Just because you are drinking a lot and your urine is clear doesn't mean you aren't also holding water.

I can tell I'm holding water by how much of a sock indentation I have around my ankles at the end of the day and the way my wedding ring fits. Mine are totally related to hormones and some foods/seasonings.

Our bodies are still mysteries in so many ways, but if you are exercising and eating right, the drop on the scale will eventually come. They body just doesn't follow a textbook route to weight loss. There's a lot more going on inside of us than we have figured out yet.

Well, my ring fits good today, nice and loose.

There are a lot of different ways your body can hold water - and it doesn't necesarily reflect how much water you're drinking, or the color of your urine or the amount of obvious edema. Some cause obvious swelling and "pitting edema" (where if you press your finger into the skin, it leaves an impression that lasts longer than normal), and some don't.

I gain 10 lbs of water weight with PMS/TOM every month. Some is water (though my urine is always pale, because I do drink about 3 liters of fluids most days). Sometimes my rings are loose (but usually either my hands or feet show signs of swelling, sometimes both - usually it's either my lower body or all over my body. I don't think I've ever noticed swelling in my hands without also seeing swelling in my feet).

TMI alert:

Also, besides water retention (hidden or otherwise), there's also another major source of whooshes - (too put it bluntly) crap (which is one of the places extra water can hide without causing swelling or affecting your urine color).

Whooshes is an elimination issue (you can't lose weight without the weight going somewhere). Where it goes is into the air through sweat and respiration and through toilet wastes).

None of those eliminations are easily brought under direct control (and I don't think you'd want to even if it were possible). How much and how fast you sweat, breath, pee, and poo (and to a lesser degree grow/shed hair, skin and nails) are variable and trying to speed up the processes isn't always possible or desirable.

It would be nice if you could measure each of them (as well as tell the difference between all the different sources of weight on the scale), but it's not possible.

I started weighing daily so I could see my whooshes better. I haven't been at it for a full month yet, so I am not sure how it correlates with my hormones. At the risk of TMI - it's at least partially related to bm's for me. I'm not a regular kind of gal I also retain water when I'm sore from exercise. I have been working on low sodium lately, and I notice if I have a higher sodium day, I'll be up half a pound or so the next day.

At first, the daily fluctuations drove me CRAZY so I was a weekly weigher. Now that I am comfortable with the fact that the trend is always down, the daily is working for me.

Interesting about the wine though... the last 2 times I've had some, there's been a whoosh the next day... hmm.

Perhaps the wine acts as a diuretic. I'm a beer drinker and the same happens to me from beer.