You Didn’t Gain Fat Overnight. We Promise. S*%ew The Scale.

There are many factors that can cause your weight to fluctuate, including:

• Water weight. This is the weight of the water that is stored in your body tissues. Water weight can fluctuate for a number of reasons, including:

  • Diet. Eating salty foods or foods high in carbohydrates can cause your body to retain more water (did you have some salty snacks before bedtime?)

  • Exercise. Exercise can cause your body to lose water through sweat, or retain water if you are strength training.

  • Menstrual cycle. Women often experience water retention before their period.

  • Medications. Some medications can cause water retention.

• Food intake. The amount of food you eat can affect the number on the scale. Imagine if you held everything you ate yesterday in your hands, while standing on the scale. Of course the number would change!

• Bowel movements. When you have a bowel movement, the number on the scale goes down.

• Muscle mass. Muscle mass is more dense than fat so if you gain muscle, you may see an increase on the scale even though you are losing fat.

• Body composition. Your body composition is the percentage of your body that is made up of fat, muscle, and bone. Your body composition can change even if your weight stays the same.

• Stress. Stress can cause your body to release hormones that can lead to weight gain.

• Lack of sleep. Lack of sleep can also lead to weight gain - if you slept like garbage last night, your cortisol is likely elevated, which means you’re retaining more water, which leads to the change in the number on the scale.

It is important to remember that weight fluctuation is normal. If you are trying to lose weight, it is important to focus on making healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle, and not to get discouraged by small fluctuations on the scale.

Take progress pictures, measurements and focus on how you FEEL. Your value and self worth have NOTHING to do with the number on the scale.