Everyone knows that. One day you jump on the scales and thanks to the number on the display you will feel good about yourself. Then the whole day is kind of more bathed in the sun and you feel really good. A day or two later you want to make sure that you are still doing so well. You step on the scales and hope that the number on the display is even lower. A moment of tension … “Are you kidding me?” The scales show 3 kilograms more and beckon you so that you are in a bad mood all day and just feel terrible. When it comes to blaming yourself for failure, you have a hundred appetites for a whole rack of candy from the pantry and a bucket of ice tucked away in the freezer for emergencies and read on. You will learn that you don’t have to worry, That weight fluctuations within a few kilograms are perfectly normal, that the number on the scales is nothing in itself, that you are doing much better than you think, and you definitely are not failed.
“The average adult can experience fluctuations in body weight during the day with a rest period of up to 3 kilograms . It’s mainly due to the body water and the part of the day he steps on the scales, , says Dr. Heinberg from the Cleveland Clinic.
Is it possible to gain a few pounds of fat in a day or two?
As soon as the scales give you a figure of three pounds, which is bigger than the one that jumped on you two days earlier , automatically confirm that you have gained fat. This is due to the fruit and a piece of chocolate that you had for dinner.
the fruit and the piece of chocolate are innocent. The fact that the weight is 3 kilograms more is not an increase in fat, it is something completely different. Imagine how much food you would have to eat to gain 10 pounds of fat. I’ll help you with this imagination.
- 1 kilogram of fat hides about 7,700 kcal (32,240 kJ) .
- You get 7,700 kcal when you eat : 17.7 large packs of McDonalds french fries or 60.6 classic “white rolls” or almost 6.5 kilograms of cooked rice or almost 17 liters of Coca Cola.
- To theoretically gain 3 kilograms of fat in 2 days, you would have to eat or drink three times as much . And dare I say no one can do this.
It’s probably clearer why you couldn’t gain three kilograms of fat in those two days, and there is no point in worrying about such an assumption. In fact, it is unnecessary to weigh every day as body weight fluctuates naturally. Just think twice a week and monitor other body parameters. But later. If you’re more interested in fruit and which one is best for weight loss, check out our article Fruits and Weight Loss – Which Fruit Has the Lowest Calories?
The 11 Most Common Reasons why the scales show a higher number and fat is not the culprit
“Most of us are unable to eat enough in a few days to gain 4 kilograms of fat. If you notice such a dramatic weight gain, the body water is most likely to blame “, says Dr. Anita Petruzzeli from Shape Magazine. {3]
Changes in body water can occur for various reasons. The most common effects of diet, the environment, physical activity, medication and the phase of the menstrual cycle in women.
6 nutritional factors that influence weight fluctuations
1. You weigh yourself once before a meal, the second time after a meal, but each meal also weighs something
When weighing under different conditions, the result is always distorted . One of the prerequisites for successfully monitoring body weight development is to weigh in the same conditions every time. In this case, ideal before eating.
Consuming food logically leads to an increase in body weight due to its weight. Of course, water also occurs in food, which in this form contributes to the “drinking regime”. Energy from food is used to meet the body’s energy needs and if there is an excess, it is stored in the form of glycogen or fat for later use. Metabolic waste products are eliminated from the body every time you go to the bathroom.
If you weigh yourself hourly during the day, you will likely get a different result every time.
2. Contents of the intestine
Food takes a while to process and is completely metabolized. You can record the highest body weight immediately before voiding and the lowest weight after voiding. Even after your digestive system has been emptied, the remains of yesterday’s lunch will pass. Normal digestion time is estimated to be 40 to 60 hours, and a range of 24 to 48 hours is considered optimal. [4^
Here, too, it is necessary to always weigh yourself under the same conditions , ideally on the same day of the week after the toilet. You can improve the quality of digestion by focusing on getting enough fiber in your diet. You should be eating around 30 grams of fiber per day. Foods high in fiber and water are “processed and eliminated” faster than foods that are generally considered unhealthy. On the contrary, they contain little fiber, but an excess of fat and salt. You can also support optimal digestive function with soluble fiber in the form of psyllium. Read more in the article Psyllium – useful fiber not only for proper digestion .
