Bodyfat increase overnight

[JamesAHolden]

Hi all,

I've been measuring myself most mornings for the past year or so and I've been getting bodyfat percentages of around 15%, occasionally spiking in to 16% range.  Its been consistent, and I think relatively accurate.

I stepped on the scale this morning and got 25%,  which I don't think is correct.

I've taken the batteries out and weighed myself five times.  I've changed lean mode on and off.  I've even changed my sex to female and back again. Nothing seems to budge it.

Has anyone else had this happen.  It's a bit disheartening to lose 5kg of lean mass overnight, I've worked so hard to get that muscle 😆

[JohnnyRow]

This is probably not enough to make the difference you saw, but it is important to weight at same time every day, usually in the morning before eating or drinking.  Water balance has a big influence on how it measures body fat %, so morning is usually time when water balance is most consistent.  Also it would make sense for body fat % to go up overnight, though not that much.  You lose some fluid overnight from breathing and peeing.  And the scale would interpret water loss as muscle loss.

[JamesAHolden]

Thanks Johnny,

Yeah I I been measuring as soon as I get up for the past few years, almost daily.  The scales have done a pretty good job of keeping track of my bodyfat during both bulking and cutting phases.  

I did nothing different this morning.  My diet hasnt really changed, went to the gym lasnight but that hasn't normally had an effect before.

As I said, it's just a bit disappointing.  I know my body hasn't changed overnight, I can still lift the same weights in the gym.  My clothes still fit the same.  It's just been nice to have a reliable way to track my progress up until now.

[Elipsis99]

I have a variation of this problem, which is that since switching from the Aria to the Aria Air my body weight is reported as varying by as much as 5lb every day, but my body fat is reported as 16.3 every day regardless. Both of these data are all but impossible, and  completely inconsistent with the readings I was getting on the Aria.

[JohnnyRow]

@Elipsis99   Aria Air does not measure body fat %.  Perhaps you are confusing this with BMI (body mass index), a totally different measurement based on height and weight only.

[Elipsis99]

Ah ok. Well the Fitbit app has decided that whatever the Aria Air is passing to it is %fat, so I guess I can ignore that figure. It's definitely not by BMI, which is more like 24, so perhaps 16.3 is my investment return, or my chance of winning the lottery. 

[JohnnyRow]

I couldn't guess what it is without seeing exactly where you are reading that number.