water retention

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10/28/12 5:47 P

stick with one scale and at one time of the day,preferably in the morning. I tend to weight at least 2 lbs less in the morning than when I go to bed.

I also agree that one needs to drink around 8 cups of water and keep their sodium low to do well in weight loss. It really helped for me, and it is still something I continue doing.

current weight: 0.0  under

5 2.5 0 -2.5

-5

Posts: 11,780
10/27/12 6:07 P

I'd agree with sticking to one scale, one time of day to weigh yourself "officially"

eating high sodium foods can cause terrible water retention, I think my personal record after a thai buffet meal was 10lbs up which was gone within a day or so, horrible swelling! And never ate there again!

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10/27/12 12:44 P

If you were eating a lot of salt, then it's very true that your scale will show a higher number. For me, even one high salt meal (like a restaurant meal, even if it's within range!) will show a 1-2lb weight gain on the scale the next day. It usually takes 2-3 days for the scale to go back to where it should be.

current weight: 138.0

188 175.5 163 150.5

138

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10/27/12 11:45 A

When you think about it, weight is a really weird way to measure your health and your appearance. Since it fluctuates so much based on hydration, it's probably good to use it only as a loose measure over large-ish spans of time as an indicator of progress. That said...it's really easy to get obsessed with that stupid number on that stupid scale.

Anyhow, drinking lots of water and cutting salt seems to have done the trick temporarily, and that's good as a general practice before weigh days so you can get a more accurate picture of your body mass...but from my experience there's just no telling what the scale is going to say!

Pounds lost: 20.0

0 11.5 23 34.5

46

Posts: 10,782
10/27/12 10:04 A

you can really only use one scale to measure you. because pretty much every scale is off by just a little bit, you need to use the same scale to be able to compare results.

Posts: 72
10/27/12 9:58 A

hi!
i've been away on holidays for a few weeks, and i'm not proud to say i didn't stick to my diet. at my first week there, i stepped on two different scales that showed i had lost weight. i was surprised, but i thought "to hell with that. seems my body's letting me relax, woohoo!" and i went on not sticking with my diet.
but then after 2 weeks ago, the scale showed i had gained about 9 kgs since the last time i weighted in! my clothes fitted me just fine, though my pants felt a lil bit tighter at my periphery.
getting back home, i measured myself. and the real surprise: they hadn't changed since i left home!
now i'm thinking it has something to do with water retention. i'm on hormones therapy, anyway. so i decided to drink a lot of water this weekend and cut down on salt. do you think the scale will be true to me in 4 days?