All About Weigh-ins and Weight Fluctuations

In this article:

• Use once or twice weekly weigh-ins as your “official” current weight.
• You can weigh yourself daily for additional information and to stay on track.
• Your weight may fluctuate 5-6 lb or more within 24 hours. Daily fluctuations are largely due to changes in your body’s water content.
• Factors that may affect your body’s water content include hydration status, sodium consumption, carbohydrate consumption, alcohol consumption, medications, and stress.
• Lark can support your goals and help you stay motivated as you make progress towards your health and weight loss goals with or without GLP-1s.  

Have you ever weighed yourself and been confused by the number? It’s common for weight to fluctuate by 2, 3, or more pounds from day to day. It can be unsettling if you’re not sure why it’s happening, but it’s good to know that large ups and downs within a day or two are usually not due to changes in body fat.

Usually, rapid and large changes in weight reflect the amount of water in your body. Weight fluctuations can seem mysterious and be frustrating, but they are often explicable. If you weigh yourself often and get familiar with your body’s weight patterns, you can use these daily fluctuations as information to guide your choices to manage your weight and health.

Here are some reasons why your weight can change daily and how you can use that information to your advantage.

Fat versus Water Weight

If you’re on a weight loss journey, your goal is likely to lose fat mass. This happens when you burn off extra calories. Every 3,500 calories you burn can lead to losing 1 pound of body fat. If you consume an extra 3,500 calories, you'll gain about 1 pound of body fat.

A typical amount of weight to lose during a weight loss journey may be about 0.25 to 1 pound weekly. Some people may lose more for a period of time. This range averages out to only about 0.04-0.2 pounds per day.

More than that amount, and it’s probably due to fluids or food in your body.

Reasons Why Weight Can Change Quickly

Most rapid changes in weight are due to changes in your body’s water content or food in your stomach. Here are some reasons.

Exercising

When you exercise, you may sweat. Water is the major component of sweat. The amount that you sweat and the amount of water your body loses depends on several factors. Here are some reasons why you may sweat more.

• Hot or humid conditions
• More intense exercise, such as running compared to walking or doing intervals on a bike compared to steady cycling
• A longer duration of exercise

You can weigh yourself before and after working out to get an idea of how much water your body lost. Each pound that your weight decreases between the beginning and the end of your workout is equivalent to 16 ounces of water, or 2 8-ounce cups.

Some people may lose 3-4 lb from sweating heavily during a long, hard workout in the summer. That’s water weight, not body fat.

Sodium Consumption or Depletion

Eating a lot of sodium, or salty foods, can quickly bump up weight. If you’ve ever noticed that you get thirsty after you eat salty foods, it’s because your body is trying to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance. With extra sodium, an electrolyte, your body needs more water - and that water is heavy and shows up on the scale.

These are examples of high-sodium foods and top sources of sodium in the diet.

• Pickles and olives
• Bread, sandwiches, sandwich meats, and cheese
• Frozen and canned dinners
• Canned soup, beans, and vegetables
• Mixed foods like burgers, burritos, pizza, pasta dishes, and French fries
• Breakfast cereal

Some people are more sensitive to the effects of sodium than others.

Excess Carbohydrate Intake

Carbohydrates have calories, and eating too many of them will cause weight gain over time. However, it’s unlikely that you’ll eat enough carbs in a single day to make a real difference in your body fat.

Instead, a jump on the scale the morning after a day of heavy eating may mainly be due to water weight. That’s because your body stores some excess carbohydrates as something called glycogen. For every ounce of glycogen you store, you also store 3-4 ounces of water.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that on Sunday, you eat exactly what your body needs, PLUS some additional carbohydrates from a bagel (70 grams of carbs and 300 calories), 2 tablespoons of jam (25 grams of carbs and 100 calories), and a 20-ounce bottle of soda (55 grams of carbs and 250 calories). The totals are 150 grams of excess carbs and 650 calories - not something that’s healthy every day, but not something that will undo weeks of hard work losing weight. Your weight on Monday morning, though, may be up nearly 1 pound due to glycogen storage and the accompanying water weight!

When you think of elite athletes “carb loading” in the days leading up to a marathon or other endurance event, they can gain up to 10 lb of water weight - and you can believe that these athletes are not getting “fat!”

If you notice that you’ve overeaten or your weight is up due to excess consumption, try going back to your regular routine for a few days. You may find that the extra weight comes back off quickly.

Alcohol

Drinking alcoholic beverages can lead to water retention because it takes your body a while to process it. It also slows your body’s processing of other nutrients, which can lead to water retention and short-term water weight gain.

Over time, drinking too much alcohol can lead to significant fat gain. One reason is that alcohol has calories, so every time you drink, you’re ingesting a source of calories without nutrients. Also, drinking alcohol can lower your motivation and lead you to over consume high-calorie foods like fried food or party foods that you may not normally choose to eat.

Side Effects of Certain Medications

By definition, medications affect your body’s metabolism. They can also affect hunger or appetite. It’s no surprise that some medications may affect water retention and weight.

Many common conditions are treated with medications that have been reported to cause weight fluctuations or weight changes. Examples include some medications for diabetes, depression, mood stabilization, and heart conditions.

Illness or Infection

If you have a fever, your body may use more fluids than usual and weight can decrease due to dehydration. It’s important to drink plenty of fluids when you have an illness. If you have diabetes or other conditions, it’s a good idea to talk to your provider about any precautions you should take such as taking electrolytes, managing sugar intake, or checking blood sugar more frequently.

Emotional or Physical Stress

Emotional and physical stress like lack of sleep can change your hormone balance and lead to water retention in some people. Try to treat your body well, and your body may shed pounds of water weight.

If you are a stress eater, it’s important to try to avoid extra calories while you’re stressed out. Instead, focus on healthier stress management techniques like exercising, journaling, and talking to a friend. Also, nutritious foods can better support your body and mind during this time.

Food in Your Body

Food has weight in and out of your stomach. Consider a plate with 2 cups of vegetables, 4 ounces of fish, ½ cup of rice, and an orange, served with an 8-ounce cup of tea. The total weight is about 2 lb. It has about 400 calories.

Now consider that same meal 20 minutes after you’ve eaten it. It still weighs 2 lb., but that weight is inside of you. Step on the scale, and you’ll weigh 2 lb more than you did when you started eating. You’ll lose nearly all the weight as soon as your body processes the meal and excretes the waste.

Benefits of More Frequent Weigh-ins

It’s common to aim for 1-2 weigh-ins per week. This pattern can help you monitor your trends and notice progress or setbacks. Here are some tips for accurate weigh-ins.

While you might use 1-2 weigh-ins per week as your “official” current weight, weighing more often can help with weight loss for a few reasons.

• It increases accountability and motivation when you know you’ll be checking your weight
• It can give you early notice if you’ve over consumed for a day or two or if you’re hitting a plateau
• It may tell you that you need to drink more water
• It may let you know that you need more sleep

How Lark Can Help

Weight management and health are about healthy choices every day, and staying on top of your daily weight fluctuations and weekly weight trends can keep you on track as you pursue your goals. Your Lark coach is available 24/7 for encouragement, coaching, and habit tracking. Lark can help you make healthy choices and establish habits that fit into your lifestyle so you can lose weight and keep it off with or without GLP-1 medications.

Click here to see if you may be eligible to join Lark today!

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