Seriously?

I would agree, the scale cannot be given too much *weight * in life, it just adds to the frustration of trying to make that number go down which just happens to be one of my many goals.
The scale is around 8 years old, is that old in scale life?
I try to get everything out of my system before weighing in. This "journey" that I'm on won't leave the tarmac. I have gained 20 pound since 2010, so my frustration is well beyond just this past four weeks. No I haven't had kids since 2010, I do not take any pills, and yes I follow the program, but for an occassion when I say "To hell with it" for the day.

Fortunately, by being able to express my frustration in a forum, I was able to process the situation and not lose focus on the purpose of the entire exercise. The scale gets to live another week. I'll keep going!
Thanks for the input!

Edited by: MISSHEATHER77 at: 2/19/2013 (12:55)

This will probably go against a lot of advice, but if I saw a pattern like that in myself, I'd be tempted to weigh in daily just to see what my body weight is doing between those weekly points. Not as a daily measurement of success or failure, but because I'd personally be interested to see *how* I'm fluctuating between those weigh-ins. Am I trending up? Down? Is X05 pounds a high point in my week, or is it about average? When I 'lose' weight and have a low-point weigh in, is it after steady, regular loss over the previous days, or is it a sudden dip down? What's my average? Which readings are the outliers? I personally find that taking one reading per week doesn't give me a lot of information, and because of that it leads me to put too much importance on that weekly number and not enough on the overall trend in gain/loss.

If there's any hint that this method would bother you emotionally, I'd go the opposite direction and put the scale away, but if you're genuinely curious about how you're fluctuating between those two numbers, it might give you some insight. I learned a lot from graphing my weight fluctuations daily and then stepping back and looking for patterns that I wouldn't have seen with only four points per month. It really depends on the person, but I actually found it more comforting to see the daily flux so I could start to understand the reasons behind it.

I the same boat...I started spark people on January 1st 2013 for my new years resolution and was not seeing the numbers go down on the scale like they did when I did sp in March 2012.
When I did sp last year, I started on a sunday and the next week was down 2.5 pounds and continued to lose weight weekly until I was down 23 pounds...here I am ending week 7 and the scale has gone up 6 pounds from las Monday :( I did have chinese food Saturday this past weekend, but everything else was healthy...Ive been sticking to protein shakes frm breakfast, lunch is spinach lettuce, tomato, italian dressing ( serving size of 2TBSP) and either boiled chicken or tuna for protein...then at dinner I portion myself...go with small portions so I don't get overly full...I drink water thru out the day, not the 8 glasses a day, but I am working on getting there...WHY the heck is this happening?
FYI: I AM ON A PROGESTIN ONLY BIRTH CONTROL PILL NOW, AND WASN'T BACK IN 2012 WHEN I DID SP...I AM TAKING IT FOR FERTILITY ISSUES...I ALSO HAVE PCOS (POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME) AND AM INSULIN RESISTANT

Your reply to this post was very helpful as I had a similar situation...I am trying to measure my success with a caloric deficit each week instead of a weight loss and am trusting the process. But, it is frustrating when the scale says you're up 4 pounds...

Thank you for your comprehensive explanation of how the body release weight and fat cells - at the cellular level - it was really helpful!!

Maybe something is wrong with it. Is it an old scale? Can you get a new one?


Michelle

As MISSHEATHER77 said, she has been here a while. She knows the drill. Repeating the basics is like preaching to the choir.

Her frustration is coming from the precise nature of the numbers. It's not 2 pounds, then 5 pounds, then back to 2 pounds.It's five up, five down, five up, and then five down. It's numerically strange and frustrating!

Sorry Miss Heather. My scale does very similar things to me. It makes me suspect that my scale is trying to drive me crazy, so I'll be sent away, and it can steal all my stuff and move to the Bahamas.

MISSHEATHER77,

Those kinds of water fluctuations really are perfectly normal. And well, not to get TMI, but do you have a bowel movement before you weigh yourself ? Your body's waste products have weight. So, if you don't do a poop in the morning before you weigh yourself, the physical weight of all the food you ate the day before is still in your intestines. And yes, that can cause a scale fluctuation like you've seen.

According to your spark page, you've been here since 2/10. While a safe weekly weight loss would be 1-2 pounds, there will be weeks you don't lose. There will even be weeks you gain ! And that doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. The weight doesn't magically drop off the minute we decide we need to lose. It really could take 6-8 WEEKS of healthy eating before a person sees a change in the scale. And that too is perfectly normal.

So, don't assume something is wrong because the weight isn't coming off yet. Weight loss is a slow steady process that takes time. You didn't gain the weight overnight. It's not coming off overnight.

I had lost the first 5 lbs since January 1, so at an expected rate of decline. I have been doing this so long, I know the drill. Same time, same scale, same day of the week. Its not that I don't understand the basics. It's the ridiculousness of the scale saying only two numbers which happens to be 5 pounds apart: example: 505, 500, 505, 500

Is there no other number the scale can say? After all my effort?

Too late, I'm definitely frustrated!
(But thanks!)

It happens. I showed a loss just Monday, and then a 5 pound gain yesterday.
It's probably not the last time it'll happen either. Just gotta keep trusting the process and don't get frustrated.

Hi MISSHEATHER77,

When you see big fluctuations in weight like this, this tends to be more of a shift in fluids than actual weight loss. Although it's difficult to say not knowing your current weight and how much you would like to lose.

It is difficult to say because there are so many factors as to the rate at which one loses...things such as genetics, current body composition, current level of fitness, intensity of the exercise, etc. Other factors that affect the scale include the weight of the food and liquid you just ate, the last time you used the restroom, water retention, hormonal changes, clothing and more. It's normal for your weight to fluctuate day-to-day and throughout the day.

Our weight is not a static number, but more like a vital sign. Just like your blood pressure, heart rate and body temp will vary throughout the day, same is true with your weight. Because our bodies are largely made up of water (the fitter we are the more water we retain), any deviation in our diet, hydration, workouts, even hormones can lead to a shift on the scale.

Know that all changes within the body must begin at the cellular level...all the way down to the fat cells need to release the free fatty acids, to the muscle cells making bigger and more numerous mitochondria-these are the organelles within the cells-to give us energy.

It isn't uncommon to see a slight upward shift in weight when we start exercising, or add a new training regimen and eating better. For one the muscles are making more mitochondria which allow for extra glycogen-stored glucose in the cells- therefore, your body hangs on to more water to help with the cooling off process for exercise and for helping process energy. Your muscles will also have an increase in blood volume in order to have better availability to oxygen and removing waste, especially lactic acid. These things coupled with eating higher fiber foods, such as fruits and veggies can show a gain, when in all reality it is just a shift in fluids.

Take care!

Coach Nancy

For the fourth week in a row, no loss.

Week A: I had hit a 5 lb. loss.
Week B: Gain of 5 lbs.
Week c: Down 5 pounds
Week D: Gain of 5 lbs.

Seriously? I know I didn't actually gain 5 pounds, but water weight or not, this is so annoying. I have been working my butt off: by tracking, eating right, NOT eating my sweets, doing 100 push ups at least 4 times a week, etc what the heck!?! So not happy right now.