Why do you weigh less after sleeping?

[MrRalphMan]

This has me a little puzzled..

 

In the morning, you always seem to weigh less then the evening/night before.

 

I work shifts, so today I was 12st 6lb when I got home in the morning and 12st 5 1/4lbs when I got up this afternoon.

Where does this weight go? It's not all into the tissue...

[Ewen]

Sweat and dead skin, as in the loss of.

Try weighing the mattress before and after, trust me, I'm Northumbrian.

[JamieP]

You lose a lot of water just breathing.

[jamesmark]

Did you take a dump and forgot about it?

[MrRalphMan]

Did you take a dump and forgot about it?

 

Not in the bed....

[Homer]

Your body is constantly losing weight (less so during sleep). Most of it comes from muscles burning away when moving them, which is essentially the body converting stored fat to energy (in the bigger picture). The energy is released as heat. Humans are essentially a big radiator, we take in food (energy) and release that energy as heat and "waste product"

[RedM]

That weight you lose during sleep is in fact the weight of the world. It's usually found on your back but when you sleep and forget about all your worries the weight of the world is lifted.

 

If you took that 3/4lb and multiplied it by the number of people on Earth it would actually be the same as the physical weight of the planet.

 

That's not scientifically provable but it is a fact.

[Charlotte]

That weight you lose during sleep is in fact the weight of the world. It's usually found on your back but when you sleep and forget about all your worries the weight of the world is lifted.

 

If you took that 3/4lb and multiplied it by the number of people on Earth it would actually be the same as the physical weight of the planet.

 

That's not scientifically provable but it is a fact.

 

That's amazing man.

[Mike]

Semen?

[Ewen]

Semen?

3/4lb of the stuff ? Thats almost a Vanessa Feltz full.

[Mike]

3/4lb of the stuff ? Thats almost a Vanessa Feltz full.

 

Is there a Marc Almond gag in here somewhere?

[RedM]

Is there a Marc Almond gag in here somewhere?

 

It'd take a football team to make Marc Almond gag.

[Mike]

It'd take a football team to make Marc Almond gag.

 

I think I read Feltz as Fez. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. There is no gag here. Move along.

[caseys]

As Homer and Jamie said, you do lose weight, both through breathing out moisture and also generally your body of course uses energy to keep your heart beating, body functioning etc, so you do use calories.

 

If you wanted to see more dramatic weight loss, I'd recommend weighing yourself after going for a number 2

 

I think my friend lose 3 pounds once in a matter of minutes.

[Geo]

You burn about 2000 calories when sleeping. So idealy you are in a state of calorie deficit for at least 8hrs through the night, so when burning the 2000 cals your body will lose weight. To find your true weight, as said above you go to the toilet first then weigh yourelf in the Buff. This gives the actual weight,

[stevie_b]

Your body merely using energy to keep muscles working won't lead to any loss of weight at all. That would break the Conservation of Mass law. You physically have to lose "stuff": as others have said, sweat, moisture on your breath, shedding dead skin, poo, pee, semen are all candidates. Sweating has got to be near the top of that list, assuming you have good nocturnal sphincter control.

[Whitesupraboy2]

You burn about 2000 calories when sleeping. So idealy you are in a state of calorie deficit for at least 8hrs through the night, so when burning the 2000 cals your body will lose weight. To find your true weight, as said above you go to the toilet first then weigh yourelf in the Buff. This gives the actual weight,

 

that cant be right can it, as the recommended daily intake for a bloke is 2500 calories which means I use 500 in the day.

 

Here I am exercising and crap when I should be sleeping

[Lbm]

Your body merely using energy to keep muscles working won't lead to any loss of weight at all. That would break the Conservation of Mass law. You physically have to lose "stuff": as others have said, sweat, moisture on your breath, shedding dead skin, poo, pee, semen are all candidates. Sweating has got to be near the top of that list, assuming you have good noctural sphincter control.

 

I think I like that as a band name. Cheers Steve

[stevie_b]

I think I like that as a band name. Cheers Steve

 

OK, as long as I get a cut of your earnings! Bottles of p*ss thrown at the stage don't count, you can keep them.

 

Might have helped if I actually spelt it correctly...

[Lbm]

You can have 50% of my net earnings and no p!ss - as long as you promise to send me the letter "n"

 

Back to the thread then...

[caseys]

Your body merely using energy to keep muscles working won't lead to any loss of weight at all. That would break the Conservation of Mass law.

 

Not really. Your body is pumping blood around, keeping constant body temperature where it can and the breathing cycle of lungs expanding/contracting will incur energy, albeit kinetic energy at a very small scale. Without circulation of blood, organs doing other work your body will just waste away, awake or asleep.

 

I admit to keep muscle healthy will not need much energy, unless you've got damaged muscle tissue from doing weight training and of course it's re-knitting/repairing over a period of rest.

 

I think it was something like 75-90 calories burnt an hour just sitting on your rear watching TV, so if you took away most of the brain activity, maybe 30-50-ish calories an hour burnt whilst unconscious?

 

If indeed we were looking at a closed system, where energy was not being expended, or there was no internal movement within the system, I'd agree with you there chap The body is an open system. It has an intake and an exhaust.

[stevie_b]

I think the body converts chemical energy (fuel, i.e. food) into heat and kinetic energy. It doesn't convert mass into energy: you'd need a nuclear reactor to pull that off.

 

If you weighed what you were about to eat and drink, and added it to your body weight, it would be exactly the same as what you weigh, say, a day later plus any poo, pee, sweat and dead skin you've excreted. None of your weight would be lost as energy.

 

You could do the same for a car. If you filled up a car with petrol and weighed it, it would weigh exactly the same after you'd driven around for x hundred miles, as long as you collected the exhaust gases, lost tyre rubber etc and included those in the final weight. The car converts chemical energy in the petrol to heat and kinetic energy. But the weight of the car+inputs always exactly equals the weight of the car + whatever the car loses.

[caseys]

I think the body converts chemical energy (fuel, i.e. food) into heat and kinetic energy. It doesn't convert mass into energy: you'd need a nuclear reactor to pull that off.

 

If you weighed what you were about to eat and drink, and added it to your body weight, it would be exactly the same as what you weigh, say, a day later plus any poo, pee, sweat and dead skin you've excreted. None of your weight would be lost as energy.

 

You could do the same for a car. If you filled up a car with petrol and weighed it, it would weigh exactly the same after you'd driven around for x hundred miles, as long as you collected the exhaust gases, lost tyre rubber etc and included those in the final weight. The car converts chemical energy in the petrol to heat and kinetic energy. But the weight of the car+inputs always exactly equals the weight of the car + whatever the car loses.

 

I agree with you there Steve, but Ralphman is asking why you weigh less when you wake up after you go to sleep, i.e no mass is being introduced to the system.

 

If you look at your basic metabolic rate http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ and put in height/weight it'll give you calories you'd roughly use without doing any exercise.

 

I agree with your about chemical energy, but petrol still has mass! Body-fat is mass, it's burnt off whilst you're asleep or awake, if your body does not have any other chemical/mass in the tank otherwise. Surely body fat is part of your overall mass? Yes it goes through a process to be used and converted into kinetic/heat energy, I agree no energy can be created or destroyed, just converted.

 

*waits for someone to pull the plane/conveyor card*

[Rayman]

I think during the nightly fast your energy stores deplete and get used up while you sleep, also you are less hydrated, i weigh about 2lb less in the morning.

[Geo]

that cant be right can it, as the recommended daily intake for a bloke is 2500 calories which means I use 500 in the day.

 

Here I am exercising and crap when I should be sleeping

 

true dude yup.