Can my weight naturally vary this much?

[Fletch456]

A few weeks ago I started to change what I eat and paying attention to what I weight cos I want to lose a little.

Am now in the routine of weighing myself on a weekend:
first weekend it was - 14st 12
after that 14st 7
and then last weekend 14st 10.

You naturally fluctuate but what is a normal variance?

I think the scales could be at fault so going to test them with some weights next.

 

[Dan B]

Are you weighing yourself at the same time each day? My weight has been up and down by anything up to 2kg over the past week: I attribute that mostly to hydration levels and recent food intake

 

[Fletch456]

No but a good point Dan. I will do.

 

[JonnyBlade]

Grapes are good for you but remember, if you eat 2 llbs of grapes you will weigh 2 llbs heavier until your body uses it. You weigh less in the morning than you do in the evening. Hydration plays a big, big part. once or twice a week is cool. You'll not get the ups and downs if you weigh fewer times but on a regular basis. The trick is to chill

 

[Jim_Noir]

Don't listen to weight... it's losing fat you want... as you lose fat you'll build muscle... muscle weights more so weight can go up but you'll go down a dress size... ditch the scales and do what makes you feel good.

 

[JonnyBlade]

Don't listen to weight... it's losing fat you want... as you lose fat you'll build muscle... muscle weights more so weight can go up but you'll go down a dress size... ditch the scales and do what makes you feel good.

Good point

 

[slowmotion]

A litre of wee weighs 2.2 pounds. I don't know what the contents of your bladder might be, but I estimate I could have at least a litre and a half "in the tank" before noticing much difference. Also, you probably lose a fair bit of water vapour overnight just from respiration.

Just guessing.

 

[Bayerd]

A litre of wee weighs 2.2 pounds. I don't know what the contents of your bladder might be, but I estimate I could have at least a litre and a half "in the tank" before noticing much difference. Also, you probably lose a fair bit of water vapour overnight just from respiration.

Just guessing.

Blimey, that's a big bladder you've got there, mine typically holds about a pint.

In reply to the op, my weight can fluctuate by as much as 5 pounds over the course of a week. Over the last 9 months I've gained about 3/4 of a stone, must be muscle going onto my legs, my trousers aren't any tighter around the waist. I do still weigh myself, but paid more attention when I was more overweight than now. I know that providing I get about 50 bike miles a week in, I'll not gain any fat.

 

[yello]

In my experience, yes, your weight can vary that much. I weigh myself every morning because I like to see the variations. Like Dan, I see around a 2kg range.

It's not about weight loss for me, it's about seeing how my weight varies and how it responds to food and exercise. I tend to hover around 73kg but, one day, I can be 74kg and the next 72.5. If I ride (and ignore post ride munchies!) I can easily go under 72kg. Hydration, as mentioned before, plays a huge part.

I think the advice about not weighing yourself each day is tosh (to be frank!)... SO LONG AS you realise that your weight does ping around and don't get demoralised because it's up a bit on the previous day. I personally think it's interesting to observe, and possibly a useful micro-management tool!

 

[screenman]

How much heavier is a kilo of muscle compared with a kilo of fat? As a cyclist we may build muscle on legs whilst becoming leaner up top. If your weight is not going down then you are eating more calories than you are using. There can be variations in time of day weighing I find first thing in the morning after going to the loo is the most reliable for me. It would take a long time doing cycling alone to gain much of a difference in weight due to muscle gain, you need to be super lean and eating exactly the same amount of calories as you burn.

 

[Dayvo]

How much heavier is a kilo of muscle compared with a kilo of fat?

Surely a kilo of fat weighs exactly the same as a kilo of muscle!

I'd say that if you're weight fluctuates a fair amount over a period of a few days/a week, then you're probably not eating a balanced diet: by that, I mean eating more, calorie wise, on some days and less on others. Also coupled with the amount of exercise, or nor not, you do over the same period.

Re-assess your diet and eliminate the unhealthy foods, with sugar, hidden in many products, being the biggest culprit.

 

[Jim_Noir]

A kilo is a kilo, it's the volume they take up

 

[darkstar]

Nothing wrong with weight fluctuations of that size, a number of things outlined in this thread can be accountable. I rarely weigh myself, focus more on body fat percentage, how I feel and look.

 

[screenman]

I know I just wondered if other people did, it was the point about the muscle build overtaking the weight loss bit that is extremely unlikely to happen for the reasons I mentioned.

Weighing at different times of the day will show variations of quite large amounts in somebody the size of the OP, not so much so in a very light person as the % will weigh less. So 200lb person gaining 5% well you know the rest.

 

[Dayvo]

This may of interest to you:

http://www.articleflame.com/Art/1561/90/Muscle-Mass-VS-Muscle-Tone.html

Basically if you want to lose fat and not gain weight/bulk-up with muscle, you'll need to do a lot of cardio-vascular work; swimming, skipping, interval training etc.

But whatever you do is useless unless you have a sensible diet that you can keep to.