Morning and afternoon differences, why?

  • This has happened to me a few times before today, but sometimes after rolling out of bed and taking care of things before jumping on the scale (about 5-10 mins after waking), the scale will read one way. Then...I can weigh myself a few hours later and it will be less, from 1/2 to a 1lbs less.

    When weighing myself, I always step on it 4-5 times to check for accuracy and that I'm not just stepping on the scale weird to get a lower reading.

    Is there a "swelling" that goes on in the body sometimes when you sleep that needs a few more minutes to shake off after you wake? (I don't mean having to use the facilities). Should I be waiting a minimum of "so and so" minutes after I wake to weigh?

    I'm just curious why sometimes later in the day (5-6 hours later) I weigh less than the morning. I exercise at night, so this would not be from a water loss.

    Anyone know why this is?
  • Do you *ahem* use the facilities between the two weigh ins?
  • Since you exercise at night, maybe the swelling/water retention or whatever that happens during exercise hasn't left your body yet first thing in the morning. Then when you weigh later, it has. I have no idea if this is what it is, I'm just throwing it out there as a possibility.
  • I'm completely different....I can weigh 5 - 8 lbs more at night than in the morning. I retain a LOT of water though... I usually have ankles when I wake up and cankles by lunch and then toes don't touch the floor anymore by dinner... so to have a true weight I have to weigh in the morning before the fluid builds up again.

    I guess this is where learning your body comes into play. I was just wondering the same though... what other peoples patterns are.
  • I wish I was that way, I get heavier throughout the day! Only once have I seen it go down in the evening compared to what it was in the morning, and that was because I had been running around all day and had eaten little.

    I would say it is possibly a bathroom break in between. My readings aren't as accurate anymore as I used to go number 2 in the mornings before, and due to my new gluten free diet it's usually well later on that that happens.
  • It's just one of those things. As different body processes go on (digestion, elimination, etc) your weight can fluctuate up and down. Even up to 2 lbs or more.

    So just something to take in stride if you are a daily weigher.

    A.
  • Many thanks to Anne who did this experiment several years ago.

    http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/livi...ing-scale.html

    And me? Now that I'm healthier, I wake up at my lightest, dehydrated weight first thing in the morning. At my heaviest, struggling with blood pressure and blood sugar ... it wasn't so. I'm not sayin' that I'm perfect now but there are far less mornings that I wake up with fluid on board. And I don't think my weight fluctuates any more that a pound or three all day.

    Does anyone else think that maybe "normal" fluid fluctuations might correlate to how much we weigh? Like a percentage maybe?
  • I am just like OverOverWeight - my weight goes up during the day. If I weigh myself, it is the first thing in the morning (after I peed).
    I once weighed myself several times during the day (because I was due that night for a weigh-in at the gym) and my weight went up like by 7 lbs (between 6:30 am and 8 pm).
  • Sorry I'm late in responding here, I didn't abandon ship, I forgot to subscribe to it and lost it. Found you.

    Thank you to all for responding.

    It's after I use the facilities. Low in morning, lower mid-afternoon, (around 2-4pm, even after drinking tons of water until then). . then at about 7-10pm it starts rising....I exercise anywhere in between 10-11pm, weight of the day is at it's highest at that point, then the cycle starts all over again.

    I'm glad to hear that this is normal and I'm not alone. I was starting to wonder what my "true weight" is. Before I gained, I would weigh myself every other month and just maintained weight by how my clothes fit me. I'm in new territory with my little scale obsession, learning so many new things.
  • We lose water in ways that we not be aware of including breathing & sweating. Also, 16 ounces is a pound of water.

    I'm a big coffee drinker & I can drink 20 ounces (1 pound of water) and be a pound less after a few hours. That meant I lost 2 pounds of water through elimination. Wow.

    I weigh myself at 9 am when I get in to work. I may not be my lightest then, but because I weigh myself at the same time every day, I trust the numbers.
  • This happens to me. And, the weird thing is it happens even if I DON'T pee or anything, I will lose a lb. Like yesterday I gained a lb from eating around 2600 calories, but I know that if I were to weigh in 30 min, that pound will disappear, even if I don't pee anymore. It is very strange.