3. You have eaten food filled with carbohydrates
Due to the possibilities and needs, the organism stores carbohydrates naturally in a repository , which is collectively referred to as glycogen . The human body has around 450 grams of glycogen stores that serve as an energy source. Trained athletes have a little more glycogen in their muscles.
How is it possible that beloved pastries, Italian spaghetti or risotto increase your hand on the scales? The magic is that every gram of stored glycogen binds about 3 grams of water. The higher number on weight is again due to water along with the weight of the food and the filling of the intestines, not fat.
450 g of glycogen binds about 1,350 g of water. Your weight can “fly” because you eat more or less carbohydrates or because you yourself Do sport, which uses up the glycogen and water reserves. Anyone who has tried any form of low carbohydrate diet has experienced this phenomenon and the initial weight loss. Unfortunately, your joy is premature, because the first kilograms that are lost in a few days are only water and glycogen, not fat.
4. The amount of salt in the diet
More salt in food is responsible for more body water retained. Some people are more sensitive to salt consumption and may feel puffy. You should be consuming about 5 grams of salt per day, no more. Even if you’re not one of those who need to salt every meal, you may have a problem with high salt intake.
The salt is in various semi-finished products, frozen meals, cold cuts, cheese, pastries, various barbecue sauces and fast food dishes hidden . You can easily limit your intake by eating as much fresh and minimally processed food as possible.
5. Irregular drinking regime
If you consume a few more glasses of water than normal , this leads to a slight and short-term gain in body weight . It will go back to normal once your body can cope – body uses water as needed and the rest gives away.
On the other hand, there is an inadequate drinking regime and the resulting dehydration, which has a negative impact on human health and athletic performance. How do you know if you are drinking enough fluids? A simple test of the color of the urine, which should be optimally soft yellow. The darker the urine, the higher the degree of dehydration. If you’re interested in how to drink, check out our article How to keep hydrated before, during, after your workout and how to avoid dehydration.
6. You have been drinking alcohol
You have probably noticed that you pee more often when you have a beer or a couple of glasses of wine. This is because that alcohol has diuretic effects . However, once you replenish such lost fluids in the form of beverages or food, everything will go back to normal.
However, the following scenario is more likely. When you consume alcohol, you almost never stick to a glass. For most people, alcohol stimulates the appetite, especially for salty and fatty foods . Almost nobody has a sweet dessert with beer or wine, but opts for fries, sticks, nachos or various fast foods from the restaurant’s menu. This means more energy intake from alcohol and these salty foods. As you know, salt holds back water so you can see weight gain. If you want to learn more about the effects of alcohol on weight loss and muscle growth, check out our article How does alcohol affect weight loss, muscle recovery and growth?
5 lifestyle and training factors that influence weight fluctuations
1. When doing sports you naturally sweat
We all sweat, and not just in sports. It is the body’s natural response to maintain an optimal internal temperature and prevent overheating. The degree of sweating is individual and depends on many external and internal factors. As a result, one person can sweat sportswear completely while the other person can only have small wet spots in their armpits.
Logically, you will have a lower body weight during sport thanks to sweaty fluids. As soon as you replenish the lost fluids, the balance will return to normal values. Sweating more doesn’t mean losing weight. Therefore, it does not make sense to increase sweating during sports activities with several layers of clothing. To learn more about the relationship between sweating, exercise, and weight loss, see our article Sweating and Exercise – Do We Have to Sweat to Make Exercise Useful?
2. You engage in intense sport or strength training
Any form of well-developed sport and in particular strength training causes muscle damage, which is marked by the formation of a micro-dream on the muscle cells . One of the parallel phenomena is local inflammation, when water is retained between and within the muscle cells. This mechanism can lead to weight gain again.
You can subjectively recognize our body as “sore muscles”. This delayed onset of muscle pain, also known as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), usually lasts 24 to 72 hours and is characterized by the difficulty of having trouble climbing stairs after exercising your legs or raising your arms after exercising your shoulders . If you are interested in the ideal way to regenerate yourself by reducing “muscles”, read our article Best techniques for recovery, muscle soreness reduction and post-workout fatigue.
3. Excessive Stress
Excessive stress can also be caused by weight fluctuations in the body. Increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol are linked to water retention.
Even a long-term calorie deficiency can increase plasma cortisol levels, which is in can contribute to the body’s water retention to some extent.
