around 4-5 pounds throughout the day?

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