why can a person’s weight change +/- 5-10 pounds a day when they definitely aren’t eating 5-10 pounds of food/water a day. Where does this extra mass/wight come from?
In: 15
You can’t magically gain weight.
That being said short term fluctuations come from a few factors:
* Dehydration. Symptoms of dehydration start at 3–4% of water loss. If you weigh 100kg and 60% of your body is water that’s 1.8kg. So you can be 1.8kg “lighter” from dehydration without really noticing.
* Measurement error of the scale. However, most scales are surprisingly accurate with less than 300g (absolute) measurement error. In your case what matters most is how reproducible your measurements are. Just measure yourself a few times in a row and note the difference.
* Clothes. Clothes can be surprisingly heavy. A pair of jeans weighs almost half a kg. Same for a sweater.
* Bladder, stomach and intestine content. The bladder can contain around 600ml of water. Poop can weight half a kilogram.
In the end, if you want to track your body weight it’s best to measure it naked, in the morning, after you’ve gone to the bathroom and before drinking or eating anything. This should give pretty consistent weight.
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