Question for Women

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katherine_startrek_fan
katherine_startrek_fan Posts: 425 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Over the past two months, I've noticed a distinct drop in weight at the middle of my cycle (around 4 pound drop in a week). After, my weight jumps back up 3-4 pounds overnight. I'm wondering, is what others experience as well?

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  • MaggieLoo79
    MaggieLoo79 Posts: 288 Member
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    I gain a few pounds leading up to my cycle, but once it begins, they drop back off. Sometimes a little extra weight too!
  • adge1475
    adge1475 Posts: 77 Member
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    Yup, happens every month like clockwork. I don't psych myself out over it anymore. It leaves just as quickly as it comes up.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    No, my weight actually halts around ovulation, then halts again right before I get my period. I usually see a drop after each.

    I don't gain either time, though, unless I'm overeating - rather, my weight stands still for those time periods.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Yes. Totally normal and predictable. Keep at it, there will be a downward trend.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    There are lots of free period tracker apps out there, you can use them to monitor cyclical trends in weight, headaches, skin issues, and all kinds of stuff.
  • fenshae
    fenshae Posts: 27 Member
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    About a week before my period is due, I seem to gain about 5lb that linger until the end of my period. My rings get tighter, too, so I'm assuming it must be water retention, but I have no idea why it starts so early in the cycle.
  • corinic91
    corinic91 Posts: 148 Member
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    EWJLang wrote: »
    There are lots of free period tracker apps out there, you can use them to monitor cyclical trends in weight, headaches, skin issues, and all kinds of stuff.

    Was going to suggest this as well. I use an app "Period Tracker Lite" and compare with the "Happy Scale" app to look at trends in weight/TOM, etc. Very helpful info if you're interested, but don't stress about it. Unless you're overeating during TOM, the weight will drop back off.
  • WranglerMichelle
    WranglerMichelle Posts: 529 Member
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    From about mid-cycle on for me, my weight slowly creeps up anywhere between 4-6 pounds, then drops off (sometimes with a little extra!) a day or two into my next cycle. It's just water retention, but it's still annoying.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    My weight drops twice a month

    I fluctuate up and down the same couple of pounds for 2 weeks then drop 3 and repeat

    Hits my 0.5lb a week target
  • Angierae75
    Angierae75 Posts: 417 Member
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    I find that I don't gain, but I won't see a loss. So my weight will hold steady when I would have lost, but then the next time I weigh after my period starts (i weigh weekly, so its like the weigh in before my period = same weight as last week, the weigh in after it starts = two weeks worth of loss.)
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    I am not a big fretter about the numbers on the scale, so I actually weigh twice a day...right before bed and right after I wake up. I update my current weight on MFP every week or two by choosing a stable middle among all the data points. It's been pretty instructive and helpful to me, as I see my weight usually fluctuates in a 1 pound range, and bounces up a little right before the painters are in. I know that I generally lose half a pound overnight (water, obviously) and register about half a pound higher the day after a heavy lifting day (again, water)

    If you aren't prone to freaking out, I recommend it. I'm much more at ease with fluctuations now that I'm familiar with their trends and the patterns they follow. A tick up a pound doesn't mean I erased last week's work after all...and that is how it felt when I was only weighing once weekly. Now I see a steady downward trend in the center point of my fluctuations, yeay!
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    EWJLang wrote: »
    If you aren't prone to freaking out, I recommend it. I'm much more at ease with fluctuations now that I'm familiar with their trends and the patterns they follow. A tick up a pound doesn't mean I erased last week's work after all...and that is how it felt when I was only weighing once weekly. Now I see a steady downward trend in the center point of my fluctuations, yeay!

    I do this too. Once a day, not twice. But same principle. And I agree.

    I typically see a 2-4 pound gain a couple of days before TOM and it usually goes away 3-5 days after it starts. Knowing that this is my pattern (observed over the past 3 months) makes me freak out a lot less when it happens.

    Also, I notice that I will often see a lower weight on weekends when I tend to sleep in and weigh in later. If I wake up early for work, I might see a higher weight again Monday morning. Probably just because there's been less elapsed time since I ate last night's dinner for me to digest.

    Another pattern I have is a 1-2lb gain on a recovery day after a strength workout. That usually goes away a day later.

    Plot data points. But consider trends, not individual fluctuations.
  • mariaoutlook
    mariaoutlook Posts: 130
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    Hope it helps :)

    How menstrual hormones make women think they're putting on weight

    The effects of ovarian hormones and emotional eating on changes in weight preoccupation across the menstrual cycle

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