Where does the weight come from?

[stacy_19201325]

deleted this post

[emili · Accepted solution]

those types of fluctuations are usually attributed to water because of sodium or not productive elimination. try reducing your sodium a bit over the next few days, increasing your water and fiber and see if things improve..

[Dominique]

In addition to what @emili said, as a woman (not that I would be one with my own experience about it!), your hormonal cycle probably plays a role.

[SpiffyGirl]

My weight fluctuates daily as well, so to save driving myself nuts and obsessing over it I weigh only once a week. 

[Dominique]

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@stacy_19201325 wrote:

Is my scale just junk?

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Maybe not, but you may want to consider the Fitbit Aria, which integrates nicely in the Fitbit "ecosystem" (automatically uploads its data to your Fitbit account). It also adds an extra metrics: body fat %. The method used for estimating body fat has its limitations, but I’ve found it useful regardless.

One way to even out daily fluctuations is to use TrendWeight. You can find more information about it in this other topic, as well as in this one.

[Stinkyfish97]

I agree with those posts above me. Much of it is likely due to sodium. If you have not worked out but continued to eat like you normally eat, you are not sweating out as much sodium. More sodium means therefore you may be retaining more water. 

Have you changed anything in your diet? Certain foods take longer to break down. Red Meat for instance can take 3 days to pass through your system, whereas fuits and vegetables can take as little as 12 hours. Small changes can make the difference. Just because you ate the same amount of calories does not neccesarily mean they all break down the same way. Certain foods take longer and shorter than others. So if your diet consisted of the same amount of calories but you had eaten say red meat 3-4 days in a row, you may have some undigested food still in you. 

You can never rule out other health issues however. My wife has an auto-immune disorder and her body swells up and retains water when her disorder starts coming on. Its very painful for her. 

Stress is another factor in weight gain. When we are stressed our bodies do not work as efficiently, especially processing and digesting waste. Do you have a greater amount of stress this past week? 

[JohnRi]

Hi Stacy,

First of all looking at daily weight numbers will drive you nuts.  You best bet is to look at weekly averages.  So weight your self everyday, same time.  And see what your average is at on Saturday.  My weight can change 2 or 3 lbs in a day or two.  Even on the same day.  Sunday I was like 227 when I left the house, I went and walked 3 miles first thing in the morning, and I was curious since I hadn't drank any water, I was now 225.  As soon as I started drinking and eating, the next day I was 227 again. 

Water % on a scale.  Interesting.  I have a Aria which does fat %.  Water % that's interesting.

But I'm going to throw this out there, just because you are a woman, but I know women's weight can fluctuate based on their cycle. 

So water gain, when the last time you went to the bathroom, and your cycle will all cause your weight to fluctuate.  I myself have seen my weight go up a few lbs, then lose them over a day.  I was 228 two days ago, I'm 226 today. 

I've also got to tell you losing 10 lbs or less is hard.  Not imposible, but hard.  As long as you eat 250 fewer calories than you burn, eventually you should lose it.

So don't get discouraged, just keep at it.

[stacy_19201325]

I've never really tracked calories, but I might start doing so, just to see if it gets me anywhere.

Mostly, I've just entered a day's worth here and there, out of curiosity, and have seen that it generally falls somewhere between 1200-1700/day.  Which roughly corresponds to my calorie burn before I started making an effort to exercise. 

Pre-age 30, I consistently weighed between 115-120 (most often 118) since high school.  Then I turned 30 and broke my femur (with complications that lasted 2 years, I've just had a second corrective surgery).  Decreased activity levels and age saw my weight creep up to 125-126.  In and of itself, that's not a big deal, I'm not even close to overweight, but still, 2.5 pounds a year, I can't help but think, is that going to be 145 by the time I'm 40?  How about 50?  Ya know? 

My calorie burn over the last year where I've been pretty inactive has been approx 1400-1600/day.  Most of the time in the mid 1500's.  I'm just astounded at the people who can burn 4000 calories in a day!  I got 30k steps last week by going on an 11-mile hike, and only burned 2200 calories!

