Training & Nutrition - Weight fluctuations

Does anyone here weight themselves every day? Does your weight fluctuate on a regular basis? Is it possible to gain 3 lbs in 3 days or vice versa? How long does it take to gain 1 lb be it fat or muscle?

I bought a Healthometer scale the other day...not cheap but not the most expensive at $40... and I am not sure of the accuracy.

I weigh most days, but I only keep a log once a week. Weight fluctuates so much and I find it goes up if I've -- had sodium, strength trained, increased my workouts. Weight seems to go up and down in cycles each month (for both men and women) even when the intake and the workouts are stable.

I have a Tanita that measures body fat. It isn't completely accurate (it shows a much higher number than when I've had my body fat % tested), but it is consistent and it shows me improvements as long as I take the number as a relative number.

I don't know how long it takes to gain actual muscle or fat . . . I'm sure there have been studies.

I weigh everyday.

Watch the salt. Im 176 one day, 179 the next.

I weigh everyday.

Watch the salt. Im 176 one day, 179 the next.


I havent put salt on my food in many many years. Whatever comes on the food is what I have. I have lifted a bit heavier the last few days but I find it highly unlikely my muscles grew 3 lbs in 3 days. My scale reads body fat as well and I am stunned at what it indicates!! It just cant be correct!

I weigh myself on a daily basis as well. Within a week my weight fluctuates around four or five pounds. The majority of which is water weight I believe. On a Monday (day after a race) I generally weigh around 169, on a Thursday or Friday I am generally around 172 or 173. By Saturday I am usually back to around 170 - 171.

I havent put salt on my food in many many years. Whatever comes on the food is what I have. I have lifted a bit heavier the last few days but I find it highly unlikely my muscles grew 3 lbs in 3 days. My scale reads body fat as well and I am stunned at what it indicates!! It just cant be correct!


I never use salt, Im talking about the sodium in the processed foods, like ham etc. That will make you hold a ton of water. Try to keep it inder 1500 mg of sodium a day.

Yesterday, I took in 4700mg of sodium. I tell ya, its hard. Unless you cook most of your foods, its hard to stay away from sodium. Fresh veggies are a great way to keep it down. I cant, I have to eat prepacked items due to time.

I weigh myself every day, at the same time in the morning before having any breakfast, while naked. I've had my weight jump by up to 5 pounds from one day to the next. This is pretty normal, due to water flow through youyr body. Most people have 8 pounds of water go through them in a day, so dependening on where you are in that cycle, your weight can vary quite a bit.

If are are really obsessive about it, keep track of how a moving average of your weight changes and ignore the daily fluctuations.

Shameless plug:
A nice place to do that is at the Hacker's Diet Tracker (http://www.nmt.edu/~carmiac/whdt), which I wrote.

Yes,
I weigh daily, and it does vary. 2-3 pounds up and down.

And sometimes I weight less AFTER a ride than before. (I think I ned to drink MORE)

I gained 2.5 pounds from Thursday to Friday. :( I hated it because Friday is my "official" weight day for my journal. I try not to weigh myself every day because the daily fluctuations make me crazy.

i'm lucky because I work in a hospital and can weigh myself on the beam-type medical scales. I have weighed myself on digital home scales, stepped off and gotten right back on, and come up with a different weight. The medical scales seem to be reliable.

I think another factor besides water and fat might be glycogen. I have read that the glycogen in the muscles and liver weighs several pounds, and much of that is depleted in a long ride--even if you eat on the ride.

dude 5 lbs can be water from one hard ride.
and you cannot replace it all during a ride.

Right now I'm fluctuating between 172 and 174.

Your weight will change due to hydration, and also due to your diet. If your on a high fiber diet and you haven't made a deposit recently, you can have a fair amount of weight there.

+1 on the five pounds after a hard ride. . .and I'm a hydration freak to boot.

Yesterday, I took in 4700mg of sodium. I tell ya, its hard. Unless you cook most of your foods, its hard to stay away from sodium. Fresh veggies are a great way to keep it down.

If you eat out once a day, it is pretty safe to assume you blew the 1500mg right out of the water. One big pitfall I see a lot is "healthy" foods(or what people assume to be healthy) like subs and sushi. A sub sandwich has tremendous amounts of sodium in the meat(as you stated) and also the bread. Sushi rice is very high calorie and sodium dense compaired to regular rice, most sushi rice is made with a 50/50 sugar to vinigar ratio and a good amount of salt added.

As of the OP, I fluctuate alot from day to day. I am a oatmeal junkie and eat a lot of veggies so I intake a ton of fiber and water and can jump up and down a couple pounds a day.

dude 5 lbs can be water from one hard ride.
and you cannot replace it all during a ride.
True, but where is that water?

Some of that water (a few pounds) is tied up in the glycogen reserves. They say that each molecule of glycogen stores with it three molecules of water. A lot of water (maybe 10 pounds?) is in the blood plasma, and some more is inside the cells. Some water is deposited between the cells (interstitial). This last water is swelling or edema, like swollen feet and ankles, and is the type most affected by salt. Healthy people don't have much of this water between the cells. If your ankles swell, especially in the evening, you should see a doctor.

When my stepson was in a terrible accident, they had to pump so many fluids in him that he gained almost 100 pounds. That was such a horrifying thing to see! This skinny little guy looked like a Sumo wrestler, and his skin cracked from the pressure of the water. His internal organs even stopped working (compartment syndrome), and they literally had to put his guts in a plastic bag for several days.

+1
Your day to day weight isn't as important as the general range, which can be 3-5 lbs +/- over a few days to a week. I am up 5 lbs from one week ago, this is the top of my current range (185-190lbs) and I am a bit concerned that I am hitting the high end here more often than not, a sign of my recent trips which equal too much eating and too little riding. I will tighten up my eating and increase my riding starting tomorrow. How are your clothes fitting? How do you feel? if the answer to both is fine, then you are probably o.k.