Daily Weight Fluctuation

I'm one of those people who weighs themselves every time I go into the bathroom (my scale's right between the toilet and the shower, I drink lots of liquids, I brush and floss frequently, I like numbers... you know how it is) and I was wondering if my daily weight fluctuation is normal and which weight is my "real" weight. In the morning (after peeing, of course) I'm usually 102-105, after breakfast and tea usually around 108-110, and by bedtime anywhere from 105-110. Is this to be expected? Which weight should I log? By the way I'm 19 years old, 5'4" and my goal weight was 108 (ideally 105-107, but I entered it in CC as 108), and now I'm trying to maintain (after having lost the infamous freshman 15). Any advice? (Yes, I know my weight is in the low range--it's normal for me and I'm comfortable with it, and I'm not underweight for my barely-5-foot-four) 

kiwiberry:  My reply is going to be very much in the "minority."  For over 4 months I have been writing down on a chart EVERY time I weigh.  Sometimes I weigh as many as 6 times a day, but usually I weigh 4 times a day.  There are two (2) basic weigh-inss I look at on my spread sheet: 1) average of my 1st and last weigh-ins 2) average of all my weigh-ins.  These two different averages come out to be very similar.  Most people, and I don't disgree with their reasoning, say to only weigh once a day, first thing in the morning and after you go to the RR, preferably.  For me, personally, I just don't feel that really tells me what I weigh for the day, however.  But most people disagree, and I understand why. 

In any case, here are some typical changes in weight that I experience on any given day and why I choose to write down and average all my daily weigh-ins:  One day: 172.2----170.60----174----171.80----171.60.&n bsp;  Another day:   169.60----168.00----170.80----172.40. &n bsp; So because I can vary up to 5 pounds, depending on the amount of water (fruit, water, juice, coffee, jello, soup, etc) in me, and depending how much exercise I do and sweat fluid out, I feel that I need to AVERAGE my weigh-ins to get an honest weight for me. 

So in answer to your question, I think you could try averaging your daily weigh-ins to get your weight.  Again, I am in the minority on this; most of the people in the Motivation Thread recommend weighing early morning and leave it at that.

Can do a few things.

1) Write down and record every weight. It should appear on a graph as a squiggly line, up some, down some.

2) Only write down the weight at the beginning of the day OR end of day. Too many factors can play with middle of the day weighings (and even end of day weighings... beginning of day is really the best).

3)Average all the weights and record the average down.

I usually only weigh myself in the morning because all of the weights after that one make me sad.  LOL.  It is normal to have a fluctuation throughout the day because it all depends on your water intake and retention and of course what you eat.  My doctor said that your "true weight" was the one from the morning, because that is usually when you weigh less.

Only record your weight at one specific time in the date either in the morning or at night.  I weigh myself all throughout the day too but I only count the one in the morining

Just out of curiosity, I decided to weigh myself intermittently throughout the day to see how the average would compare to my first weigh-in in the morning and to my average of the first and last weigh-ins of the day.  171.4 (just after waking up)--174 (after a good breakfast and a pot of coffee)--170 (after riding the exercise bike and lifting)--173.2 (after a light meal)--172.6 (after doing crunchers and hitting the heavy bag)--172 (after a long soak in the tub)--170.4 (after 60 minutes of light exercise bike work)--171.8 (after 6 egg whites and a glass of water)

First weigh-in:  171.4;  Average of all 8 weigh-ins: 171.93;  Average of 1st and last: 171.60

I think this is pretty typical for me as to how my weight fluctuates during the day.  I think all of you who said to weigh first thing in the morning are correct.  

Most of the medical tests are done with samples taken "first thing in the morning". The first urine, blood is best drawn before ingesting anything, same rule for a colonoscopy and so on. Weight measurement is no different.