I Weighed Myself Every Hour And THIS Happened! How Much Does Weight Fluctuate Within A Day?
It’s hard not to obsess over the scale when you’re beginning a weight loss journey.
Checking the scale every hour and freaking out when the scale is up by 5 pounds and you have absolutely no idea why?
I’ve been there and many of my clients are currently going through it.
Are you doing something wrong? What’s going on?
Today we’re going to see what happens when I weigh myself every hour to show how weight fluctuation throughout the day is completely normal.
What Causes Weight Fluctuation and Bigger on the Scale?
Weight fluctuation is unavoidable as a human. It is extremely uncommon to sit at exactly the same weight from day to day without any changes or fluctuations on the scale; sometimes we don’t notice it, but if we’re hyper-aware of the scale, then this is something that you may find yourself obsessed over.
Bigger jumps or fluctuations in the scale can be caused by the following:
Eating larger portions of food
Drinking water
Drinking alcohol
Consuming too much or too little fiber
Digestive issues
High carb intake (leading to a temporary increase in water retention)
Sodium intake intake (leading to a temporary increase in water retention)
Menstrual cycle (typically you’ll see bigger jumps right before your period)
There are a variety of other reasons why you may see the scale fluctuate that DO NOT directly mean fat gain.
Just because the scale goes up does not mean that you’re gaining fat; it is completely normal for your body to fluctuate from 2-6 pounds within a day, sometimes more, depending on the day.
For example, if you’re generally healthy and decide to go on vacation and splurge on some mimoas (or Bailey’s if you’re me), some bomb local food with higher sodium and carb intake- then its likely you’ll see some bigger weight fluctuations.
Some of this may definitely be a slight amount of body fat (body fat fluctuates too, just not as much). Most of it will just be water weight and normal weight fluctuations.
A week back to your everyday life and you will see the scale fluctuate down a bit as your habits go back to normal.
Weighing Myself Every Hour
For this experiment, I’m eating, drinking, and continuing my everyday habits as usual, which tend to be relatively healthy.
To give you an idea:
My diet is mostly vegetarian-based
I drink 1 gallon of water / day
I walk 10,000 steps / day
I did not workout on this day
Most of my time is currently spent sitting while I work
The Weight / Scale Log
8:44 AM: 151.0 (20.6% body fat)
First weigh-in, first thing in the morning before using the RR
8:51: 150.60 (20.5% body fat)
Weigh-in immediately after using RR (I was super dehydrated this morning)
10:51 AM: 150.2 lbs (20.4% body fat)
After my 10,000 steps walk
1:25 PM: 152.8 lbs (20.8% body fat)
After first meal of the day
1:35 PM: 151.20 (20.6% body fat)
Immediately after previous weigh-in, but after RR
4:33 PM: 150.4 (N/A)
During small break between clients, mostly sitting all day
6:41 PM: 150.4 (20.5% bf)
After sitting all day for client sessions + had a snack in between now and last weigh-in
8:15 PM: 149.6 (20.3% bf)
After walking another 8,000 steps
As you can see, my weight fluctuated around 149 pounds to 153 pounds within a single day.
With a relatively healthy and consistent lifestyle, my weight could have easily fluctuated up to 5 pounds within a given day.
While the scale is a great way to measure progress over time, weight alone is not something to obsess over.
A Better Way of Tracking Your Progress
If you’re someone who struggles with this, I highly recommend using body fat measurements and levels to measure progress instead.
I’ve been using this body fat measurement scale, which allows me to not only measure my weight, but to also measure my body fat through bioelectrical impedance.
As you can see, while my weight fluctuated throughout the day, my body fat levels stayed relatively consistent.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, your weight alone isn’t and shouldn’t be the biggest factor to show whether you’re progressing in the right direction.
Weight fluctuation is normal; pay more attention to your body fat levels in addition to your weight to get a better idea of whether you’re heading in the right direction.
