Water Weight vs. the Scale

A big part of the motivation to stay on any diet is results. Most experts seem to favor weighing in every week, but virtually all dieters I know that have been successful weigh in every day, or at least every other day. There are two keys to weighing in: weigh in in roughly the same time, space, and clothing every day; and don't freak out over daily variations.

The latter is especially true for the merely overweight: when you're goal is to lose 10 pounds over three months, you're not going to see a lot of change day to day. The "signal" of the pound a week is likely to get lost in the "noise" of day to day ups and downs.

When losing 5 pounds a week, however, results should appear after two or three days, even given natural variation. I found this summer, however, that often I would gain three or four pounds in a day, and keep that weight on for a day or two, only to have lost seven pounds when I weight in on day four. I was mystified by this, blaming an uneven floor in the new apartment, when I finally figure it out: it's summertime.

This week it's hitting 90 during the day, and only going down to 70 or so at night. My roommate and I have window AC, but are cheap, so when it's relatively cool at night with low humidity, we crank up fans, open the windows, and most critically: drink an obscene amount of fluids. My 32oz of required water rarely outlast breakfast. I'm making a gallon of sun tea every two to three days, a half gallon pitcher of crystal light every week, and I'm buying two liters of soda like they're going out of style. When I'm on the road, I generally buy a 44oz bucket of diet soda at the speedway, or 20 ouncers at school, or endless free refills when I go out to eat.

All of these fluids add up. Water weighs over eight pounds a gallon, and it's not uncommon for me to wake up, drink a quart or more, and then weight myself. Oops. I was obsessed with replicating my original weigh in at the clinic: khaki pants, shirt, full pockets, socks. In doing so, I ignored another principle: time.

My new plan is to weigh in first thing in the morning. With a breeze and a fan, between sweat and urination, I'm at my least hydrated soon after waking up. I won't be as able to compare my weight to my initial weigh in, but I will be able to track day to day changes a little more accurately. It also has the advantage of giving me a lower weight, as boxer shorts weigh very little. For those curious, my morning weigh in today was 320.6lbs