[Blondie160]

So I eat the same calories every day (around 1300), some days it will steadily drop and then others it will go up like a pound!!
I dont get it, its not TOM, sodium, water from exercise, dodgy scales, needing the toilet... so what is it and why does it stress me out so much!!

[berryblondeboys]

Well, you just have to get over it. Our bodies are not robots and it does things we don't fully understand. But it could be other things - lack of sleep, ovulation, heat, and so on. Or none of the above.

What we all need to realize is that the scale is a tool and not more than that. If you keep up with exercise and eating right, you will eventually lose - at what increments is total out of your control.

[Nelson60]

Blondie160 - it's water don't you think? A gallon of water weighs over 8 pounds!
I can go out for a long walk and come back and be 3-4 pounds lower just from all of the sweat. The next day it might all be back. That's not fat disappearing and reappearing; to me, I think it's water.

[indiblue]

I've learned that it doesn't help my weight loss at all to try to understand the day-to-day fluctuations. So why stress and worry over it? It's not going to make the weight drop any more quickly. Just keep doing what you're doing and focus on the long-term.

[Grace73]

Water, I would agree...
Between the morning and evening. I can gain 2 pounds..
I drink close to a gallon of water a day..So I been just tracking my weight first thing in the morning. -- Good luck.. its hard but just keep having faith..

[synger]

Originally Posted by Blondie160

So I eat the same calories every day (around 1300), some days it will steadily drop and then others it will go up like a pound!!
I dont get it, its not TOM, sodium, water from exercise, dodgy scales, needing the toilet... so what is it and why does it stress me out so much!!

Whether or not it's TOM, you have hormone fluctuations day to day.
Whether or not you've eaten something salty, your sodium fluctuates day to day.
Whether or not you've sweated a lot, your water fluctuates day to day.
Whether or not you need to use the toilet, you have waste in your colon and bladder.

It's a balance. And the scale is only ONE tool. It's not even a very accurate tool, because it weighs weight... when we want it to weigh FAT. Weight is composed of much more than fat -- water and waste, for instance, which you already mentioned. It all changes day to day, even hour to hour.

If it stresses you out, there are a couple of options you might try.

Weigh less often. Once a month, maybe. If you are staying on-plan, you shouldn't see a gain, so weighing less often will just tell you how much you've lost (or stayed the same).

Weigh more often, like daily. I do this. This allows me to see the daily variations for what they are... variations. As long as I stay within a 2-3 pound range (or lower!), I know I haven't actually gained any fat. Some daily weighers put their weight in a spreadsheet and look at a seven-day average as a closer approximation of their "true" weight for that day.

Change to a different measurement. Use a tape measure and measure your body size rather than your weight. Use a log to show you how much fitter you are and able to exercise longer than you could last month. Use how your clothes are hanging on your body, or the need to buy smaller sizes, to determine that you're tightening up and slimming down.

The scale is only one tool, and it measures your whole weight.

Don't let it stress you.

[runningfromfat]

This is why I take measurements religiously because they just don't fluctuate as badly as the scale. Take today, for instance. I had a really tough workout yesterday and the scale decided to jump up almost two pounds! That being said I've lost an inch off of my waist in the past week so I'm not particularly worried about it. An inch off of the waist means my body composition is changing, a pound drop could mean I actually lost weight or I'm dehydrated.

[Blondie160]

Thanks for all the advice, but RunningFromFat - this is gona sound really silly but how tight do you pull the tape? I only measure my waist and thats all i care about but im never sure how to figure out if im pulling it the same 'tightness'

[runningfromfat]

Originally Posted by Blondie160

Thanks for all the advice, but RunningFromFat - this is gona sound really silly but how tight do you pull the tape? I only measure my waist and thats all i care about but im never sure how to figure out if im pulling it the same 'tightness'

I actually try two things to make sure I'm actually seeing change. So when I measure my natural waist I'll measure once where it's not super tight but would fit like a pair of pants that would fit perfectly i.e. it shouldn't make your skin bulge around the tape but also no gaps either. Then I do a suck in measurement where I suck it in as far as my gut will go and see the absolutely smallest I can make my waist (that's just for fun).

I like taking a lot of measurements to see progress (especially since many times I don't lose evenly... for instance, a few weeks ago I lost around my hips, then I lost 0.5 inches around my upper arm, and now I just lost an inch around my waist). So I measure on a daily basis my natural waist, lower belly, and my hips. Then every now and then I measure my bust, underbust, upper arms, and thighs (those seem to change more slowly so I don't bother measuring as often).