How/why does the time of day you weigh in make a difference. I had to weigh in two days later than normal and in the evening. OK, so I stayed the same but at least I did not gain. My leader said that you weigh more in the evenings and also that I was weighing later than my normal day and that I had most probably lost. How does this work out - can any one help or has experienced the same thing.
HI! I joined Weight Watchers a couple of weeks ago, and in the small town where I live we only have one day of meetings, one at 9:30 AM and one at 5:30 PM. The leader knows I teach and she made a specific point of telling me that if I wanted to switch to the morning meetings in the summer I would need to realize that I might have a "false loss" as most people generally weigh more in the mornings. For myself, (I have a kidney problem that prompts quite a bit of water retention later in the afternoon and evenings) I can easily weigh 5-7 pounds more at night than in the morning after I have been asleep and the fluid drains off. I can see her point where it might look like I had a large loss for one week, when actually it is more the time of day.
I gain about 2 pounds from before dinner to after dinner. I attribute it to the weight of the food and fluid. ("a pint (of water) is a pound, the world around") I figure if you always weigh at the same time of day considering meals, then you are getting the correct relative weight status. The couple of times that I had weigh in before dinner I showed a lovely "loss", but the next week (back to the normal after-dinner weigh in) that loss was not maintained. The same thing happened one week when I had a big lunch and a very light dinner. Great loss, but not a real one.
So just stick to the same time of day in relation to meals eaten for weigh in and you'll get the right picture.
I'm addicted to my scale. So in order to stay on track, I've tossed it in the scary basement.
I weigh once a week and that is it! Same day, same time.
I've learned that when I'm at my house and weigh on my scale,then hop right in the car and go to my mom's and get on her scale...I've somehow gained 4 lbs.
My advice...pick one time and stick with it...try to avoid anything in between. Use your judgement on how your clothes fit during the rest of the week!
I agree with Amy Elizabeth - try as hard as you can to weigh in at the same time and day as possible. Over time, I have found that if I weigh in mid-week, my gain/loss may not really reflect what is going on. There are lots of things that can make you gain/lose each day, and you can make yourself crazy if you track it on a daily basis. I find it doesn't motivate me.
If you know you are weighing in at a different time, just take that into account with what the result was.
Also, I try to weigh in the same *clothes* every week as well. I have done this for a couple of years, and it works really well for me. That way I have NO EXCUSES about my weights ("it must be the sweatshirt", etc.). This way, it's as close to true as I can get.
I hear you on the water weight with kidney problems. Since I am still in the middle of testing to see how functional my remaining kidney is I am still learning all this stuff. I know yesterday I had to do one of the 24 hour collection test- I drank 12-14 glasses but only put out slightly less then 8....no wonder the scales were up 3 pounds this morning! I have weighed up to 5+ pounds more at night then I do in the morning- it seems the only time my kidney really produces is at night- 24 hour test showed me that too. Sounds like you are in the same boat as me.
Do you have any other suggestions on dieting with kidney problems? Like I said, I am new to all of this. So far I have been told to advoid artificial sweetners except Splenda, watch my daily protein amount (keep under 60 grams), spread the protein out- basically eat small, well balanced meals. The sweetner one is tough since I am allergic to corn/corn sweetners- I went shopping today and about broke down and cired when I realized there are very few yogurts I can have now- pudding was the same- I can find a few without corn or carmel food coloring (also a derivetive of corn). They also told me to start getting more calories from fat then I have been- that is another tough one for me. I have a 2 month weight until I see the nephrologist- unless somethign funny comes back on the latest test.
When I used to attend evening meetings, I always weighed 3 to 4 pounds heavier than my morning weight because I had eaten 3 meals before the 7:30 p.m. weigh-in. Now I attend morning meetings and the difference is only about 1 pound (for clothing). I always try to wear the same clothing. But now the clothing I started with is too big (hooray) so now I am trying to find something that weighs about the same.
but at least I did not gain. My leader said that you weigh more in the evenings and also that I was weighing later than my normal day and that I had most probably lost. How does this work out - can any one help or has experienced the same thing. 
