Q: sometimes I'll weigh myself in the morning at 200 pounds and the next morning I am 204 pounds then the following day I'm 200 again. I cant explain it. I know it has nothing to do with gaining 4 pounds of fat or muscle nor with what I have eaten since my diet is the same every day. And sometimes my weight will stay at 204 for 5 days then it will go back to 200 which is my regular weight.What is going on?

A: This pretty normal, though inconvenient. The plumbing in your body is not perfectly regular and sometimes the food and water will stay in you longer than at other times. Plus no matter how strict your diet is, you always have some differences between the kind and the amount of food and water/drinks you take in from day to day. 4 pound swings while eating the same thing does seem like a lot, but it can certainly happen.

Because there is no way to prevent it, other than stick to your diet as closely as possible (and it sounds like you are already doing that), my recommendation is to track long-term trends in your weight. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning right after using the bathroom. You can skip days when you just obviously feel bloated in the morning -- your weight will likely be unusually high on those days. Record that weight and keep track of trends over weeks and even months. For example if you are trying to lose one pound per week, the first week you may find your weight fluctuating between 200 and 204, second week 199-204, third week 198-203, fourth 198-201, fifth 196-202, sixth 195-200, and so on... While no one measurement can necessarily be taken at face value, a long-term trend is pretty evident and in this case you can see that you are pretty close to one pound/week goal pace.

Because of this it's also important to stick to your program for more than just a couple of weeks before making dramatic changes. When starting on a bulk or a cut cycle, it's very common to have a big jump or drop in weight in the first week as your body adjusts to the new diet. Don't panic! Ignore the big changes in first week and give it time to determine whether and how well the new plan is working. If you you invest time into learning to track your weight, you will be able to adjust your diet faster and with more precision in the future.