I weighed in this morning and was excited to see 291 down from 294 on Thursday. Then I ate breakfast and took a shower. I made the mistake of weighing myself after my shower and I was right back up to 298 right where I started from. Ugh now I feel like I can't count my first weigh in now and that I haven't lost anything. This will teach me not to weigh in twice I guess.

It's not weighing twice that is the problem. The second weigh in was after you had eaten, you were weighing undigested food. Always weigh before you eat for an accurate figure on the scale.

You have to pick a time of day to weigh-in and keep it constant - always the same - naked or same exact clothes and before breakfast and after peeing will give you the most consistent weights.

We gain a LOT of weight during the day - water, food, clothing, etc. That's completely normal.

plus your hair was wet from your shower

Because my weight fluctuates so much during the day (up to 10 lbs), I decided a few years back to learn as much as I could about the fluctuations. I started weighing about 10 to 20 times a day and logging some of the results (and just noticing others).

Getting dressed obviously adds pounds that aren't really mine, but specifically I learned that:

my underwear weighs less than a pound
pajamas about a pound
jeans and a top - 3 lbs
with shoes about another pound to pound and a half
a dress or slacks and a top - about 2 lbs
the water on my skin after showering - about 2 lbs (a little more if I don't dry my hair well)
16 ounces of water - a pound of course (until I pee it out in about 30 minutes)
meals - up to 3 lbs
going to the potty - 1 to 3 lbs
the difference between last night weigh in and first morning weigh in (after using the restroom -about 2 lbs)
eating a high sodium meal such as asian food adds up to three pounds for a day or two
eating higher carb than my normal, adds about three pounds for a day or two until my eating returns to my normal
PMS adds up to 8 lbs gradually over two or three days and then lost in about five days
this summer a sunburn added two pounds (and I relearned that the body retains water when healing from illness or injury because the healing process uses that water to heal)


My experiment taught me that fluctuations are normal and for the most part not very mysterious. I can't gain a pound from eating one candybar over and above my foodplan. It's impossible to gain more from a food than the food weighs - so a two ounce candybar at most can account for no more than a two ounce gain (which is why whenever I weigh myself I see it as "worst case scenario." I know that if I'm not eating very cleanly, have a high carb or sodium day, or if it's near TOM then what appears on the scale is higher than what I'll weigh in just a few days)

If you weigh frequently and at various times of the day, you have to learn to only compare like to like and only compare weigh-ins at least a week apart. You can't compare naked morning weigh-in with post-meal-post-shower weigh-in. You can't even really compare naked morning weigh-in to yesterday's naked morning weigh-in.

For a while I was only "counting"/comparing my "Monday morning weigh-ins" but even that was screwing with my head because of my monthly cycle, so now I only compare weights that are 28 days apart (for example today's morning weigh-in with weigh-ins four weeks ago and four weeks in the future).

Kaps, you are so right!! Another high sodium food that gets me is pizza (even my gluten free crust with just veggies and cheese).

Even certain shoes weigh different than others. I have difficult monthly cycles and can vary up to 8 lbs too.

Dehydration can add water weight for me. My body starts holding on to water when dehydrated, just like it holds onto calories if I drop too low. I'm still trying to find the sweet spot with the calories. Apparently, it's not a constant number. I'll probably figure it out on the day I die LOL.

Hugs,
Ratkity

I am religious about weighing under the same conditions every day, and even with that my scale gives me readings that can vary by a couple of pounds one after the other if I do three in a row or example. It's frustrating, but it's a good exercise in combining vigilance with not letting the scale rule your mood and self talk for the day. I've decided that when I get multiple readings I pick the lowest as my current weight. Could pick the highest, or an average, but I've decided the lowest feels the most optimistic. And it is rewarding to see the scale register a new 'low' after a few days of bouncing around.

To the OP, you should definitely not feel discouraged about your two readings. As has been pointed out you completely changed the conditions and your apparent 'gain' was completely expected. I think you can have absolute confidence in the lower number. Yay!