One of the easiest ways to track your fat loss progress is to use weighing scales but they are often used incorrectly and fluctuations in weight are often misunderstood.
Like many others, weighing yourself is probably something that you're scared of due to the unpredictability of your weight, especially if you only weigh once per week, but in this article I will explain what fluctuations are likely to happen, why they happen, and what you should do to continue making progress.
Body weight can be very unpredictable and can fluctuate on an almost daily basis due to:
1) Water Retention
The body's water balance is constantly changing, and water can be retained in the system for many different reasons, e.g stress, poor sleep, time of the month, high sodium intake, etc.
2) More Carbs than usual
When Carbohydrates are consumed, for every gram that is stored, 3 grams of water are also stored.
3) Hormones
Women retain water throughout their menstrual cycle, especially towards menstruation, and both men and women can retain water when stress hormones are chronically elevated.
4) Dehydration
The body retains water when dehydrated.
5) Food Weight
Some foods have a higher ‘gut residue’ which means they can stay in the gut for longer.
Many weird things will happen throughout a diet: Big Initial Drops
Sometimes your weight will drop significantly (4-5lbs in 1 week), especially at the start of a new diet. The majority of this will be water and not fat loss because cleaning up your diet will almost always involve the removal of foods high in carbohydrates and salt. So, after you see an initial big drop, don't make any changes, just re-assess after another week or so.
Sudden Weight Gain
If you've been 100% adhering to your diet, a sudden increase is likely to be water rather than body fat. Ask yourself the question: "Did I overeat yesterday?" If the answer is no then it's unlikely to be an increase in body fat. Ignore it, and continue tracking progress. Re-assess after another week or so.
Sudden Weight Loss
Just as gaining lbs of body fat over night isn’t possible, you cannot suddenly lose lbs of body fat overnight. Sudden drops will be water exiting the system. Don't react, continue what you're doing.
Sudden Stalls in Weight loss
The body only adapts to weight loss over a period of months, not days, so there's a high chance this stall is due to water retention - don't panic. If you have been adhering to your diet and losing weight consistently, be patient and don't change anything.
Here's my advice for weighing yourself accurately and correctly:
Weigh at the same time DAILY.
Weigh first thing in the morning, NAKED, before you eat or drink anything, and after you use the bathroom.
Use the same scales and the same surface. It must be a hard surface.
Ignore individual readings and compare the weekly average week to week.
Remember that body weight is an indicator of how much you've lost, but not what you've lost so don't react to any sudden spikes, drops, or stalls. Be patient, be 100% adherent to your diet, and check the averages week to week.
If you would rather leave the tracking to the professional, and you're ready to start your life-changing transformation, enquire today and let's kickstart your fat loss journey.
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