I started this diet thingy on the 15th of Oct. I joined the gym and started working out 4x per week, 5 days later I started calorie counting. I eat 1700-1800 calories per day although I admit the last week I have been lucky to get in 1500-1600...
I weigh myself 2x per week but only count the Sunday WI. Well tonight my scale said I have gained 1.5lbs back!! What the heck? Seriously why do i torture myself by weighing in on Wednesday even though I dont count it. Last week I lost 1.5 lbs. Total I am down 6lbs from the 15th of October. Im okay with only losing a pound a week but not gaining it darn it.
Anyone else hate their scale?
My typcial eating is 300 cals for breakfast, 500 for lunch, 700 for dinner and 300 for snacks. I hope the Sunday WI shows some loss.
Do you think it could be because the last week i have been averaging 1500-1600 calories instead of the 1800 I stuck to at the start?
My scale goes up 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds about every week or so (not tied to a particular day). Always has, even from the beginning. It's just normal fluctuations. A single cup of water weighs half a pound.
If you weighed yourself on a given DAY multiple times, you will find that you change up to two or three pounds. I am always two pounds more at night than I am when I wake up. Where does it go over night? No clue, but that is the way it is. I also put on three pounds in water weight about 9 days out from my period and then I lose it and usually some additional weight about two days after my period starts...one time 5 pounds dropped in ONE 24 hour period. Two 8 oz. glasses of water weigh a pound. ****, a bowel movement can weigh a whole pound. Your salad from the day before weighs a pound. Starting to exercise and the new lean muscle mass you are putting on weighs more than your fat...but it takes up a third as much room...so if you work out hard, sometimes you see funny little weight gains and plateaus...but you are getting smaller -- which is really the point.
If this kind of fluctuation worries you, my suggestion is doing measurements about every other week or so. Even if the scale hasn't moved, or even went up in a given week, you WILL see results with the tape measure.
I really wouldn't take it to heart AT ALL. Water weight is an odd thing. I once went out to dinner for seafood. Ate well under my daily calories, and weighed 3.5 pounds more the very next morning. Water weight from all the sodium in my meal. It took three days to drink enough water to clear that stuff out of my system.
Schymeany- thanks! That makes me feel ALOT better! I did do my measurements when I started and decided to do it once per month and I tried on a size 14 jean last night (im a 16) and could get them on and buttoned!!! They were tight but i got them on.
Its just hard when you first start out because you want to see the scale move.. even though I told myself it only mattered what i lost in a month.. hmm convince myself of this..lol
Here's another consideration -- I can see the scale increase 2-4 pounds the day after a very long run, even if I don't eat much more than usual. You'd think if I burned off 1000 calories, I'd lose weight the next day!! But, this is due to the fact that the body is re-stocking glycogen, and water is stored in the muscles along with it. Also, when you're training hard, the muscles hold onto more water as part of the muscle fiber break down / rebuild cycle. So, intense training can also cause an apparent temporary gain, but it is water.
Also, I can easily gain SEVERAL water-pounds from an extra-salty meal. Or at that TOM. So try not to get too fixated on a single measurement, that is just a snapshot in time ... it's the long term trend that is important.
Ya, I don't sweat the small changes to much anymore although they use to stress me out. that's the great thing about keeping a journal. When I start to feel discouraged I can go back in my journal and see just how much I really have lost in the last month even though I might feel stalled.
I see the same thing MBN does - the day after a weight training day I'm up 1.5-2 pounds, if I take a couple of days off exercise I always go up a couple of pounds on the day after I start exercising again. I also really respond to the sodium in food and hold water for a couple of days. It freaked me out at first but I've learned to recognize the patterns. CDiem is right - journals are great for that, because you can note your weight and note any differences in routine that might have contributed to the change, whether up or down.
Don't worry! It will settle back out if you keep following your plan!
For your sanity's sake- weigh first thing in the morning, no clothes. I weigh in on Mondays and Thursdays, but sometimes jump on the scale just to see how much I weigh in between those days (why do we care?? haha!) and it is ALWAYS 3-5 pounds heavier at night but not consistent. The morning weight, naked, is the most consistent. You know like in science experiments in high school you'd want to keep the variables as consistent as possible? Same thing here. Weighing at the same time of day, in the morning is best because you haven't consumed varying amounts of food through out the night as you would through out the day. Weighing at night, you are allowing a lot of uncontrollable variables in there to adjust your true weight (sodium intake high? hello 3 pounds for me, all water weight!)
You'll be happier, trust me.
I started this diet thingy on the 15th of Oct. I joined the gym and started working out 4x per week, 5 days later I started calorie counting. I eat 1700-1800 calories per day although I admit the last week I have been lucky to get in 1500-1600...
I weigh myself 2x per week but only count the Sunday WI. Well tonight my scale said I have gained 1.5lbs back!! What the heck? Seriously why do i torture myself by weighing in on Wednesday even though I dont count it. Last week I lost 1.5 lbs. Total I am down 6lbs from the 15th of October. Im okay with only losing a pound a week but not gaining it darn it.
Anyone else hate their scale?
My typcial eating is 300 cals for breakfast, 500 for lunch, 700 for dinner and 300 for snacks. I hope the Sunday WI shows some loss.
Do you think it could be because the last week i have been averaging 1500-1600 calories instead of the 1800 I stuck to at the start?
just need some other scale haters..lol
Yikes, you weigh at night???
I love my scale, once a week on Friday morning, in my undies after a tinkle. It is not my friend any other day. Matter of fact, in the past it became my nemesis. It caused me to do all sorts of weird and unhealthy things before I stepped on it. I've learned a lot during my time on this earth...LOL The scale will not ruin my day. I might as well let something I can't control do that.
I really hated my scale when I was weighing everyday. Now that I've scaled back to once a week, we have a much better relationship. I just couldn't deal with the constant fluctuations.
I weighed today and have lost a total of 9lbs so it showed a loss!!
WOOOHOOOOOOO
yeah I guess I need to start weighing first thign sunday morning because its normally after that. hmm wonder if that will make a difference.. guess we shall see
I hate my scale :)
