I've been monitoring and recording my weight since September 18 when I started at 197.5. However, I wasn't monitoring every day - only every few days.

On October 1, I started recording every day and kept the record on dailyburn.com. What I noticed was a 1, 2, or sometimes even 3 pound fluctuation from day to day. I know that overall the trend was downward but it was kind of tough to be sure. Was I losing weight (muscle mass) too fast? I've been very careful with the calories and the protein. Some days it felt like I was stuck or going backwards and other days I was afraid I was losing too much, too quickly. It turns out these fluctuations are quite normal and the reason is explained here (http://blog.nutritiondata.com/ndblog/2009/03/weight-fluctuat.html).

The blog suggested using a MOVING AVERAGE to get a better idea of your weight gain or loss. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, I do this analysis in my work all the time but didn't think to do it for my weight loss until today.

It turns out iGoogle has a cool widget called the Google 15 (http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=www.google.com/ig/modules/google15.xml) that you can use to see this (or you can simply set it up in your spreadsheet). It turns out that I've lost .9 lbs in the last week... which is just about right in keeping with the safe weight reduction rate of 1 lb per week. !!!!

I'm doing this right!!!

:claphigh:

I use a spreadsheet that does exactly that. Sure takes the stress out of tracking your weight. :tu:

Thanks for the link...I'll have to check it out.:cool:

I can fluctuate by more than 3 lbs from day to day.

Remember that when you step on a scale, it is weighing everything. Weigh yourself before breakfast and then after: you just gained weight. The amount of "food" still in your system varies, even if you weigh yourself first thing in the morning. Whatever you had for dinner the night before could be affecting your morning weight.

There is also the matter of water weight (how much water is retained in the body). What you eat and how much water you drink day to day will result in a change in this weight as well.

Look for downward trends, but don't worry about day-to-day fluctuations. Some people, especially when starting out, have a difficult time not getting frustrated when seeing weight go up for any reason, which is why the advice is often given to weigh yourself only once a week. It avoids the frustration of the day-to-day change and, with luck, highlights the weekly average trend.

Yup it's normal, you have to look at the longer trends.

Water / salt intake / if you've peed yet / etc can dramatically change scale weight. It really isn't a good indicator of weight loss progress, except over longer periods of time.

I do the same, but like others said when I look at the bigger picture I'm averaging a little over a lb a week. (about 1.14)

Good link, thank you Google for random applications like this! Like the others I tend to look at the overall trend, daily weigh ins can be encouraging but they can be dissapointing at other times!

Keep up the great work, looks like your doing well. :tucool:

Cheers,

Sbidgo

Its normal, and that's why I measure by the week. The amount of food, water, and poop in your system at any given time can change things a lot, plus your stance on the scale makes a difference. That's one of the many reasons why in the long term BF% is better than weight to measure your fitness.

I can fluctuate by more than 3 lbs from day to day.

Remember that when you step on a scale, it is weighing everything. Weigh yourself before breakfast and then after: you just gained weight. The amount of "food" still in your system varies, even if you weigh yourself first thing in the morning. Whatever you had for dinner the night before could be affecting your morning weight.

There is also the matter of water weight (how much water is retained in the body). What you eat and how much water you drink day to day will result in a change in this weight as well.

Look for downward trends, but don't worry about day-to-day fluctuations. Some people, especially when starting out, have a difficult time not getting frustrated when seeing weight go up for any reason, which is why the advice is often given to weigh yourself only once a week. It avoids the frustration of the day-to-day change and, with luck, highlights the weekly average trend.Yup!you summed it up very well.very well said.:tu: