How much to you allow your weight to go up?

Phill2488
Phill2488 Posts: 97 Member
edited November 8 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Weight obviously fluctuates, and the number of the scale can't stay the same all the time. So how high will you let the scale go up until you realise that you're slowly falling back into you're old ways again?

I like to keep my weight at about 130-135 pounds. So far the highest the scale has gone up for me is 133 pounds, and that's only due weekends of drinking alcohol. And within a day or two I'm back down to 130 anyway. So I'm doing good so far
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Replies

  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
    Five pounds for me.
  • Phill2488
    Phill2488 Posts: 97 Member
    mamadon wrote: »
    Five pounds for me.

    So if the scale goes above 5 pounds to you go back to eating in a calorie deficit?
  • meryl135
    meryl135 Posts: 321 Member
    I think it largely depends on your past history with weight-gain. Personally, I've come to the understanding that even a 2lb weight gain is a red flag for me. I typically drop back down to 1200 calories per day for a couple of days to get back in line. It helps keep me vigilant honest.

    Caveat: the 2lb gain does not include PMS weight-gain/bloating!
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    105-108, My weight is pretty stable unless I really go off the rails like 5x a year, but most of the time I dont fluctuate more than 1lb
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    I'm in maintenance right now and so I have a range of 145-149. If I went above 149, I would go back into deficit eating until back into the range for a while.
  • Changeisachoice
    Changeisachoice Posts: 63 Member
    I seem to stay around 140-145. If I went above 145 I would reevaluate my eating.
  • fsumarie1
    fsumarie1 Posts: 1 Member
    114-119 ...same here, 5lb range.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It's not so much how high...on average I can fluctuation a good 3-5 Lbs. What I tend to look at is the average.

    For example, right now I average about 186...I have averaged about 186 for the past few months...but this morning I was 190...last Saturday I was 184. If I start to see the average actually creep up, that's when I take action (or not) and make adjustments (or not). This requires weeks and months worth of data.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    Depends on the individual really.

    Some naturally hold on to more water weight than others which would need a larger variance.

    Of course the ladies have to deal with any additional flux the female cycle may or may not bring.

    For me, it has been 2-3 lbs flux range but it has been over a yr & I usually flux about 1 -2 lbs. I also have a definitive 'warning' weight that if I reach I'd look at what I may or may not be doing different to cause the out of norm variance. It is also important to recognize normal flux from actual weight gain. :)
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
    zero, because the last time I slipped 15 lbs!
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    I have a 5 pound range. 125-130. I really don't want to go 125-126, and I'd rather not be 129+ but I also refuse to micro-manage it. As long as I'm consistently in the 125-130, I keep with what I'm doing. (Which means still logging, though I estimate more and use the food scale less than when I was losing.) Aiming for ~1900 calories in, 2000 out according to my Fitbit (which I assume to have a 5-10% error rate) and training for a 1/2 marathon. :)
  • sugaraddict4321
    sugaraddict4321 Posts: 15,894 MFP Moderator
    5 pounds, but only if it stays for more than a few days. If it's just a day or two I don't bother changing anything because it's probably just water weight.
  • radiatingkayla
    radiatingkayla Posts: 37 Member
    2ish lbs
  • sweetdixie92
    sweetdixie92 Posts: 655 Member
    I can safely say I fluctuate 2 pounds without worrying about gaining. If it starts getting closer to 4 or 5, I go back into *I need to lose weight* mode.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    edited December 2014
    Within 3 pounds
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    Due to hormones and large shifts in sodium consumption, I can gain or lose at least 5 pounds of water in a couple of days, so I would say more like 7 lbs as long as it appears to be water weight.
  • cjames010
    cjames010 Posts: 86 Member
    When I started maintenance in June, I thought 5 pounds would be a good range. However, I've noticed that I only fluctuate about 3 pounds.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    not one bit, its all about maintaining for me.
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
    Phill2488 wrote: »
    mamadon wrote: »
    Five pounds for me.

    So if the scale goes above 5 pounds to you go back to eating in a calorie deficit?

    Well, it hasn't happened so far, but yes.
  • maria_antoinette
    maria_antoinette Posts: 239 Member
    I have been on maintenance for a while.. and will weigh myself usually once a month.. if i have gone up 5 lbs.. i start to login my food to make sure i am not eating to much.. i follow PALEO and IF... I also just eat low carb if i am feeling bloated before an event... if i let it go more then 5 lbs. that will turn into 10 or 15 in no time...

    45 Years old
    133 Lbs. (maintaining strong) with some vigilance
    128 Goal weight ( which i never reach) its ok though...maintaining is enough...

    *** however i can go up easily to my highschool weight of 160 if i dont watch it ***
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    The fluctuations for me have to do with salt. I know when I have had too much salt. Drinking alcohol for me will show up as weight gain and water weight gain. My body seams want to store it or at least hold on to it until I get my calories, water intake and sodium back down to normal.

    For example I drank alcohol over thanksgiving, and the calorie count was weight gain. Also alcohol cause dehydration, your body wants to hold on to every once of water!

    Drink a lot of water, get back to your daily goal and it will be ok at the end of the week or next time you weigh in if that is weekly or bi weekly or ???
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    My goal weight has a 5lb range, at which I try to stay a pound or so above the bottom. So I stop at the top of my range, which ends up being about 4lb.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Well, it depends if you include the PMS weight gain. But for me my comparison point is about a week after my period ends, and I'm not planning on letting it creep up more than 2 pounds from there, honestly (which makes 5-6 total if you include the monthly water weight). Heck... even one. If I see the scale go up at all, I'll just eat a little less that month if I can.
  • AgnesXNitt
    AgnesXNitt Posts: 15
    When I started maintainence in June 2013 I intended to keep between 12st 2lbs and 12st 7lbs but I've been sitting just under 12st since middle of June this year and I don't intend going up to more than 12st 2lbs now. I didn't have a goal in mind when my weight loss began, so sought medical opinion, and my Doctor and practise Nurses said I should sit between the 12.2 and 12.7 point. I'm 5' 11" so I though I would like to see if I could get down to 11 stone flat I don't think I ever could do! Happy to be sitting at the weight I am thank you!
  • Rose6300
    Rose6300 Posts: 232 Member
    I try to hover below my goal weight a little bit, as I'm most comfortable with that approach. I hit 130 in August, and have been hovering in the 127-128 range since, with a few forays into 129. Once I hit 131, but it dropped right back down with my regular maintenance eating. Didn't need to cut calories.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    My weight hardly fluctuates at all, compared to what I read others reporting. So, I maintain between 9st 4lb and 9st 6. I weigh in every morning and if I'm above 9st 6lb (ie every Sunday morning) I eat at a bit of a deficit that day.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    5# fluctuation. I would like to be 125#, but my body likes 130 and it is really a struggle to stay under 130#. I have gone up as high as 135#, but I monitor myself diligently. I do record everything I eat and drink daily as I tend to gain very easily. It is just the way it is for me.
  • maria_antoinette
    maria_antoinette Posts: 239 Member
    snowflake930 wrote: »
    5# fluctuation. I would like to be 125#, but my body likes 130 and it is really a struggle to stay under 130#. I have gone up as high as 135#, but I monitor myself diligently. I do record everything I eat and drink daily as I tend to gain very easily. It is just the way it is for me.

    hey same HERE!.. i just never get to 125.. lol.. i am always between 131-135 which is fine... the struggle to be 125 keeps me at a good head space to maintain under 135
  • Rien5
    Rien5 Posts: 51 Member
    Three pounds flex range. I'm 5'0 so my range is from 95-98. My weight doesn't fluctuate so it's pretty easy for me to stay right in the middle of that.
  • Anonycatgirl
    Anonycatgirl Posts: 502 Member
    My goal was originally 135, but I ended up a bit below it and liked it, so I'm trying for 132.5 as an average. Basically, anything between 130 and 135 is fine, though if I see I'm at the higher end of the range for a while, I'll be more careful. So far, I've only gone over 135 on a 2-week vacation and those pounds dropped fast when I was eating at home again.

    However, I'm being a bit more relaxed this month and figuring I may go a few pounds over 135 thanks to holiday treats. As long as my jeans still fit, I'll try not to panic until 1/3/15.
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