Since my eating habits have never changed, I figured just making sure I burned at least 1800 calories a day, about 200 more than my "high average" during my time of not-very-active, I'd start to see a little weight loss.  I know there is absolutely no way I'm going to track calories forever, it's just too time consuming, and a little bit creepy since I don't have a weight problem or health condition that warrants it.  But maybe I'll make an effort for a couple of months and see what happens.  If I can make it to my goal of 120, I'll just try to keep my food and activity levels consistent going forward.

[Xakka]

Ydaily fluctuations can be crazy, especially after a hard workout with alot of sore recovering muscles, i tried rock climbing for the first time in months as a 278 lb person, while recovering for the next 2-3 days i was weighing in at about 283 -284! 4th day i am starting to go back to normal as everything recovers but it was unplesant to see the day after. weekly average right now is 0 change and expecting it to go down into the week with full recovery and rest.

[SunsetRunner]

I weigh myself first thing in the morning after getting up and going to the toilet wearing nothing to try and make each weighing details as same as possible

going and not going to the toilet can make a difference, same as weighing before and after eating breakfast

[JohnRi]

It's been my experience that people underestimate how many calories they eat in a day.  When I first started trying to get into shape in October 2015, I was making smarter food choices, but I really had no idea how much I was eating.  Yes I had dropped my diet from 3000 calorie range, and was guessing I was in the 2200-2500 range.  I did lose a 6 lbs in October, and was walking 1/4 to 3/4 of a mile every other day.  Yeah it was all I could do back then.

Then I got my Firbit Surge in November, and found out my guesses was pretty wrong.  I was closer to 2500 to 2800.  I started logging everything, and increase my exercise to about a mile, and dropped 10 lbs in November. 

It doesn't take much to be 300 calories wrong in your estimate of how much you eat.

I'll also throw out metabolism.  What one can eat and stay in shape at 20 is different at 30, or 40, or 50.  The older we get if we do not increase our activity level, we burn fewer and fewer calories.  Maintaining the same healthy diet from being 20 at 30 will put on weight.  It's why so many people gain weight, they have a habit to eating a certain range of food, and as we get older, we start to gain.

4000 calories burned in a day sound like a lot.  But it really depends on your gender, height, and weight.  I used to burn 4000 calories by walking 10,000 steps in a day.  Now I have to walk 20,000 steps to get that kind of burn.  And that's after losing 55 lbs. I still have 43 to go.  It's getting harder and harder to lose weight, and I expect to get even harder. 

So keep at it, log your food, and just remember to lose weight one either has to eat less, exercise more, or both. 

[Marcy]

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@stacy_19201325 wrote:

Decreased activity levels and age saw my weight creep up to 125-126.  In and of itself, that's not a big deal, I'm not even close to overweight, but still, 2.5 pounds a year, I can't help but think, is that going to be 145 by the time I'm 40?  How about 50?  Ya know? 

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If you're an American, you will likely reach 145 by 40, statistically speaking. 😞

[philly78]

Weighing yourself every day will make you nuts! Although I must admit, I do the same. Haha! I am more concerned with tracking my body fat percentage though. Anyway, my weight continually fluctuates +/- 5lbs or so but my body fat percentage has steadily decreased. Another thing that I have done, which you may consider doing, is measuring yourself with a tape measure to track your progress with exercising and eating healthy. If I went by just my weight, I would have gotten discouraged too!

In regards to calories burned, there are different factors that determine how much you are going to burn so it is difficult to compare yourself to others. My husband and I will do the same workout and even if I work out at harder intensity, he burns more calories than me. But he's also almost double my size and has more muscle mass. What kind of exercises are you doing, if any? Maybe try lifting weights. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you are going to burn.

[SunsetRunner]

I log everything on mfp and check it is correct if you can say that compared to the packaging, although it is not 100% accurate I am eating less

I.e. Say to maintain my weight I need to eat 2500, thus to lose 2lbs, eat 1500, this is before exercise, I am eating just below that 1500, so with the exercise I am way below and some mornings I am the same weight or have gained

But as others have said, more than likely water, at least I hope it is and not my body think holy crap and starting to burn less calories

Take yesterday, goal 1550, food 1489, exercise 1031, remaining 1102, but I gained 1.6lbs when I weighed myself this morning, but I did drink 1litre of water in the evening

Some will say I am eating far too little, but I am listening to my stomach, I am full, and not eating just to hit the calorie intake

Regardless if I did 10k steps or 30k, around 1500 calories is all I need to keep my stomach happy throughout the day, some days I will eat a little more, but that is once in a while and not the norm, probably the days when I eat crap and not filling foods

[JohnRi]

@SunsetRunner I would agree with those that say you are not eating enough.  Even at 5'7" 1500 is not enough calories.  I"m 5 inches taller than you, and I eat around 1800 calories.  My BMR is now 2008 and dropping... 

