My weight fluctuations are crazy!

[dallaswynn]

I am 36 yo and am trying my damndest to bring my body fat down. I don't have an accurate form of measurement for my bf%, so I am simply eyeballing what I want aesthetically. Here is the run down:
I am eating around 1300 cals a day; yes I measure my foods, no cheating, eat at the same times every day, I even eat the same menu for the entire month.
My weight this month has fluctuated as such: 148.2, 149.2, 148, 145.6, 148.6, 146.8, 147.8, 148.8, 149.2. I simply don't understand! I drink the same amount of fluids and weigh at the same time daily (upon waking and voiding my bladder). I can explain the 145.6 flux because I had an extreme day with only 690 cals of protein fluff....so I was literally empty.
I understand that people will say, "your metabolism is effed" or "you can eff your metabolism".......the science doesn't support this hypothesis.
Anyway, I should be losing at the very least 1 1/2 lb a week! I'm 5'6" and lift 6 days a week. I am making strength gains and I am losing fat; I keep a photographic record and you can see the difference in appearance, but wtf is my weight doing? I would find it very hard to believe that I am making lean gains on such a deficit. I would guess my bf% around 15%.
Any thoughts?

[SNAKEBITER]

From what I understand a good way of measuring body fat is with callipers, I have invested in a pair of cheap ones and will be giving it a go, just to monitor progress as weight can be a bit misleading.

Isn't 1300 calories a bit low?

If you are gaining strength and losing fat then it's muscle being built, that's why your weight hasn't dropped.

I think you are weighing yourself too much, the nine values you state, are they for this month?
i.e. one a day?

If so, stop it.
Measure yourself once a week at the same time each week. That will give you a more accurate figure.

[shaneinga]

Are on the days your weight is bouncing up after a higher carb or sodium day? Water and glycogen can easily account for daily bounces in the scale weight.

How has your weight trended over the past 3 months?

[dazlittle]

I am 36 yo and am trying my damndest to bring my body fat down. I don't have an accurate form of measurement for my bf%, so I am simply eyeballing what I want aesthetically. Here is the run down:
I am eating around 1300 cals a day; yes I measure my foods, no cheating, eat at the same times every day, I even eat the same menu for the entire month.
My weight this month has fluctuated as such: 148.2, 149.2, 148, 145.6, 148.6, 146.8, 147.8, 148.8, 149.2. I simply don't understand! I drink the same amount of fluids and weigh at the same time daily (upon waking and voiding my bladder). I can explain the 145.6 flux because I had an extreme day with only 690 cals of protein fluff....so I was literally empty.
I understand that people will say, "your metabolism is effed" or "you can eff your metabolism".......the science doesn't support this hypothesis.
Anyway, I should be losing at the very least 1 1/2 lb a week! I'm 5'6" and lift 6 days a week. I am making strength gains and I am losing fat; I keep a photographic record and you can see the difference in appearance, but wtf is my weight doing? I would find it very hard to believe that I am making lean gains on such a deficit. I would guess my bf% around 15%.
Any thoughts?

You say you eat the same thing at the same time for a month in a row, then you say you had a 690 calorie day?
You say you measure your food and eat at the same time every day, then you use words like "around" 1300 calories
Maybe fix these two anomalies and track properly and consistently.

Your making strength gains and your losing fat, I would say you are doing what everyone on here WANTS to do!!!
I don't know how tall you are but 1300 calories is not a lot to fuel your day and your workouts.

How long have you been training consistently? Are you on a proven beginners routine? How long have you been eating consistently?

[tblodg15]

Those weight fluctuations are normal and nothing to be concerned about. The overall trend is what is important.

[grubman]

Those weight fluctuations are normal and nothing to be concerned about. The overall trend is what is important.

Yep...water and crap (literally).

[Garage Rat]

First off thats not a very big fluctuation IMO.
A few pounds either way is no big deal.
I understand your trying to bring your weight/BF down though.
You might want to try a calorie rotation with a low,medium and high day,the back to low.
It might look like this for you,1000 cal.day one,1300 day two and 1600 day three.
Try this for a month and see what happens.
It sort of tricks the body so it doesn't get use to the same intake day in and day out.

[kimm4]

You say you eat the same thing at the same time for a month in a row, then you say you had a 690 calorie day?
You say you measure your food and eat at the same time every day, then you use words like "around" 1300 calories
Maybe fix these two anomalies and track properly and consistently.

