Why does my weight fluctuate so much? “Everyone's weight fluctuates throughout the day, and especially from morning to night,” says dietitian Anne Danahy, MS, RDN. “The average change is 2 to 5 pounds, and it's due to fluid shifts throughout the day.” If you see fluctuations of less than 5 pounds, you needn't worry.
Even for people within a healthy weight range, the average fluctuation is a window of about 5 to 6 pounds per day (2 to 3 lbs in either direction). For those who aren't accustomed to the normal ups and downs of their weight, this number might sound discouraging. But everyone is different.
You should step on the scale first thing in the morning. That's when you'll get your most accurate weight because your body has had the overnight hours to digest and process whatever you ate and drank the day before.
According to a study published in Physiological Reports, your weight can fluctuate by 2 to 4.5 pounds in a day. In fact, most people experience at least one or two weight fluctuations per week, and usually, the number on the scale isn't going in the direction we'd like it to on our weight loss journey.
Our weight fluctuates daily by 5lbs or so due to water retention. This is healthy and normal and happens to everyone. There are no diet that will cure this.
In three days, no one can gain that much weight. That's primarily water weight and your body processing whatever you ate, and it's just temporary. It's also possible that you drank too much alcohol. Simply return to your normal healthy eating habits, and the weight should begin to go off within a few days.
If you're asking yourself, “Why am I gaining weight when I barely eat,” several factors may be at play. Your body may be holding onto fat stores if your eating habits are inconsistent or restricted. Or, your weight gain may be the effect of a sedentary lifestyle, medical condition, or long-term stress.
Aim to weigh yourself on the same day, at the same time and in the same environment each week – for example, first thing every Friday morning when you're getting ready to take a shower, after you've gone to the bathroom, but before you've drunk or eaten anything.
Gained 10 pounds in a month? Or yet, gained 10 pounds in a week? Now that's cause for concern. This kind of totally unexplained weight gain can signal more serious health problems such as a hormone condition or a reaction to an Rx.
“Your skin is the largest organ in the body and absorbs fluid easily,” says Dr. Keith Kantor, a leading nutritionist and CEO of the Nutritional Addiction Mitigation Eating and Drinking (NAMED) program. “After a swim or a shower, your body can absorb 1 to 3 cups of water, increasing your true weight by a few pounds.”
Most experts recommend aiming for 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week, which equates to roughly 4-8 pounds in a month. Those with more excess weight may see slightly faster loss initially. The key is losing at a gradual rate through calorie deficit rather than drastic measures.
People tend to weigh less when they wake up because breathing and sweating as they sleep causes them to lose fluids. A study also found that adults burn around 50 calories an hour during slumber.
The Best Time to Weigh Yourself
The thing that's most important when it comes to weighing yourself, either weekly or daily, is at what time. Most researchers agree that it's best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning.
While it's a myth that muscle weighs more than fat—after all, a pound is a pound—it is denser, which means it takes up less space in the body. This may explain why you look slimmer but the scale hasn't budged. Water weight could also be a factor, according to strength and conditioning coach Brandon Mentore.
Drinking Too Much Water
A quart of it weighs about 2 pounds. If you just drink it -- and you don't exercise -- that'll show up on the scale right away. That doesn't mean you should give up H2O. In the long run, drinking water (especially instead of high-calorie sugary beverages) can help you lose weight.
If you're weighing yourself weekly, research shows that we're generally at our heaviest on a Sunday night and at our lightest on a Friday morning, so weighing in before breakfast on a Wednesday can give us the most accurate reading of our current weight [6].
How much water should you drink to lose weight? If you want to try drinking water to manage your weight, you can have 16 oz (2 cups) of water 30 minutes before a meal. If you do that for three meals, that's 6 cups of water each day.
To lose weight effectively and safely, aiming to lose 1 to 2 pounds (lbs) per week may be best. This means that losing 20 lbs may take 10 to 20 weeks. To lose weight, people will likely need to follow a healthy diet and get regular exercise. Some popular diets are effective initially but challenging to maintain.
Your body composition may be another reason why you are still gaining weight while in a calorie deficit. If you have a higher body fat percentage and lower muscle mass, then you are probably burning fewer calories than if you had more muscle mass.
Water weight is not usually a cause for concern, but it can be uncomfortable and recurring. Reducing salt and carbohydrate intake, keeping hydrated, and frequently exercising are all good ways to lose water weight and prevent it from returning.