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Weigh-In vs Drinking lots of Water?

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I decided to up my water intake since starting to track food, track exercise and track cups-o-water each day.  Some days I record 6 cups. That's equal to three16oz commercial bottles of water. Some days only 2 or 3 cups.  Have you found on the days you are very hydrated, or some times a little dehydrated - that when you step on the scale this lack of water or if your body is very hydrated, that you see the scale showing a weight gain -- or loss?  I eat 1,200 cal/day give or take depending on my exercising.  But if I drink a lot of water, it seems I gain a little.  It also affects my body fat % on my Aria Scale.  Your thoughts?

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Your hydration level definitely has an impact on weight, and even more so on body fat % as estimated by scales that rely on bioelectrical impedance. In order to mitigate that impact, you should weigh in the same conditions, i.e. first thing in the morning, after trip to the bathroom. This is when you will be the least hydrated (unless you keep drinking water during the night). Once you’ve stabilized your water intake, you should have comparable numbers. Of course, water retention is also affected by things like the foods you ate the previous day, your hormonal cycle (for menstruating women) etc.  

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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Your hydration level definitely has an impact on weight, and even more so on body fat % as estimated by scales that rely on bioelectrical impedance. In order to mitigate that impact, you should weigh in the same conditions, i.e. first thing in the morning, after trip to the bathroom. This is when you will be the least hydrated (unless you keep drinking water during the night). Once you’ve stabilized your water intake, you should have comparable numbers. Of course, water retention is also affected by things like the foods you ate the previous day, your hormonal cycle (for menstruating women) etc.  

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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Also remember that "your weight" is really a moving average. 

Once you have a good routine of weighing in each morning / evening, you should be thinking about your weight as whatever the weekly average is of all those weigh-ins. 

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Very good point from @MrTimothyIrvine about looking at averages over time, rather than individual values. Since you have a Fitbit scale that automatically syncs to your account, I recommend linking your Fitbit account to TrendWeight (link in my signature), a free web-based service that does the averaging for you.

 

One shortcoming of Trendweight, though: it’s not optimized for mobile devices, so if you want to take full advantage of it, it’s better to use it on a computer (PC or Mac).

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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I'll check out TrendWeight; I found the FitBit built-in (and Aria-linked) trendlines to be sufficient for me for the most part. 

 

So long as my weight and body fat percentage slopes are negative, I know I am doing OK! 🙂 

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yes.. water impacts weight but it is temporary and if you drink after a night out actually helps get rid of salt which retains water. But I agree, weighing yourself first thing in the morning is the best. I actually have a little routine.. I get up, I pee, I walk the dogs, I pee again just in case, take a shower and then weigh myself. I feel like it gives things time to "settle" and I get my truest weight.

Elena | Pennsylvania

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I, personally, don't like to weigh every day (as someone who has suffered from eating disorders in the past, it can be detrimental).  I only weigh myself maybe once every two weeks.  If I "feel" bloated or if I know I haven't eaten healthy lately, I will avoid the scale so as not to make myself feel bad (because what's the point?).

 

However, when I do weigh myself, I try to always do it on a Sunday or Monday (no logic for this, just my preference), after I wake up, after I have peed, and completely naked.  

Heather | Community Council | Eastern Shore, AL
Want to discuss ways to increase your activity? Visit Get Moving in the Lifestyle Discussion Forum.
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Yes, I too weigh first thing in the morning. Up, pee, weigh, right about the same time (with-in an hour) each day.  I do long distance bicycling mostly in the mid to late afternoon, and so I tend to rehydrate with water through out the evening.  And I suppose that affects the supposed weight 'gain' when I do that.  But as others noted it is over the long term the 'trend' that matters -- and just so the numbers are going negative over time.  Thanks everyone for your input on this.

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Yeah, that water weight will inflate the numbers a bit, but just remember it's negligible in the long term, and that's what this is about: lifestyle changes that persist for all the rest of your life. 

 

Also remember: YOU CAN DO THIS. 

 

Good luck! Smiley Very Happy

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