All I can say eating too few calories does odd things to the body.

My wife has always been very active working on our property.  15000-20000 steps a day.  She had a nasty habit of eating 800-900 calores in one meal a day.  She never lost any weight, in fact she gained weight.

I've got her eating 1500-1800 calories a day now, 3 meals a day, and she's lost 26 lbs. 

I don't know if you have aria, but at 1500 calories, I would bet your fat % is going up, and your lean body mass is going down.  That's just a guess.  At 1800 I'm still losing fat and I've actually gained or maintained my lean body mass.

[SunsetRunner]

That's the thing, I don't feel hungry at the end of the day and I am losing weight, belly is getting smaller etc

You'd also think that I would be tired, no strength/weak throughout the day etc, due to lack of calories but I am fine

Only issue I have is staying asleep, but I've had that a while now, I put that down to my epilepsy meds

I don't have an Aria, but I have a Salter scale

Latest numbers

204.4lbs
Water 47.2%
36.3 3 circles?

31 bmi/32bmi depending where you check

bmr 1939

No idea what the 3 circles mean, the box and manuals are long gone

but according to mfp, to maintain weight and being sedentary, I need to eat 2280...

[wcl1951]

defo not enough

already eating at a deficit, with the exercise, even more of a defict

[JohnRi]

Ok here is the issue. According to you scale the three circles is your body fat %. And it's very high!

I currently have a BMI of 30. Which is the bottom of the obese range. My body fat % is 28-29%. 30% is the bottom of the obese range. So they match pretty well for me.

Your BMI at 31, indicates you are near the bottom of the obese BMI, BUT you fat % is 36.3 %. That's pretty **ahem** high for your weight. My guess is by eating so little your body is eating your muscles and storing fat. Your loosing weight but you are starving. You may not be hungry but your losing muscle mass. And the more muscle you lose the fewer calories you burn, the more fat you retain.

My suggestion increase your protein and diet 300 calories and exercise more. My guess is if you continue the way you are you will ended up with very little muscle and lots of fat. I haven't had a fat % that high since I was 35 lbs heavier than I am now.

You should be around 143 lbs of lean muscle mass. And 61 lbs of fat. You are 130 lbs of lean muscle mass and 74 lbs of fat.

You are eating too little.

You can try keeping your current diet but I bet that 3 circles, i.e. your fat %, goes up instead of going down...

[SunsetRunner]

so your saying

take yesterdays numbers

goal 1550

food 1480

exercise 1031

that is with a setting to lose 2lbs per week on mfp

eat those 1031 pounds or however much I earn by exercising?

I already eat stuff with extra protein

the thing is, I've lost about 6 inches on the stomach, face is less chubby etc

but at least I know what those 3 circles are now, I'll keep an eye on it

I've changed the setting from lightly active to active, as I am doing more steps now, so the daily intake is 1920

if I end up being 250lbs, I'm blaming you 😛

[SunsetRunner]

according to

http://life.gaiam.com/article/how-calculate-your-ideal-body-fat-percentage

Men:

• 20-40 yrs old: Underfat: under 8 percent, Healthy: 8-19 percent, Overweight: 19-25 percent, Obese: over 25 percent

• 41-60 yrs old: Underfat: under 11 percent, Healthy: 11-22 percent, Overweight: 22-27 percent, Obese: over 27 percent

• 61-79 yrs old: Underfat: under 13 percent, Healthy: 13-25 percent, Overweight: 25-30 percent, Obese: over 30 percent

(1.20 x BMI) + (0.23 x Age) - 16.2 = Body Fat Percentage

1.2*31.1+0.23*38.5-16.2

so according to that 29.975%

I also just tested the scale with my parents

I think it is bust, got my parents to step on it, wouldn't calculate their bfp, just their weight, it is old though

using the above formulae, does the BFP match what your scales say?