Training & Nutrition - Weight swings?

How much do you guys typically swing? Does it have to do with metabolism?

Here's my story: I'm 6'0, have weighed about 185 for the past year or so. I'm 20, almost 21. I'm more muscular than the typical cyclist because I just got into the sport. So I've been training and trying to get back to about 170 for the racing season. I weighed 170 about a year and a half ago before I started lifting weights regularly, plus I've got fat to lose around my stomach/back area. Anyway here's my question: I went to the gym and used their scale before my workout (transitioning to more legs now) and weighed 180. Great, I lost 5 pounds in about 3 weeks. Then two days later I went back again and weighed 191. 11 pounds in two days? What's going on? And yes the scale is accurate, it's one of those big official ones like wrestlers use to weigh in.

You have to weigh in the exact same time every time. usually right in the morning after you go to the bathroom and dont eat breakfast is most accurate.

Both were about 3 hours after lunch. Maybe I was severely dehydrated the first time, because I can't figure it out.

How much do you guys typically swing? Does it have to do with metabolism?

Here's my story: I'm 6'0, have weighed about 185 for the past year or so. I'm 20, almost 21. I'm more muscular than the typical cyclist because I just got into the sport. So I've been training and trying to get back to about 170 for the racing season. I weighed 170 about a year and a half ago before I started lifting weights regularly, plus I've got fat to lose around my stomach/back area. Anyway here's my question: I went to the gym and used their scale before my workout (transitioning to more legs now) and weighed 180. Great, I lost 5 pounds in about 3 weeks. Then two days later I went back again and weighed 191. 11 pounds in two days? What's going on? And yes the scale is accurate, it's one of those big official ones like wrestlers use to weigh in.

I see swings of 6 or 7 lbs over one day, especially if I eat a high salt diet, or if I've come off a long bike ride a bit dehydrated. My body soaks up water for about a week, then it starts dropping off again.

I vary about 20 lbs between summer and winter.

But daily weight swings like what you're talking about sound like a hydration issue. What I eat that day also seems to have an effect.

beer in the picture?

When measuring something that varies, like weight, it's best to take multiple measurements per day and then average. During my geeky phase, I'd do three a day (morning, mid-day, and night), dump them into Excel and compute a daily average. Then my weekly average was the average of the 7 days' averages.

Do this, and you'll find that your weight varies much more within days than the averages do between days. So, you won't worry or sweat the variation on any given day.