I've been dieting and exercising for about 2 weeks now. When I weigh myself everyday (I know you're only supposed to once a week, but I can't help it ), one day my weight will be 5 pounds lighter and the next day it will be 4 pounds heavier. Does this happen to anyone else??? And is this just the dreaded water weight or is my body just acting weird to diet and exercise? lol It is verrryyy aggravating b/c I'll finally start to think my dieting is working, and then I'm right back to where I started

This happens to me as well... it's normal don't worry... honestly one thing that has a big affect on this is salt consumption. Salt makes you retain water, so if you have really high salt consumption one day the next morning you could be up to five pounds heavier (cause your body retained all the extra water). then if you had normal salt consumption your body wouldn't retain the water and the next day be 4 lbs lighter...
another cause my be hydration... the more or less hydrated you are (you can monitor this by the color saturation of you pee, well hydration is noted by almost clear pee.. the darker the yellow the more dehydrated you are) this can also cause up to a 5 lb swing daily...

You can help control this by monitoring your salt/hydration levels...
But i like to just keep an eye on the moving average... just expect it and know its normal and hopefully your lows are getting lower and your highes are getting lower too!

Ok, I'll start paying more attention to those things. Thanks!

Yup it happens to me and it is frustrating!!!

Putting the scale frustrations aside I truly believe the best thing to do is take your measurements once a month and keep track of the numbers. I read in a really good book that said the waist measurement is the most important because that is where all the health problems come into play. We don't want a big middle!

I know exactly how you feel. Happens to me all the time. I hit my all-time low this weekend....151!!!! How exciting to see it two days in a row. Then all of a sudden monday morning comes around...153!! Now...I know i did not eat 7000 calories extra on sunday. Matter of fact, i was probably lucky to eat much over 1200. I had 2 hots dogs, one peice corn on the cob (half a cob that is), 3 legs of a crab and then ate out that night mexican. I had one lite chicken taco and half a basket of chips and salsa. Must have been water retention. Then I go to the gym Monday night, skip Tuesday night and my low this morning was only 152.5. I drank water like crazy yesterday and even skipped the gym to help get the water out of my sore muscles...and i don't get to see 151 this morning???? What the Heck???!!!! But yet, I always say, if my scale said it...it must be. So i keep 151 and can't wait to see it ....or lower soon!!!

So...yeah...I know how you feel. I'm sure we all go thru this. But as long as my low gets lower and my high weight for the day keeps getting lower, i must be doing something right!!

I weigh myself everyday also. I only count my Wednesday weigh in at TOPS. I don't let it get me down or up when the weight changes daily. All that counts is that once a week weigh in goes in the right direction. If it bothers you stop weighing everyday. Otherwise, except it and go on with your exercise and eating healthy. It will come off.

Ugh, that is very frustrating! Happens all the time. I am guilty of weighing every day, too...but only officially on wednesday. But still, seeing the numbers dip low is exciting...but discouraging when they pop right back up. It's annoying, but normal. Just remember that small things can affect it, and all you can do is roll with it and remember it's all going in the right direction in the long run.

alleneaglechic, have you not lost any weight in two weeks? For example, do you weigh the same now as when you started?

Jay

No, at my lowest from the last two weeks I had lost 10 pounds but with all the water weight, etc. it's like I have only lost 5 pounds (I've been doing the same exercise and eating the same things pretty much). But now I know it has to do with salt consumption and hydration (even though right now I'm drinking ten 8 oz. glasses of water a day, which is over the recommendation). I guess I'm just over-reacting because my weight has been yo-yoing recently, lol.

Oh yes, it happens to everyone. Happens to me all the time. I used to weigh myself everyday until recently. It was because of an article that I read in this very forum. It's a sticky on top. Why Body Weight Fluctuates Here's the link http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115826

After reading that, it all made more sense to me and I've put less emphasis on the scale and have been focusing more on inches and how my clothes fit.

Wow! I had no idea about half of those. I just recently went from exercising about an hour a day to almost 2.5 hours a day, so that probably explains the sudden weight gain. Thanks so much!

Wild isn't it? No, thank the poster, ennay! Certainly changed my world!

Haha yes. Well at least it's WATER weight and not FAT weight.

I see the same thing.. I definitely think it has to do with salt/water, being sore, and how late you eat the night before. I eat dinner really early the night before weigh-in's.. lol.

Hey! Whether you lost 5 pounds in two weeks or 10 pounds in two weeks, that's a really good rate of weight loss! It probably will not go that fast in the future, and that's OK too.

Don't drive yourself nuts over scale fluctuations. If you have to, lock the durn scale up except for once a week.

Jay