Why does my weight change every day?

Hey, weren’t you 200gms lighter yesterday? Yeah us too! We may be quick to blame that extra chapati or a spoon of ghee in the khichdi for that upward change, but in reality, such daily fluctuation can be attributed to our body doing its business as usual!

We might have observed our weighing scale giving a different reading almost every day. Sometimes we can identify the reason for this changing weight, like a heavy meal close to bedtime, or even a good night’s sleep. These daily fluctuations depend upon two aspects, one the physical part, like what we eat, and second the mental part, what we think our weight is. 

When we are trying to lose weight, it is a common mistake to believe that body weight fluctuation is due to fat loss or fat gain. Though this could be true also, there are several other reasons which affect our daily weight.

So why does the frustrating weight change from one day to another? The below factors contribute to the increase or decrease on the scale.

1. High intake of sodium: High-salt foods can cause water retention. This extra water adds to the daily weight fluctuation. Many of us may not be using table salt a lot but sodium is hiding in many innocuous places like cold cuts, frozen meals, frozen snacks, savory sauces, etc. Ready-to-use meals, curries, or soups are also major culprits of hiding extra salt.

Some of us are more sodium-sensitive and may retain water while others are less sensitive. To find out if we are predisposed to sodium sensitivity, it is best to get a complete health and wellness DNA test. Genetic testing will help identify our predisposition to certain traits.

2. High intake of carbohydrates: Love for carb-rich foods like pasta, bread, rice, and other starchy foods may result in the weight shift seen on the scale. With every gram of carb consumed, our body tends to retain about 3 grams of water to store the fuel source.

So if we eat a carb-rich diet, then our body is most likely to retain more water and show an increase in water weight and not fat gain. Along with this, many high carbohydrate foods are also sodium-rich like pasta.

1. Smoking: Smoking affects how our body’s metabolism as a whole. Nicotine is known to release a ‘fight or flight response in our body. This response impacts the appetite of everyone differently, which in turn will affect the diet and weight.

Quitting smoking also triggers weight gain for some people. If we are aware of how our body will react to the process, then we can healthily manage weight.

2. Menstrual cycle: Most women undergo a certain degree of bloating or water retention immediately before or during the menstrual cycle. This type of bloating has been linked to either hormonal changes or the food craving which women mostly get before their cycle. These cravings usually mean that we would eat certain foods or eat more during that time.

It’s important to manage a menstrual eating pattern if one tends to eat more or different food during those days.

3. Sleep pattern: Research suggests a link between sleep deficiency and a negative impact on metabolism. When we sleep less than 8 hours, we are slow and less alert. This in turn causes us to reach out to food and drink which are made to give a kick to our sluggish system – like tea, coffee, doughnut, etc for a quick shot of energy.

We may be able to become alert temporarily with this type of comfort food but it leads to a vicious circle of – too wound up with extra cuppas, again less sleep, again kick shots the next day with carb-rich food, takeouts to avoid cooking due to low energy, etc. And all this ultimately leads to weight gain.

4. Bloating: Bloating around the abdominal region can be due to several factors including digestive conditions, hormonal changes, medications, or even a predisposition to have gastric anomalies genetically. This bloating affects our weight gain indirectly due to lethargy, lack of exercise, or reaching out for comfort food when feeling bloated.

If our parents or family members are suffering from certain conditions which cause abdominal discomfort and bloating then the chances of it being passed on to us is higher. Hence, it is best to understand our body and its genomic wellness.

5. Intolerance to certain foods: Many times, we have noticed that some foods cause our body to react in a certain manner – like milk may cause many people to face symptoms like stomach ache, bowel irritation, or even extreme reaction of vomiting – where our body rejects the food consumed.

Food sensitivity like bloating doesn’t directly cause weight gain but it affects our metabolism and our emotional well-being and we look out for comfort food. Our tendency to be intolerant to certain food or its by-product is linked to heritable traits.

If it’s in our genes then there are higher chances of us being intolerant to certain foods. To find out and be aware of if we are susceptible to this – it is advised to get a DNA test for holistic wellness. The recommendations and guidance based on a one-time DNA test done by NuGenomics will help us be prepared to address our unique body needs for weight management.

As we have seen in this article there are many reasons for weight fluctuation – some directly leading to weight gain and others leading to water retention. There is no ideal weight for a body. It is a unique feature of each body depending upon the genes, gender, height, lifestyle, environmental limitations, etc. We should strive to take charge of situations in which we can understand our genetic makeup and how it can affect our weight fluctuation and what we can do to address it.

Our endeavor is always to guide toward healthy weight management through DNA testing and a healthy meal plan for weight loss. All plans at NuGenomics are guided by the bespoke needs of each body both outwardly and genetically.