Daily ups and downs

[Daves_Not_Here]

I was curious about daily weight fluctuations - although I've been losing weight pretty steadily, it bugs me when I step on the scale and my weight has shot up from the previous day.  Here's my trend over the last 10 weeks (I've calibrated the Predicted curve - will discuss next week):

So I went ahead and plotted my weight fluctuations from day to day:

What this shows is that even though I am pretty aggressive in my weight loss, I have a lot of days where I "gain" weight from the previous day -- I seem to be operating in about an 8 pound window -- on any given day, I can be up or down 4 pounds from the previous day.

Then I looked at how often I gain versus lose, and it shows that even though I am losing weight, nearly half of my daily weigh-ins will show a gain or no change from the previous day.

(The reason I like to weigh daily is that if I were to weigh weekly or monthly and saw a gain, I wouldn't know where I was in my 8 pound window.)

So anyway, the moral to the story is:  Don't sweat the day-to-day fluctuations! 

[Dominique]

These are interesting charts, @Daves_Not_Here!

The magnitude of the fluctuations is probably affected by the fact you’re agressively restricting calories. For someone eating at maintenance, or at a much lower deficit, the fluctuations would be likely smaller.

The other things that come to mind is daily variations in intake of carbohydrates and alcohol, as both have an impact on water retention. Are you able to spot a link between them and daily weight fluctuations? I would assume weight would shoot up after a higher than usual intake of either carbs or booze.

I had a look at my weight for the past 4 weeks and the biggest daily fluctuation during that time was 1.0 kg (2.2 kg):

I’ve been eating at a deficit, but only lost 1 kg (2.2 lb) in a month time, so the deficit is much smaller. My carb intake is relatively constant and I didn’t consume any alcohol during the past month.

[Baltoscott]

@Daves_Not_Here - Fairly large fluctuations ... could it be that you are restricting carbs for most of the week (tends to deplete water at the cellular level) and then carb loading for your bike rides over the weekend, as well as more calories/bulk on some days?

My daily variations are lot smaller right now -- 2 lb change is about the max, but usually closer to 0.5 or so.  But my macros and daily calories are fairly consistent from day to day.

[Daves_Not_Here]

@Baltoscott -- yes, I agree about the carbs and adding water weight, although lately I'm experimenting to see if can "keto-adapt" to exercise while burning fat instead of carbs.  I like the idea of being "bonk-proof".  Don't laugh, this guy did it.  OK, you can laugh, my recent efforts have been really puny (but improving!).

Also, I'm still pretty heavy, so I feel like I'll have larger swings than someone who is lean.

Finally, it turns out if you go to a cocktail party, eat all the appetizers, and the dinner, and drink excessively, your weight will tend to spike.  Not that I have any direct experience with that, I'm just speaking hypothetically.

[Daves_Not_Here]

---

@Dominique wrote:

The other things that come to mind is daily variations in intake of carbohydrates and alcohol, as both have an impact on water retention. Are you able to spot a link between them and daily weight fluctuations? I would assume weight would shoot up after a higher than usual intake of either carbs or booze.

 .

---

@Dominique -- Well, uh, hmm, actually ... yes.  I did go to a party, and I recall that booze and carbs were there.