Why does my scale keep bouncing up and down?
 

I've been eating better since the beginning of the year, actually watching what I ate, using WW.

I started P90x a week and a half ago. I weigh myself every other day, and write down an 'official' weigh in weight once a week...Friday. I weigh first thing in the morning right after I go to the bathroom.

First week, I lost 5 pounds and 3" :) I weighed myself Monday, and I gained 4 pounds back :( So this morning I weighed myself again...and lost 2 pounds (compared to Monday's weight).

How many of you notice the scale fluctuating? When can I really say 'I lost that weight' and it 'counts'? Or should I be concentrating on measurements and inches lost?

I'm not a featherweight but mine fluctuates as well. I ignore it and look at inches and weightloss over long periods of time like a month, even though I weigh every day out of curiosity.

From experience (I weighed daily throughout my weight loss and I'm a daily weigher now too) I generally know that the lowest weight I see is my "real" weight.

Your weight is going to fluctuate from day to day due to a number of reasons, but if you're exercising it's possible to hold onto water weight ;) Trust me, after a big weight training session I almost always see an extra pound on the scale that goes away the next day.

If you're losing inches then that's what really matters. Focus on that more than what the scale says.

Water retention (because of something you ate or hormones), digestion speed (some food moves faster than others, or maybe your GI tract is just slow that day), and lots of other factors can affect your "weight" on a scale. I'm a daily weigher because I am the obsessive type, and I notice a 2-4 pound fluctuation every day.

I find what works for me is keeping track on a graph. I use an app on my phone and enter my weight every day. It displays it on a line graph for me. The line bounces up and down, but I get to see if the overall trend is downward. I highly recommend graphing for daily weighers, because it helps keep you from going crazy as you watch the numbers fluctuate.

As for me, when I say the weight is actually "lost," is when my graph shows that I've basically stuck around that weight for a few days.

Fluctuations on the scale are completely normal. My scale fluctuates 2-5lbs depending on what I've eaten, how much sodium I have had, how much water I've had, sometimes for what seems to be no reason lol

My weight goes up when I start a new and intense work out plan as well, I retain water like a crazy person. Try to just take the fluctuations in stride. Whenever I hit a new low, then I count it as my new lowest weight. As banananutmuffin said graphing is a very good idea, it allows you to see the fluctuations but also see the actual downward trend :)

I would have to agree it is probably water retention. I tend to eat more and drink less water on the weekend and sometimes see up to a 3-4 lb. difference on Mondays, which can leave me going WTF?? But by Tues. I'm 2 lbs down and on Wed. I'm my usual weight (117). I also see more water retention after doing any weight training. I have been making a big effort to drink more water and have noticed a considerable difference in how often my weight fluctuates and also my skin has cleared up a lot.

Now that I have less to lose my weight fluctuates a lot , before it was not like that... And when i lift weights fluctuates even more.

thanks for the input everybody! I guess I just need that reassurance that it's 'normal'.

banananutmuffin, I do have a graphing chart on the weight loss app I have on my phone (ok, I admit I am a bit compulsive and weigh every day now)I'll start using that more...and I won't play with the tracker in my sig either...not until I go below the lowest weight I last recorded. haha!

thanks again all!