Weight fluctuation vs. real weight loss

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MalSponseller
MalSponseller Posts: 217 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Morning everyone.

I'm very new to the site and have been browsing around since last night. This morning I weighed myself and had a question.

Since buying my new scale a few weeks ago, I've weighed myself at different intervals during the day and various days of the week. I have a weight range that spans 5 lbs. I know that real measurements should be taken in the morning, with as little clothes on as possible and such, but how do you know what weight you've actually lost if you fluctuate as much as I do? I 'lost' nearly 4 lbs overnight, and I know for a fact it wasn't from diet and exercise.
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Replies

  • Teresa527
    Teresa527 Posts: 62 Member
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    Your weight will naturally fluctuate during the day for a multitude of reasons. Food consumption, fluids, etc.
    Don't weigh yourself at night. Only weigh yourself in the morning, after you go pee, naked (if possible). This is going to be your most accurate weight. Then only compare your morning weights.

    You will fluctuate between 4-5 lb. weight gain throughout the day.
  • MalSponseller
    MalSponseller Posts: 217 Member
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    So 5 lb fluctuation is normal then? I've been told by multiple people, none actually doctors but some medical students, that that much fluctuation is kinda crazy. 1-3 lbs yes, but a full 5 is a bit much.
  • Teresa527
    Teresa527 Posts: 62 Member
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    A few things you need to remember.
    The food you eat is going to weigh something. The water weighs a lot (a quart weighs 2 lbs.). Sodium will cause you to retain that water as does carbs.

    As long as you aren't 5 pounds heavier the morning after, why do you care what you weigh at the end of the day? It's not a fat gain so it truly doesn't matter.
  • MalSponseller
    MalSponseller Posts: 217 Member
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    Well the issue is, I sometimes do weigh more than the previous day. If I'm trying to lose weight , and my weight is bouncing from 208 to 204 to 206 to 203 to 208 again in the morning, am I actually losing anything at all? Is it all fluctuation, is some of it actual weight loss?
  • Cindym82
    Cindym82 Posts: 1,245 Member
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    You need to pick one specific day as your weigh in day. Stick with the same day every week and in the morning after you relieve yourself and naked. If you have more sodium than usual the day before the numbers will be higher. You can't weigh everyday or you'll drive yourself crazy. ALSO, don't forget during TOM you can gain up to 7lbs.
  • briteyes
    briteyes Posts: 435 Member
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    i only track my loss on one day a week, first thing in the morning, after i pee, and naked. this keeps things consistent, but I still weigh myself every day and often 2 - 3 times a day or more.... i often will weigh before / after workouts, and sometimes before bed. what i find interesting is that i often weigh less in the evening than i do in the morning. but i don't track those weights - only the 1x a week morning weigh-in. so even though this week, the scale went down to 127, my recorded weight is still at 128 (sucks, huh?)
  • Bocciulo
    Bocciulo Posts: 14 Member
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    1 thing to remember is your scale might not be calibrated properly. I would get 2 weights and "weigh" them. I know my scale is over by .3 then like a PP said you need to pick 1 day of the week and only weigh yourself on that day with little to no clothing on. If you do these things you will realistically know your weight and like PP said your weight throughout the day will change.Hope that helps
  • nsblue
    nsblue Posts: 331 Member
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    i can weigh myself in the mornin and by afternoon at the docs..with more clothes be 5 lbs more... very normal...with food water as others have said...and clothes too.
    any weightloss journey you will have fluctuations...whether if its due to sodium intake...food intake...time of the month lol...or just a plateau or stall u have reached where the body is readjusting... you can expect a few of these in your journey and they can me more easily noted weighing each day. dont be alarmed...if you are doing everything you should...keep to it...eventually it will break and you will lose once again.
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
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    I have always gotten a 5lb fluctuation. I go pee in the morning and then weigh, and it's one number (let's say 156). I get home in the evening and weigh, I'm 2-4lbs heavier. I eat dinner, I technically should weigh more, but now I'm down 1lb from earlier. WTF? Haha. :P

    Don't put too much stock in any number other than your morning number. Even though I weigh throughout the week, I only log my weight on Wednesdays. Just enough time away from the weekend to not feel guilty about inevitable pizza ordering.

    By just weighing once a week at the same time each week, you're going to get an accurate number. Unless, like, you ate a salt lick the night before, then the sodium will cause you to have water weight. Or you tried to flub the numbers by skipping all your meals the day before or something ridiculous like that.
  • Buckeyt
    Buckeyt Posts: 473 Member
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    Weigh yourself the same time of the day on the days you do step on the scale.

    As a point of reference, I can easily have my weight drop 5 pounds overnight, especially If I've had alot of water or other fluids to drink in the evening.

    Tim
  • kunibob
    kunibob Posts: 608 Member
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    I always used a lowest reading for consistency; I used that as my "baseline" measurement and figured that everything on top of that was food, water retention, etc. Other folks prefer to use a weekly weigh-in and be consistent that weigh. Either way, so long as you pick one measurement method and stick to it, you'll see it drop over time, and that's what counts -- we tend to want to notice every individual pound lost, but really, weight loss is about an overall trend over time. There will always be fluctuations! Even now, when I'm maintaining, I'm maintaining more of a 5 lb range than a true number on the scale, because everything can fluctuate so wildly.
  • coraliethomas
    coraliethomas Posts: 336 Member
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    Girl, you need to try to relax!! You remind me of myself when I started my journey (actually we have the same amount of total weight to lose!). Depending on what you eat and water retention, your weight will go nuts throughout the day... mine varies by about 5lbs some days.

