I’ve been dieting since July 15, and while things have slowed down a bit, they are still moving in the right direction. I am down 29 pounds, and am very happy about that.My morning post-shower weight is always a pound less than the weight I am when I wake up. And 3-4 pounds lighter than the weight I am right before I go to bed.
Why is that?
Not to get graphic, but let me just say that although I know that what goes in must eventually come out, nothing much is happening on that front between the time I go to bed and the time I wake up, other than emptying my bladder once in the morning. And, me not being George Castanza, nothing is happening on that front during my shower. (Seinfeld fans will get this one, it’s too embarrassing to try to explain it to the rest of you…)
So here is my question – what is causing the weight loss between going to bed and my morning weigh-in? I know that I am digesting my dinner and burning a few calories, but 2 and a half pounds? Is it really all water? I’d have to weigh my morning urine to be sure, and am hoping not to have to do that to answer this question. But I know that if I empty my bladder during the day, I don’t see a drop in weight, so I don’t think that is it.
And what is it about a shower that causes one to lose a pound? Evaporative water loss?
When you are tracking your weight loss, you need to be consistent about when you weight yourself, because there are rather significant differences as you can see, depending upon the circumstances. Clearly the weight I am tracking is my morning post shower naked weight. I’d be nuts to do anything else.
But the little part of scientist in me is intrigued by the variability in weight over such a short time.
Other similarly-intrigued dieters and non-dieters are encouraged to comment.
Family members reading this post will most certainly feel the need to comment on how I am my father’s daughter. And they will, of course, be right.
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I decided to answer my own question – See my post entitled: Why you weigh less in the morning
I too have always wondered this; apparently it’s a universal phenomenon. There’s a difference of 2-3 pounds between when I go to bed and when I wake up, and try as I might I can’t figure out what physiologically is going on there. I mean, you’re fasting for 8 or 9 hours so you’re burning off some glycogen and lipids, but I have no idea! Be sure to let us know if you figure it out, eh?
Keep up the good work!
When it comes to weighing myself, I am like you. Morning, post-bathroom, post-shower. Naked. If I weren't already bald, I would consider cutting off hair to take account for that weight too.
It's more than a little energy expended overnight…read this.
http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FBJN%2FBJN92_03%2FS0007114504002016a.pdf&code=92cdd280462d850e1d84a553e6b92ef1
That George Castanza link cost me 8 minutes, although it did include Courtney Cox.
I hate that effect, especially when I go to the doctor. I feel great, then get on the scale and am heavier (plus clothes!) than at home. It was especially discouraging when I did one of those hospital supervised weight loss programs and we were weighed at night.
I had a patient in the office today yell at my nurse over our “incorrect” scale and demand her home/naked/morning weight be written in her chart.
I am also rather fanatical about weighing myself in the morning, although for me it’s pre-shower, naked. Of course if I’d known I might weigh less after a shower I would have been doing it then!
No idea about the overnight weight loss but it’s intriguing. I just got a new scale that weighs in .2 pound increments, as if I wasn’t already obsessive enough about it. It will also store your weight and tell you if you’re up or down each time you weigh, which could quickly become TMI!
Forgot to say, way to go on the 29 pounds. Having done it, I know that much weight lost makes a huge difference in how you feel.