Scales question

dee95mfp
dee95mfp Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

Is it normal for my weight to go up and down even though I'm eating less? Or is my scales broken? It's so disheartening

Best Answers

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 10,232 Member
    Answer ✓

    oh, sweety. I’ve been in maintenance several years and it still happens to me, too.

    we get this weird idea that, OK we’re losing, or we’ve reached a goal and everything should flatline or the graph should be a happy ski slope down. Nope nope nope. More like a sawtooth mountain range

    Every day is not the same. Some days you work out harder, some days you blow it off and take a sofa day.

    Some days your snacks are snackier, and some days they’re healthier.

    Some days the house is messier and you earn a lot of steps- and potentially calories- trying to tread water to keep up. Other days you pace because there’s nothing to do.

    Some days Uncle Arthur pays a visit and your joints scream “bend me if you can, sucka! I’ve swole up!”

    No day is ever exactly the same as the one before, or the one coming up.

    I started my morning today with 2500 steps already on the clock because the 🤬dog had an upset tummy last night, and I had to walk him at 12 and 1am. He also sat up and stared at us to show his displeasure at being left with a sitter for a week, til we ran him out at 2 am. Hopefully, last night is a one off.

    I was 153.6 yesterday and 148.2 today. How? Transcontinental flight. I always gain a shedload on flights (cabin pressure), and drop it within hours.

    Maybe I’ll get a good nights sleep tonight and drop a little more. 👍🏻

    Don’t beat yourself up over a number. Numbers roll for 1001 reasons, and we have to learn to roll with them.

    Keep entering your numbers, and as the good lady @AnnPT77 says, treat yourself as a science experiment. After a while, you’ll build a database of “you”, and start to see trends and patterns and you’ll go “oh yeah! I remember! I had truffle salt on my popcorn! That’s just water weight!”

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 10,232 Member
    Answer ✓

    this is my graph since I joined MFP October 2018 (6 years so it’s really squished).

    IMG_7183.jpeg

    You can see how jagged it is since I’ve been in maintenance (including an intentional re-gain when my weight dropped too low. Yeah, it happens.)


    Hang in there. Please please please, do it for yourself, your family, grandkids. If I can do this, you can most certainly do it, but it requires patience, forethought, diligence, and even more patience.

    I don’t know much you have to lose, but the loss I’ve experienced has totally rocked my world. I spent the past week with my three year old granddaughter, and we visited several indoor and out door playgrounds. At most, I was the only grandma or even mom playing in the tunnels and ballpit. I couldn’t have done this with my own kids. To do it with her is an inexpressible joy.

  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,248 Member
    Answer ✓

    I'm in maintenance now and my weight chart looks like a richter scale reading! All over the place! But i'm generally within a few pounds + or - most days. It's not as frustrating now that I'm not trying to lose anymore but yeah when you are in a deficit and you gain a pound one morning when you weigh its very maddening. Then you weight the same for 3 days and… WHOOSH! Lose like 3 lbs overnight!

    It's all part of the experience!

Answers

  • SamSnyder353
    SamSnyder353 Posts: 1 Member

    Yes completely normal. Mist people will fluctuate a few pounds consistently

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 19,262 Member

    I made this thread not long ago, it's a more extreme version but short answer - yes, you fluctuate. Big time. Intake, hormones, weather, time of the month etc etc, all cal have an effect.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10944056/one-weekend-ruined-months-nope#latest

  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,529 Member

    yes, water retention is usually the culprit. Look at the trends.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,976 Community Helper

    Totally normal . . . so normal that anything else would be abnormal. 😉

    You might also get some perspective from this thread (be sure to read the article linked in the first post):

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations
  • rudyzenreviews
    rudyzenreviews Posts: 74 Member

    Totally normal! Scales fluctuate day to day from water, hormones, sodium, digestion, even sleep. It doesn’t mean you’re not making progress. What matters is the overall trend over weeks, not the single number each morning. Your scale is fine .

Categories