    What works for me, is I weigh every morning, after potty and before I get dressed and eat. However! Because I work out some days and not others, because I dont ALWAYS drink the same amount of water or eat the exact same thing, my weight is a bit different then next day.. it will gradually go down, but some days it spikes a bit.

    Pick a "logging" day though.. Mine is friday morning, thats when its been 7 days since I last logged and I check my weight compared to that once a week.. you will notice it going down.

    Good luck!
    Coralie
  • donna_glasgow
    donna_glasgow Posts: 869 Member
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    Don't look min to min, day to day or even week to week .... weigh in and look at the overall trend if its heading down ... your losing weight :)

    we all fluctuate and even more so when the dreaded monthly it arriving /during and leaving lol

    edited to say
    I weigh 6 times a day ... but its for my own head to get round how my body works and when im heaviest etc .... I don't let the scales get to me thou as I know what I am doing it right :)
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
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    The best way (not the way I do it) is to weigh once per week... say on Sunday morning .. every week. That being said, weight fluctuations are normal. five pounds or even more from one day to the next not out of question... Factors may include things such as... monthly bloating, fluid retention, recent defecation, gaining muscle mass from the strength training, etc. I have weighed 306.8 one day and a couple of days later 309.4... (yes that is less than 5 lbs but that was morning weights).... As far as later in the day, as one post said the food and fluids you consume weigh something. Even the elevation that you are (if you go from one elevation to another and weigh) can factor in. I suspect even the barometric pressure and moon phases can factor in (though admittedly we are probably talking ounces rather than lbs). I like to weigh myself daily but don't get too alarmed unless I don't show a loss in less than a week. There are really too many variables. Take in fewer calories than you burn on a regular basis and you will get where you are going....
  • shelbynicole32
    shelbynicole32 Posts: 179 Member
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    My weight fluctuates about 5lbs everyday too. No worries.
  • SaSSyhasCurls
    SaSSyhasCurls Posts: 93
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    You can tell the difference in your clothing with real weight loss, compare to fluctuation
  • firstnamekaren
    firstnamekaren Posts: 274 Member
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    I would recommend not fixating on the scale so much. I've read on here that clothes fitting properly and measurements are a better determination of how you're getting into shape. I know that the scale and that dreaded number has been drilled into our minds as the end all be all of weight loss, but it's only leads to stress and frustration!
  • twinmom01
    twinmom01 Posts: 854 Member
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    You need to pick one specific day as your weigh in day. Stick with the same day every week and in the morning after you relieve yourself and naked. If you have more sodium than usual the day before the numbers will be higher. You can't weigh everyday or you'll drive yourself crazy. ALSO, don't forget during TOM you can gain up to 7lbs.

    ^^^^^^exactly - I weighed myself in the morning and night last week just to see what my typical weight flunctuations have been during a week...just to have an idea....I varied as much as 4 lbs during last week...my high was 184 and my low was 180...even though I may weigh myself a few times a week I use my Saturday or Sunday morning weigh in (depends on what I am doing the night before - tonight I am going out with friends and will be out late and eating later than normal so I will probably wait until Sunday) as my main weigh-in - and I record it EVEN if it is higher then the previous week...For me over the past few weeks on my offical weigh in day I have been less then the previous week (even if I had been higher at some point during the week). At one point this week I was at 179....this morning I was at 180...I am hoping I see that 179 this weekend for my main weigh-in...but if I don't I know my body is "heading" that way - KWIM

    A lot of things factor into daily weight fluctuations...I have found based on me weighing in and out last week that the mornings where I worked out hard the night before were always higher in the morning than in the evening...probably because my body was still holding on to fluid to help my muscles repair - but 24 hours after and drinking lost of water it flushed out a lot of that excess that my muscles needed....

    I will say even though I deal with the scale I also have some clothes I use as a gauge to see how I am really doing as I am lifting weights...so for me the number on the scale is slow going but my body shape is really changing...pants I could barely get on (and not zipped) 5 lbs ago are almost on the looser side now...because I am becoming leaner even though the scale is slow going...
  • luhluhlaura
    luhluhlaura Posts: 278 Member
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    Your TOM plays a huge role...oh my goodness. I was down to 142 and weighed myself throughout my period and I went up to 149....I almost cried...

    Then about 3 days later my weight began to come down and I realized it was all because of my TOM! Crazy.

    My weight fluctuates 3 to 5 pounds throughout the day. It's normal.
  • bemott
    bemott Posts: 180
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    I am pretty much the same way, thought it was my scale.
    As long as I see the lower weight at some point during the week I don't worry too much.
    It's when I don't see the fluctuation that I worry.
    You will see the flux go down as you go down, so you will be playing with 5lbs still but at a lower weight.
    It feels so good for me to see 181 and 184.5 instead of 203 and 207.5!

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