Okay, so for the last couple days the scale has been left out in the bathroom (usually it is hidden from my view so I am not tempted to jump on it every day.) However, I just wanted to see what kinds of different readings it would give over a 3 days period. I am stunned. My readings were as follows:

152.8--- Monday
150.6--- Tuesday
153.8--- Wednesday

Of course my weigh in day is Wednesday :-P The thing is- this week has been phenomenal. I worked out on wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, 2x on monday and 2x on tuesday... and, I stayed OP even though I had two dinner events to attend over the weekend. This is also the first week after my TOM and would have expected to lose some water weight. But, 153.8 is only a 1 lbs loss from last week... and is the same amount of loss I have had every week.
Shouldn't my extra working out have caused me to lose at least a little more? Are one of the other readings accurate?
How do I know what to count as my loss? Do I really just count the 153.8?
Are these readings really the fluctuations that happen on a daily basis? Or do I just have a crappy scale?

sounds like my scale! i weigh myself all the time (i know it's bad, i'm trying to quit ) and it fluctuates like that everday! As far as the working out goes, you could have gained muscle (take measurements of your body) and I also gain or hold onto weight the day after an intense day at the gym. whether it's my muscles holding on to water or what, I dont know. And, my body seems to have a delayed reaction, if i eat well and workout for several days in a row, it usually takes 3 days or so for the results to show on the scale or my body! Dont stop!

LittleMoon

Prepare for long stuff:

#1 - "Only 1 lb"... Only 1 lb?! Hun, you've lost an entire pound! If it's the same amount of weight you've lost every week then that's actually fantastic! It's the weight your body wishes to lose each week, so let it do that.

#2 - Those look like pretty normal fluctuations on the scale. People often weight several pounds different from one day to another. For various reasons.

#3 - Weight loss is not based on "I did x amount of exercise, so I'll lose x amount of weight." It's not linear. It's not always logical. Sometimes that extra exercise won't show a dent for a few weeks.

#4 - Wednesday is your weigh in day. Count the reading for Wednesday.

#5 - Seems like you might want to put the scale out of sight again.

Faerie, lol, I agree, the scale has got to be hidden. I know I shouldn't jusdge my progress by the scale alone... and I don't. I mean- my pants are looser, my stomach feels flatter, my thighs look smaller... but it's always that psychological battle of "numerical progress." Also, I know that I should be happy with a pound, because a loss is a loss. I have to keep telling myself that. I went to my husband all sad this morning and he was like "don't let this get you down. I am so proud of you. Just keep it up." So I know I just have to take it as it comes and keep going.

Were you weighing at the same time of day each one of those days, and were you weighing under the same circumstances (Ie: naked, after you've used the bathroom, in the morning before you've had anything to eat or drink, etc)?

Fluctuations on a day-to-day basis are pretty normal, from my experience. I try not to dwell too heavily on them for that reason

Azure- yeah they were all at the same time, in the same spot, with no clothes on, after morning potty. It's the best way to weigh- that way I can't make excuses about clothing and such things.

The answer to your question is - neither! There is nothing wrong with you, nor is there anything wrong with your scale. Your body is simply fluctuating around, which is what bodies do.

That is why people often opt to just have a weekly number "count"...you want to look at overall trends, not the day-to-day, or you'll drive yourself bonkers!

I always weigh once a week, at roughly the same time, in the same place, under as consistent conditions as possible (in the morning before I eat or drink anything, and if I can dump my guts beforehand and thus shed a few extra oz so much the better), wearing just the minimum of clothing (pajama top and sometimes briefs: I prefer some coverage since I have to carry the scale into another room). Weighing at different times of day or on different scales is going to get you a different result. Like mandalinn says, think downward trend: the only scale that's going to give you a definitive weight is the big one @ the Bureau of Weights and Measures . If it's a digital scale, sometimes the result will fluctuate a couple of tenths even as you're standing on it.