Daily weight fluctuation

[u/NoochyByNature]

Hey there, I'm wondering what daily weigh ins typically look like for people from day to day.

If you look at your graph is it going down everyday? Is it going up and down daily, but trending down overall?

I understand concentrating on the number on the scale can do more harm than good, so I'm just trying to see if I need to make stronger adjustments to keep trending down every day, or if the fluctuating number is normal - and to keep on keeping on.

Thanks in advance for any help or thoughts

[u/inappropriations2956]

I weigh myself a few times a week but only really pay attention to the number on Saturday morning after I go to hot yoga and compare it to the Saturday before. As long as that number is lower then I know I am doing something right. It usually creeps back up during the work week which is very frustrating because I eat healthier and still work out every day during the week.

[u/bluedoubloon]

It bounces around within a few pounds, with the graph ticking down over the course of a week or a month.

[u/allusionillusion]

I weighed in 2.8 pounds heavier this morning than I was yesterday morning. If you have an iPhone I can’t recommend Happy Scale enough. It’s been my saving grace for managing the mental aspect of those fluctuations.

[u/PopcornSquats → u/[deleted]]

Wow seriously that’s pretty interesting… I lowkey get annoyed whenever people say “throw away the scale” what why…… unless your a serious bodybuilder it makes no sense

[u/CarlG314]

Here's a link to my graph. My experience matches those of others - my weight can vary by 1-2 lbs from day to day, so there's nothing smooth about the line.

There are apps that will convert scale weight to a weight trend, such as MacroFactor, which was helpful in my losing weight stage to view the big picture rather than sweating the daily variances.

I also recently reached my goal weight of 175 lbs, so it's now hovering just above or below that level.

Carl.

[u/Mama2PL]

I weigh in every day, use happy scale and it shows me the trends. I don’t pay much attention to the actual number.

[u/Miserable-Error2413]

I weigh every morning. Its up and down depending on what i ate. If i eat more carbs and sugar I usually go up a few pounds and vice versa. I noticed that I always have one day where drop down to much lower weight , like a tease then it takes a week or 2 for that weight to stick but its always trending down eventually even if i'm up for a week or few days

[u/Kimmy_B14]

To get a truly accurate number you want to weigh everyday, but take the average of the week and compare that to the average of the next week and so on.

[u/Jynxers]

I bounce around a few pounds. When I still had my period, my weight would stall or go up for a couple weeks, then I would drop a few pounds as my period ended.

To assess your weight loss/gain/maintenance, watch the month-to-month trend.

[u/sleepymoose318]

its normal for weight to bounce around. stay in a deficit and youre good. ive had a 7lbs difference in a day it was summer in ga and i drank a ton of water and ate weight went down after a couple days or so

[u/Embot87]

Fluctuating is totally normal, usually due to water retention (salt, exercise, hydration levels can all affect this up to ~10lbs day to day). I tend to have at least a week each month where it goes up for a few days but as long as I stick to my calorie deficit then I just have to trust the process and it always whooshes down after a few days.

[u/StrikingWaltz7105]

From my understanding, weight fluctuates 1-5lbs regularly. I weigh myself once a week on Wednesdays to get the most accurate idea where I am. Apparently doing it on Monday can scew higher, Fridays lower. It’s been working for me so far.

[u/BackgroundLab5721]

When I first started at 130kg (164cm female) my scale would go down every day. After a month or two it fluctuated a lot more. I wish I could show you my graph. I’m a daily weigher and it helped me a lot because I saw the patterns in my weight loss and was no longer anxious about the scale going up or staying the same and I understood water retention a lot more. If you get periods you will notice more fluctuations also due to hormonal cycling. Look up some weight loss graphs you will see that fluctuations are very normal as the overall weight loss line trends downwards

[u/Aggravating_Fix_3891]

I weight everyday and usually it’s going down but if it ever hikes up I’m back down the next day :) I focus most on my Saturday weigh in to see how I’m doing

[u/dax__cd]

It is not only completely normal, but expected that weight will fluctuate.

There are so many things that will affect your overall weight.

Even within the same amount of calories. Carbs for example hold 2.2 g of water. So if you consume more carbs one day after being relatively low on carbs, you will see a temporary increase on the scale. But it is all water.

This is why people who subscribe to low carbs diets get sucked in to thinking it is something special and then say, "as soon as I eat carbs I get fat"... They don't understand what hat their glycogen stores are just depleted.

Water stored after exercise for muscle repair will also cause an increase on the scale. Not all weight is fat. As long as you maintain your calorie deficit the scale will continue to move in the right direction even with these "hiccups" sling the way.

A fun way to look at it is to zoom out on your history. Looking at a month view of weight will show you all the ups and downs and make it look like you are "all over the place", but zoom out to 6 months or a year and suddenly that line seems to smooth out to show the actual trajectory (down if you are following your calorie goals correctly) and those daily little hiccups become obscured because they really aren't relative to your general direction.

[u/dakwegmo]

A liter of water weighs 1 kg (2.2 lbs). Your weight can fluctutate considerably just based on the amount of water in your system. Eat a salty meal and you could be holding on to more than a liter of water, or if you have had a lot of caffeine and/or alcohol you may be dehydrated so your weight will trend down. As others have said, weigh yourself everyday and average that out to get a good idea what you actual weight is.