Someone help me, please.

I just don't understand why I fluctuate SOOO bad. I will weigh myself and within a day or two I will either drop or gain 5 pounds. It's completely sporadic and I don't understand it. I am 5'1 175 lbs. I used to be like 130 but I put on a ot of weight with my recent pregnancy. HELP.

Don't worry, you are not alone.  Everyone's weight varies by five (or so) pounds per day.  The best way to get an accurate weight is to weigh yourself once a week on the same day and at the same time. 

I am always about 2 pounds lighter on Saturday mornings, so that my favorite time to check :)! 

Read this article -- it explains a lot about weight fluctuations

My weight always, and I do mean ALWAYS fluctuates up by about 5 pounds. Heck just a week or so ago it went up 6 pounds!  This is just the way my body works. Obviously it's not 5 pounds of fat, just excess fluids and possibly other variables like waste, undigested food, and maybe even posture.

It can be tremendously frustrating, but you just have to be understanding and accepting. Best to either avoid the scale as much as possible (weigh-in once a week), or to weigh-in every day and calculate average at the end of the week.

The only thing that matters is an  overall steady weight loss trend despite the daunting fluctuations. You have to be patient to allow this trend to reveal itself over an extended period of time.

If you're sticking to a healthy diet and sustaining a calorie deficit, then you will be steadily dropping fat despite the artificial gains. You just gotta be patient.

Mortalmonkey, I'm glad I just read your post.  I just stepped off the scale, and the last couple weeks, my weight trend is going the wrong way!  It's like it's creeping up, and I'm doing what I've always done to help me lost the weight.  TMI, but it is a week before TOTM, but, still.  Very frustrating.  I did eat mass amounts of fiber this week, and it may not all be out of my system, too.  I sometimes think I have this pattern you do, too. It's good to hear we are not alone.

Thanks coach_k.  I think I have read that some time ago, but that's one of those articles you need around to read again and again, to make you feel a little better,and remind you of what it could be.  Some of those factors it mentions,(most of those factors!) could be whats contributing to my number on the scale. 

Let me toss in a something I didn't read.  You should take measurements. Then you'll know you're getting smaller even if your not getting lighter.  Muscle weighs more than fat.  That's why the women on Biggest Looser have a harder time with the scale than the men do.  They're losing fat but gaining muscle and so the size but not the weight go down.

Also, the labels on cans of food are not very accurate.  Read the labels on the different sizes of light mayo some time...They say the same amount of mayo has different calories?  How can that be?  Anyway, my point is, you're probably getting a lot more sodium than you think sometimes.  Water weighs a lot and can very from hour to hour.

Normal. Weigh yourself once or twice a week. At the same time. In the morning before you eat, after a shower and going to the bathroom is the best time. Don't focus on the scale. Water weight, how much food you have in your system, swelling, recent bathroom visits and so on can effect your weight.