So I weighed myself yesterday and was happy to see 211 -- had a decent day food-wise, exercised (30 min on a recumbent bike, 30ish min doing machines to remind these muscles of mine that they actually exist). I had one drink last night (one of the little kahlua pre-packaged liquid mudslides, not a big or heavy drink at all)...drank plenty of water during the day.

This morning I weighed myself and it's showing 214!

I'm hoping it's maybe just water or something, but ouch. Anyone else have 3-lb fluctuations from day to day? Is this normal, or did I manage somehow to actually pack on 3 lbs for no reason?

That's why they tell us not to weigh everyday! You're not going to gain 3 pounds unless you ate five chocolate cakes. It could be water, could be time of the month, could be what you were wearing. I always weigh less in the morning than in the evening. Put away those scales and only get them out once a week! Otherwise you're just torturing yourself, RY.

I've been known to have 3 pound fluctuations in the SAME day. Don't worry about it! Just keep doing the things that lead to success, and you should keep losing in the long run. And the long run is what's important, right?

You should not weigh yourself every day, and you DEFINITELY should not weigh yourself more than once in a day.
Just think of it this way-if you weigh yourself in the morning, and you weigh 150 pounds, then drink a 16oz. coffee from Starbucks and have a bowl of oatmeal-then weigh in AGAIN you are most likely going to be 2-3 pounds heavier. Your body burns calories throughout every 24 hour period, and when you take in food your body is going to weigh that extra bit until you burn some of it off, and your body excretes some of it, if you catch my drift.
If you weigh in first thing in the morning in your underwear, and then weigh in an hour later fully dressed, you are going to be a pound or two heavier from your clothing.
Your weight fluctuates constantly from your clothing, how much food is going through your digestive tract at the current moment, and things such as hormones during PMS, whether you have jus gulped a bottle of water, and if you are retaining more water yesterday than you are today, due to a higher sodium meal.
If you are wanting to guage your progress, weigh in once a week. Try to weigh in at the same time of the day-first thing in the morning, or right before bed-and try to weigh in similar clothing. (or none!) This will give the most accurate results.

Thanks everyone -- I know that your weight will be different over short periods of time for the reasons you mentioned, but I was wondering more along the lines of that big a change over 24 hours (i.e. weighed at the same time wearing the same things). From the "don't do that!" responses, my guess is yes, and to just pick a day each week to weigh...

I managed to have a six pound fluctuation in one day. Fun!

I do weight myself everyday, sometimes twice a day. But I have convinced myself that it's ok to not freak out over the daily variations. I take my Friday morning weigh in as my "real" weight for the week.

If you want to see how graphs of daily verses weekly weigh ins look, at least for me, you can see them at My Charts.

I used to be a slave to the scale and fluctuations drove me crazy but, luckily, never derailed me. I knew I couldn't keep that up so I decided to weigh myself once every day (same time, same clothes, etc.). After about two months I could see very definate patterns emerging. Personally, I found doing this very helpful in taking the emotion out of weighing. Nothing about the scale bothers me anymore. As long as I have eaten and exercised as I KNOW (gotta be honest with myself!) I should then the scale never holds any surprises. Even if it doesn't budge one week I know that it is likely to make up the difference in the following week - because I have my daily chart that shows that is how it works for me. I have also compared my daily weight with my fitday journal and found which foods are likely to skew my weekly weigh ins if I have them a day or two before I step on the scale.

So, if you can detach yourself from the number for a length of time, you may actually find it beneficial to weigh daily instead of weekly for a while. If nothing else it is interesting to see how your body responds to the variables of your plan.

But, if you know a fluctuation is going to bother you, by all means, don't weigh yourself more than once a week.

I guess I made it sound like I run to the scale all the time, but I don't think what I'm doing is a problem for me. I am aware of why scale numbers fluctuate (this group has been very helpful with my education in that regard). Like Jawsmom and Tealeaf, I am looking for information sometimes about fluctuations so that they DON"T have a hold on me. Some days I find I am the same at night and in the morning... sometimes even lighter at night! (don't know why yet.) Sometimes I like to get on the scale to really assure myself that I don't still weigh 295 -- even at night, or in shoes, or whatever! Many days I don't weigh myself at all. Once a week I record it and that's the number I use.

I think that if we do let those little numbers on the scale rule us, that can be a problem, but I have read here that people vary wrt the frequency with which they weigh themselves. Like many aspects of weightloss, what works for one may not work for another.

As long as I know it's a pretty normal thing, it doesn't bother me. I was just concerned that it wasn't.

I am a scale addict. My aunt and cousin keep telling me not to look every day but I can't help it, and I get upset if I gain like three pounds. How do I resist the temptation to NOT look at the scale? And hey, does anyone know any good, accurate scales that don't cost too much? Ours is old and I am not sure how much I weigh, round 113 though...I just looked at the scale and I am back to 115

I, too, am a scale addict. However, the difference is that I don't pay much attention to the numbers unless it is Thursday (my official weigh-in day for the week), so I don't get bothered by the normal day-to-day fluctuations. If seeing a fluctuation bothers you, then you absolutely should not weigh every day. To avoid weighing, put your scale in a cabinet or on a high shelf somewhere in your house (I have even heard of one woman who kept it in her car trunk!) so that you have to make a lot of effort to get the scale out to weigh yourself--it's not so easy and convenient if it's not just sitting there waiting for you!

As for an accurate scale, any scale should be accurate unless it's actually broken (in which case, get thee to a Wal-Mart! I got mine for about $30, and it's digital and weighs to the 1/2 pound). Almost all scales will have variation (I weigh 3 pounds less on the scale at TOPS than I do on my scale at home), but even if 2 scales are 100 pounds apart from each other, they will be an accurate guage of how much you are gaining/losing (losing 5 pounds will show up on all scales respectively). Because of this you should try 2 things: number one, stick to just one scale if you can--it's much less frustrating!--and number two, don't judge your body by the number on the scale. Lose until you are happy with your health, size, and fitness. If you're exercising and eating properly, you may actually look better at 130 even if your goal weight was 120 because you're in such great SHAPE, ya know? Don't let the scale rule your life!

I to was bummed out on Saturday because of 0 loss.
I don't like scales and think that doing it once a month would be better.