What is the most accurate time of day to weigh yourself?

Since the beginning of the year, I've lost about 15 pounds, mostly through consistent and extensive exercise (with increasing frequency and duration as I've gotten fitter). I haven't had too many burgers during that time, but I'm taking in 1800-2400 calories a day -- averaging about 2000 -- so it's not like I'm starving myself. As Angelina Jolie put it in the "making of" extra on the Salt DVD, if you exercise a lot, you can't help but lose weight.

Because I weigh myself at the same time of day, I know that the weight loss is real. On the other hand, my weight tends to fluctuate throughout the day by as much as 3-4 pounds. So it got me wondering, what is the most accurate time of day to weigh yourself?

Right after a workout (which is what I've been doing) is pretty much not the ideal time, because some of the weight loss is water-loss, which will get replenished. Is the beginning of the day, when getting up ideal? Or the end of the day, just before going to sleep?

UPDATE: Interesting -- your time running one mile may correlate to your risk of heart disease later on. Another benefit of exercise!

Comments

[Matthew Lewis]

I would think the most important thing is consistency. It doesn't matter much what your absolute weight is, what you're looking for is the change in weight. So just make sure you're weighing yourself at the same time every day.

[Jlwoj]

I do it in the morning when I wake up, but that's more about, as you mention, just picking a consistent time and going with it so I can measure a realistic gain/loss over time.

Anyway, I'm not sure what measure you're going for when you say "accuracy." If you want to know how your waistband will feel after a big lunch, you should weigh yourself at around 1:00 pm every day, but that's presumably not feasible. Unless you want to put a scale in your office?

[Tung Yin]

I guess I'm not entirely sure what I mean by "accurate" -- just a general sense that counting my weight as the low weight of the day is starting to feel like cheating.

On a more psychological point, I might put it like this: my goal has been to get down to 150 lbs (which is what I weighed in law school, when I was probably at my fittest). If I go by my low point of the day, I'm just 2 pounds away, which seems pretty close. However, at other times of the day, I can be as much as 155 pounds, and I start fretting. So I think if I envision myself as 150 pounds, it's really a question of what's my weight range throughout the day, and that could be 150-53 or it could be 147-50 or something in between. I'm leaning toward thinking that 147-50 is the range that I'd like to be at.

[James]

I don't think any time could possibly be more "accurate" than any other. I suppose by accurate you mean including as little waste, undigested food, and excess water as poossible. In that case, the morning, at least 8 hours after you last ate, after going to the bathroom and before eating or drinking anything would most reflect what is truly the weight of your body. Even then, you probably would have excess water. Maybe after working out, so you sweat it out?

Consistency is clearly the most important thing. Also, it may be enlightening to look at moving averages rather than individual data points, as that would eliminate the remaining variability due to uncontrollable factors.