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2 scales are saying i've lost more than 5 pounds in 12 days-

Skinny_Beans
Skinny_Beans Posts: 405 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm really confused. I expected to be around 128 by now, but the scales I use, both of which had me at 130 12 days ago, now show me in the 120-123 range. I'm a 5'4 woman. My diet has significantly changed to cut out sugars and carbs, but come on.

I don't trust these scales! Anyone had similar experience? I'm going to try a gym scale this week to hopefully secure my actual weight. Maybe look at my diary? :/

Replies

  • tanklissa
    tanklissa Posts: 70
    How much more than 5 lbs? I think it's possible. I just wouldn't expect results like that EVERY week/ 2 weeks.
  • IvoryParchment
    IvoryParchment Posts: 651 Member
    You have to undereat 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat. But five pounds of water can come off just by finishing your period or eating less salt. I know a doctor who had a patient who lost 80 lbs in 2 days just by laying in bed, because his legs were so swollen. So the scale could easily be right, but it doesn't matter in the long run, other than the fact that eating less salt is generally a good thing to do.
  • Skinny_Beans
    Skinny_Beans Posts: 405 Member
    How much more than 5 lbs? I think it's possible. I just wouldn't expect results like that EVERY week/ 2 weeks.

    at least 7 Ibs,if not 8. It's just I don't think I look like I've lost that much, and that big of a number in such a short amount of time freaked me out.
  • saragato
    saragato Posts: 1,154
    It's possible you've lost that much. However 7 or 8 pounds isn't going to show significantly. Also before you go to that gym scale I would ask an employee the last time it was calibrated. If it hasn't been calibrated recently then I wouldn't trust it.
  • sherrirb
    sherrirb Posts: 1,649 Member
    I'm really confused. I expected to be around 128 by now, but the scales I use, both of which had me at 130 12 days ago, now show me in the 120-123 range. I'm a 5'4 woman. My diet has significantly changed to cut out sugars and carbs, but come on.

    I don't trust these scales! Anyone had similar experience? I'm going to try a gym scale this week to hopefully secure my actual weight. Maybe look at my diary? :/

    Is it possible you were retaining a lot of water? If you cut down on your sodium and increased your water intake, this could definitely account for that.
  • SmashleeWpg
    SmashleeWpg Posts: 567 Member
    A lot of it could be water weight - given that our weight can fluctuate up to seven pounds a day depending on TOM, stress levels, sleep patterns, sodium intake, water retention, weather... it would stand to reason that you could see a fluctation on the scale of 7 or 8 lbs in two weeks.
  • Jenniferlynn212
    Jenniferlynn212 Posts: 110 Member
    use the same scale everytime :-)
  • natacha305
    natacha305 Posts: 117 Member
    my gym scale is wrong! it lies to me

    i only trust the scale at publix

    Also something i learned since i started MFP is the quicker i loose the weight the faster it comes back on.

    when i loose slow and steady i pig out for 2 days and dont notice any gain. as where when i used to go on crazy 7 days diets my weight would come back on so fast it make my head spin and some
  • NotGoddess
    NotGoddess Posts: 1,198 Member
    It is possible to flush out that much water weight if you were retaining it.
    I use a 10lb handweight to calibrate my scales before I weigh.
  • Crystal_Pistol
    Crystal_Pistol Posts: 750 Member
    Water.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,359 Member
    Water weight can be a surprisingly large amount. When I started all this, before I even changed my diet, I was put on a water pill for high blood pressure. I lost over 10 pounds in less than a week just from water weight. At the time I also had pneumonia so I couldn't exercise, and I was not yet eating at a calorie deficit. Quick loss, especially if you have maintained a healthy moderate deficit of no more than 1000 calories below your expected calories burned for the day plus exercise calories, is almost always water weight. Sometimes what happens is fat is lost, but the change in weight does not show up because of water retention from either too much sodium, a change in or very intense workout (water is retained in the muscle to aid in recovery), or some other factor. When the body normalizes its water level, there can be a sudden drop on the scale, but the drop was really over a period of time, it just showed suddenly.
  • Skinny_Beans
    Skinny_Beans Posts: 405 Member
    Water weight can be a surprisingly large amount. When I started all this, before I even changed my diet, I was put on a water pill for high blood pressure. I lost over 10 pounds in less than a week just from water weight. At the time I also had pneumonia so I couldn't exercise, and I was not yet eating at a calorie deficit. Quick loss, especially if you have maintained a healthy moderate deficit of no more than 1000 calories below your expected calories burned for the day plus exercise calories, is almost always water weight. Sometimes what happens is fat is lost, but the change in weight does not show up because of water retention from either too much sodium, a change in or very intense workout (water is retained in the muscle to aid in recovery), or some other factor. When the body normalizes its water level, there can be a sudden drop on the scale, but the drop was really over a period of time, it just showed suddenly.

    this makes sense, thanks :]
  • nickyfm
    nickyfm Posts: 1,214 Member
    I'm 115.5 at 5"5. I had a huge drop like that last week, but only lost 0.2 this week. Don't be discouraged if you don't have a big loss next week, because you did so well this week!
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