What should you do with it? Try stress relief techniques such as yoga , mindfulness or relaxation, as well as wellness treatments such as sauna, hardening or massages. During weight loss, you should regularly include a refeed day every 14 days if you increase your energy intake by 5-10% above your balanced energy balance.
4. You are a woman and your body weight changes naturally during menstrual periods
Studies show that body water retention peaks on the first day of menstruation. You can observe that your body weight is slightly higher than normal due to the changed hormonal environment. The weight will return to average in the next few days.
“How big this weight fluctuation is is very individual. It usually corresponds to about 1 to 3.5 Kilograms ” , adds nutritionist Amanda Foti. There is no need to wrinkle your forehead. The solution can always be to weigh the same part of the cycle.
5. You have an illness and are taking medication
Body weight fluctuations can be influenced by untreated thyroid disease, diabetes, or inflammatory bowel disease. So it is important that you let your doctor know if you have Your body weight changes suddenly and excessively.
There are medications that can help retain body water or increase appetite. Such medications include those commonly used to Treatment of diabetes, high blood pressure, mood disorders or migraines can be used . If you are taking such medicines and think they may affect your weight, talk to your doctor.
Are there other factors that may affect the number on the scale?
- It may be a bit funny, but not every floor is level. If you weigh yourself in several places, you will likely always get slightly different results.
- Distorted measurements can also occur when the batteries in the scales are more and more empty.
So always weigh yourself in the same place, under the same conditions and with charged batteries.
How can you monitor the progress correctly and how often should you weigh yourself?
The number on the scale doesn’t tell the whole truth , and as you can see, it is often very skewed. It is therefore necessary to monitor several physical parameters over time and, based on this, to get an overall picture of how you are achieving or not achieving your goals.
- Weigh yourself once or twice a week, always under the same conditions. Ideal in the morning after the toilet and before meals.
- Observe body circles the same way you weigh yourself – always under the same conditions. Concentrate on the girth through the hips, stomach, waist and possibly other areas that you want to observe.
- Watch the changes in the Clothing. Do old jeans suit you, even if the weight hasn’t moved? Then you’ve lost some fat and built muscle first.
- Write notes in a journal or notebook and always keep one Take note of how you feel in your clothes. Are your pants or t-shirts looser? Great, write it down and brag about it.
- You can also take a progressive photo in the mirror on your “check day”. You can look back where you came from.
- If you want or have the opportunity, use devices that support the Measure the composition of the body (muscle mass X body fat) and tell you what changes have actually taken place.
The number is increasing, but you are leaner. How is it possible?
This phenomenon has a simple explanation. If the number on weight isn’t moving or growing while you are objectively leaner and your clothes are looser, you have simply gained muscle mass while getting rid of a decent amount of body fat.
A kilogram of fat is more voluminous than a kilogram of muscle , although both are equally heavy. It’s a similar situation to imagining a kilogram of feathers. Kilograms of iron. However, this is a question of weeks and months, not days.
Is weight important at all?
Body weight is influenced by many factors and is In and of itself, never tell the whole truth about weight loss success, failure, or overall body composition change. The healthy goal of weight loss is to try to gain weight at the rate of 0.5-1 kilograms per week.
Especially if you’re doing strength training, you don’t need to watch the weight changes at all. But you will definitely notice smaller girths, better sitting clothes, and more visible muscles on your body. Other factors that indicate you are really fine include better sleep and skin, better sex life, and more energy during the day. You can easily feel healthier and happier . Your own self-esteem shouldn’t depend on the number of weights you are clinging to.
What should you do with it?
One number on a scale can tell you about how you are doing, losing weight or gaining muscle, but it never tells the whole truth. Weight fluctuations over days are completely natural if you consider food, drink, exercise, hormonal effects and medication used, or your current state of health. Even during the day, body weight can vary by up to 3 kilograms, which is completely normal.
Weigh yourself once a week or twice under the same conditions and also monitor your body size. Together, these values tell you much more than a single number on the scales.
Don’t let the number on the scales spoil your start to the new day.
Are you suffering from weight fluctuations or are you staying calm? If you have your own experience and tips for managing weight fluctuations, and how often you think it is ideal to weigh, do not hesitate to share your observations in the comments. If you liked the article, we would be delighted if you share it.
