The scale is fickle: we lose weight when we pee or when we do a sweaty workout.
We gain weight when we eat or drink or put on a sweater.
But how much does that kind of fluctuation really impact the numbers we see?
I weighed myself fifteen times in one day to find out.
140.3 pounds at 9:16am: I step on the scale for the first time.
Ive just woken up.
Im wearing light pajamas.
138.9 pounds at 9:19am:After going to the bathroom.
Apparently my bladder can hold at least 1.4 pounds of urine.
Well, thats a new thing I learned.
141.6 pounds at 9:23am: Fully dressed, in jeans and shoes.
143.2 pounds at 9:24am: Oops, forgot my hoodie.
Thats 4.3 pounds of clothing in total.
145.4 pounds at 10:35am: After breakfast, which apparently weighed 2.2 pounds including beverages.
144.4 pounds at 11:45am: After pooping.
Thats a one pound poop.
147.0 pounds at 2:23pm: After late lunch/early dinner.
145.8 pounds at 2:28pm: Peed again, 1.2 pounds.
145.1 pounds at 5:58pm: Didnt do anything special in the last few hours.
Lost over half a pound!
144.3 pounds at 6:57pm: Ditto.
Another half pound gone.
Losing weight is easy!
142.4 pounds at 7:04pm: In workout clothes and hoodie.
Im back to my pre-breakfast weight.
Now its time for a Nike Training Club workout (the one they call Lifted by Lunges).
142.3 pounds at 7:45pm: After a 30-minute workout.
140.1 pounds at 8:15pm: Naked, after shower, damp hair.
This is the least Ill weigh all evening.
142.9 pounds at 11:07pm: One last weigh-in wearing regular clothes.
142.4 pounds at 11:09pm: In my pajamas.
We typically lose a few pounds while we sleep.
I was down to 139.3 the next morning, within a pound of my initial weigh-in.
I think of myself as a 140-pound person, but my highest weight was 147.
My lowest was 138.9.
I knew Id see fluctuations, but I was surprised at how big they were.
