4lbs of water?
 

How much could I possible fluctuate in water weight? Last Wednesday I weighed 118.0. Last Thursday I weight 117.5. Today (Wednesday) I weigh 122.0. I've been tracking my calories very closely and averaged 1342 calories/day since last wednesday. I am 5'3". I knew I did not do great and figured I would stay the same or lose ~0.5lb. Is it possible I actually gained fat!? I have been working out but nothing too extreme (cardio, light weight lifting, and yoga). I am hoping this is water weight but it seems like a lot to fluctuate. THis is VERY discouraging. This is the largest number I've seen in years and I cant believe I'm seeing it while on a diet!

I say 99% chance it's fluid. I've seen fairly huge fluctuations depending upon my sodium intake the day before a weigh-in. Also, exercise can cause a temporary fluid retention due to muscle inflammation.

I'd try weighing again tomorrow and see where you're at, and/or give it another week--I'll bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Regards,
Michael

Thanks Michael. I feel better after reading your reply. I hope you are right. I probably did eat slightly more sodium yesterday than normal. They say not to weight yourself everyday, but I am starting to disagree with this theory. I will start weighing in everyday to better understand my body's fluctuations. What does everyone think about daily vs weekly weigh in?

I would agree it all can be water. I had a 3 pound gain for no reason -- other than wine and spicy food last weekend. It took a few days to disappear.

Another thing is when you are dehydrated your body actually retains water. make sure you are drinking lots.

I weight daily to avoid those rude shocks after a week of being good. With daily weights you know when it's a fluid gain. I had not been charting the daily weights however my weight has been doing weird things so I am marking them down so I can look at the graph and see if it is a regular pattern.

Knowing that the gain is going to disappear just as fast as it came helps me get over the disappointment in seeing a gain where it should be a loss.

Mary

I've always been a proponent of the weekly weigh-in strategy during the weight loss phase. I am generally pretty sure I will see a loss that way (though there have been the occasional exceptions). Really, if you're honest in logging your food and your calorie burn is correct, I've found the actual weight loss (on average) to be almost spot-on to what the math predicts.

Now, once we get to the maintenance phase of our journey, I think the daily weigh-in may be a good idea. But, really, it's what works for you. If you can deal with the daily fluctuations, that's great. And thinking about it, logging those might give you some useful data. Why not try it? You can always go back to weekly if it doesn't work out.

Regards,
Michael