You should step on the scale first thing in the morning. That's when you'll get your most accurate weight because your body has had the overnight hours to digest and process whatever you ate and drank the day before.
For the most accurate weight, weigh yourself first thing in the morning. “[Weighing yourself in the morning is most effective] because you've had adequate time to digest and process food (your 'overnight fast').
Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day based on many factors, such as hydration, what you eat, and hormones. Thus, it's best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning. As you measure your progress, you'll also find that you get more accurate results by weighing yourself at the same time each day, too.
Most significantly, your body is dehydrated because you haven't been consuming any liquids for several hours. So in the morning, you're carrying about 3-5 pounds less water weight than you are in the afternoon.
In the morning our stomach is empty and the body's water is lost through sweat, respiration and urination. Due to these factors, we feel lighter.
Is it true that we weigh less in the morning? Generally, yes, because you don't have the added weight of a recent undigested meal. During the day, when you're eating and drinking, those foods (and fluids) add weight—at least until they're digested and excreted.
You should step on the scale first thing in the morning. That's when you'll get your most accurate weight because your body has had the overnight hours to digest and process whatever you ate and drank the day before. And you should try to turn that step into a regular part of your routine.
As soon as you bend down, the muscles in your body that do the bending also act to pull up the lower half of your body. So this reduces the pressure your body places on the scales, and make you appear to weigh less.
The average adult's body weight fluctuates between 1–2 kilograms (kg) or 2.2–4.4 pounds (lb) over a few days. Numerous factors influence a person's body weight. Individuals have no control over some factors, such as their genetics, age, and gender.
“Your weight won't be consistent if you weigh yourself on Friday and Monday,” she says. “Many people have a different routine on the weekends. They might eat out more, drink alcohol or snack more. Compare that to Friday, if you've been eating consistently for five days, and you'll see a big difference.”
“Your skin is the largest organ in the body and absorbs fluid easily,” says Dr. Keith Kantor, a leading nutritionist and CEO of the Nutritional Addiction Mitigation Eating and Drinking (NAMED) program. “After a swim or a shower, your body can absorb 1 to 3 cups of water, increasing your true weight by a few pounds.”
Your lowest weight of the day will be after you wake up and empty your bladder. You may choose to weigh yourself at another time of day, but you must continue to weigh yourself at that time on the same scale for an accurate measurement.
Muscle is denser than fat, and as it is more compact within your body, as you gain muscle mass, you end up looking thinner, no matter your physical weight. So, if you've been doing a lot of strength training lately, it's likely this is the reason that you're looking fantastic but not dropping those numbers.
Transitioning from a very low calorie and low carbohydrate diet to a low calorie and moderate carbohydrate diet often leads to a weight gain of 1-2 kgs in a matter of one day. This is mainly because of a sudden increase in the carbohydrate content which is stored along with water in the body.
You've gained muscle.
And here's an often overlooked fact: Muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue. So as you gain more muscle and lose fat, you change your overall body composition, which can result in a higher weight, but a smaller figure and better health.
Do you ever wonder why the number on the scale doesn't move after you've made many changes to your diet and lifestyle? When the scale doesn't move, you are losing body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight may stay the same, even as you lose inches, a sign that you're moving in the right direction.
If you're losing inches but maintaining your weight and you regularly strength train, you may actually be losing fat and gaining muscle. The process of gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is called body recomposition. Most scales don't differentiate between the amounts of body fat and muscle you have.
Bloating may occasionally add a pound or two, but it doesn't actually signify weight gain. A simple way to tell the difference between bloating and weight gain or fat is how your stomach looks and feels. If your stomach is tight and hard, then bloating is the cause. If your stomach is soft and thick, then that's fat.
Exercise, eating habits, and even whether you drank any alcohol the night before can all affect the number on the scale. Generally speaking, though, you are going to weigh in with the greatest consistency in the morning when you have not eaten or participated in strenuous physical activity in several hours.
The thing that's most important when it comes to weighing yourself, either weekly or daily, is at what time. Most researchers agree that it's best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning.
When you hit the lowest weight on the scale you will ever hit, that is an artificially low weight. You are probably running low on muscle glycogen and you are probably a bit dehydrated. Your actual true lowest body weight when it isn't depleted is probably a few pounds heavier.
As you sleep, your body burns calories, causing you to lose between 1 to 4 pounds of your weight overnight; this weight loss can be regarded as temporary weight loss because you need to consume fewer calories than you burn to avoid weight gain.
Urination and your weight
Urination may also cause other minor changes in body weight. For example, when you drink a large amount of water, you may notice that the number on the scale increases slightly. Contrarily, when you urinate, it decreases slightly.
Water can affect some properties of your hair. For example, your hair can weigh 12 to 18 percent more when it's wet. Wet hair can also stretch 30 percent longer without damage.
If you are on a low-carb diet, it will help you lose weight as there will be water loss from glycogen in the muscles. But in this case, fat will not burn. Also, if you are doing cardio, you may lose weight quickly but burning belly fat might take time.