Is it true that we weigh less in the morning? Generally, yes, because you don't have the added weight of a recent undigested meal. During the day, when you're eating and drinking, those foods (and fluids) add weight—at least until they're digested and excreted.
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. “When you wake up in the morning, you're dehydrated because you haven't been drinking during the night.
``Morning skinny'' refers to the weight you see on the scale right after waking up, typically before eating or drinking anything. This weight can be lower than your actual weight later in the day due to factors like:
Why do I weigh less in the morning? At night while we sleep, our bodies have a chance to get back into balance. Excess fluid that has accumulated during the day moves from the body's cells into the bloodstream, where it makes its way to the kidneys.
Getty Images / Stockbyte Silver. Morning skinny is attested as early as 2011, when it was first entered on Urban Dictionary. The expression morning skinny comes from the idea that in the morning, after having gone the whole night without eating or drinking anything, a person can look thinner than normal.
People may weigh less in the morning due to losing water throughout the night. That said, individuals do burn calories during the night. However, water weight loss is more significant than the loss of fat. While people may not burn a lot of fat from sleep alone, sleep is important for weight loss.
It is best to weigh yourself at the same time of day (in the morning is best), after going to the toilet, before eating and without any clothing to achieve comparable results. Wait about 15 minutes after getting out of bed so that the water in your body is evenly distributed.
“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.”
Let's say you drank 500 ml water but excreted up to 1 litre. This will directly lead you to weigh less by the remaining 500 ml, that roughly equals half a kilogram.
A good measure of whether you are a healthy weight is the body mass index (BMI). This is calculated using your weight (in kilograms) and your height (in meters squared). For most adults, a healthy weight range is a BMI of 18.5kg/m2 to 24.9kg/m2. If your BMI is under 18.5kg/m2 then you would be considered underweight.
Unfortunately, there's no solid answer to that. Women tend to lose weight in their legs first, while men lose weight in their trunks first. But many factors impact where you lose weight — the short answer is that it looks different for everyone.
The best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning after you've gone to the restroom but before you eat or drink anything. The reason for this is that your body has had enough time to digest all the food and drinks you've consumed from the day before all while you were getting your beauty sleep.
If you're exercising regularly and doing a mix of cardio and strength training, it's likely your body composition (ratio of muscle to fat) is changing for the better. “If the scale isn't moving, but your clothes fit better, and you feel stronger, that's a win,” Pelc Graca says.
Wearing clothing while weighing yourself can add up to two pounds—more if you're wearing shoes. Again, this isn't a big deal if you consistently weigh yourself wearing the same thing, but since our clothes vary with our moods and seasons, it's best to go without when you step on the scale.
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.
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.
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.
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. And you should try to turn that step into a regular part of your routine.
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.