This.^^ 1300 calories is quite aggressive and the weight should be falling off of you.

[dallaswynn]

From what I understand a good way of measuring body fat is with callipers, I have invested in a pair of cheap ones and will be giving it a go, just to monitor progress as weight can be a bit misleading.

Isn't 1300 calories a bit low?

If you are gaining strength and losing fat then it's muscle being built, that's why your weight hasn't dropped.

I think you are weighing yourself too much, the nine values you state, are they for this month?
i.e. one a day?

If so, stop it.
Measure yourself once a week at the same time each week. That will give you a more accurate figure.

Yes, I weigh daily in the morning upon waking and after voiding my bladder. I am a very data oriented person and use the excess data to create graphs that I track. But, for my most accurate weight, I simply take the mathematical mean for the month. I have some calipers but I just am not that impressed with them. Once I get to a place I like aesthetically, I will go have it measured at a clinic. Good luck to you brother!

[dallaswynn]

Are on the days your weight is bouncing up after a higher carb or sodium day? Water and glycogen can easily account for daily bounces in the scale weight.

How has your weight trended over the past 3 months?

I would have to go back into my data to see about the last 3 months, but I would assume they have a small downward trend. As far as the food intake, I have eaten the same menu the whole month except for the one day of nothing but 690 in protein fluff. Thanks for the help brother!

[dallaswynn]

You say you eat the same thing at the same time for a month in a row, then you say you had a 690 calorie day?
You say you measure your food and eat at the same time every day, then you use words like "around" 1300 calories
Maybe fix these two anomalies and track properly and consistently.

Your making strength gains and your losing fat, I would say you are doing what everyone on here WANTS to do!!!
I don't know how tall you are but 1300 calories is not a lot to fuel your day and your workouts.

How long have you been training consistently? Are you on a proven beginners routine? How long have you been eating consistently?

I say "around" because I didn't want to post each days actual calories (I use Samsung Health app to track cals/macros). For the most part it is 1263 cals for the day, but it is hard to have exactly the same food weight everyday, so some days are 1260 and some are 1262 etc. For example, I eat slbl chicken breast in the evening and I try to get as close to 220g as possible but won't throw the baby out with the bathwater if it is 222g or 218g. I generally have the same menu everyday, but like I said in the op I had one day of 690cals only to jumpstart the week. I am 5'6" and entering my 3rd year of weight training 6 days a week. I am currently enjoying a 2 a week push/pull split, according to recent studies and from my most recent experience, it offers the greatest muscle hypertrophy. (Jeff Nippard has an awesome set of vids on this subject). I know I am doing well, but it just blows me away that at 1300 cals I am not dropping at least 2lb or just under each week. My BMR is around 1580 and I burn at least 200cals during each of my workouts according to the MET chart (weightlifting = 3.5METS). Thanks for taking the time to help brother!

[dallaswynn]

Those weight fluctuations are normal and nothing to be concerned about. The overall trend is what is important.

Thanks brother! I guess I just hoped to drop some bf% much faster on such a large deficit.

[dallaswynn]

Yep...water and crap (literally).

Thanks brother! I weighed myself yesterday pre/post.....um.....bowel evacuation, and it was literally almost 2lbs difference. LOL TMI I know, but thanks!

[dallaswynn]

This.^^ 1300 calories is quite aggressive and the weight should be falling off of you.

IKR!! This is the reason I chose to post! I know that there are a ton of folks out there that say they track their cals and literally eyeball their food, but I am legit weighing every meal and the scale is beating my ass. I will continue to track and maybe I will have a large jump soon when the body finally compensates for the change. I just hoped to see much more aggressive changes at such a large deficit. Thanks for the help!

[dallaswynn]

First off thats not a very big fluctuation IMO.
A few pounds either way is no big deal.
I understand your trying to bring your weight/BF down though.
You might want to try a calorie rotation with a low,medium and high day,the back to low.
It might look like this for you,1000 cal.day one,1300 day two and 1600 day three.
Try this for a month and see what happens.
It sort of tricks the body so it doesn't get use to the same intake day in and day out.

Great advice!! When utilizing this rotation, do you suggest I keep the weekly total the same? Thanks for your help brother!!