Menstruation & Weight Loss

kdavid1987 · July 2017

Hey all, I know that women can have their weight fluctuate quite a bit from their menstrual cycle. Last week I maintained my weight at 175.6 lbs and I was super upset about it. This week I weighed in at 173 lbs, so I feel like I probably maintained due to my period last week (I was PMSing and then started last week). Although I am happy to see the number go down I am having a hard time trusting it after last week. Anyone else have this issue? How long until you felt like you were able to accurately ascertain your "true weight"?

Just for reference:
29 year old female, 5'5
SW: 202 lbs
CW: 173 lbs (I think...)
GW: 150 lbs

astrampe · July 2017

Weight loss is not linear, it will happen when it happens. You can trust it once your clothes fit better......

kokonani · July 2017

It's normal to go up or stall during menstruation. Water retention.

kdavid1987 · July 2017

My clothes are already too loose LOL. I just want to stay on track. It's frustrating not to be able to trust what the scale is telling me. That week threw me off psychologically, although I'm sticking with my meal prep and work out routine.

Maxematics · July 2017

Oh, my cycle looooooves screwing with me. It's like those evil uterus comics floating around online where it looks cute but tries everything it can to make your life chaotic. Every time I ovulate or menstruate, I gain up to 4 pounds without fail. In fact, it stays there between ovulation and menstruation, then I drop up to 5 pounds after it's over until I ovulate again. It can be very disheartening for someone who isn't used to it. When I was heavier I didn't even notice, but now I know what to expect.

kdavid1987 · July 2017

@Maxematics I do think part of my issue is that I never tracked it before (because I was so overweight and not committed to losing) so even though I am almost 30 this is the first time I ever noticed! I feel you about the whole thing messing with you.

MommaGem2017 · July 2017

It's currently messing with me right now. I am so bloated I FEEL 5 lb heavier

AngieC1994 · July 2017

I was 157 on Monday, weighed myself yesterday and I was 159, I was soooo confused how I gained 2 pounds over one day! Then I got my period and it all made sense....

kdavid1987 · July 2017

Thanks for the insight ladies, I do appreciate it. It makes me feel a bit better knowing other women have this struggle!

Sashslay · July 2017

Shark week here too! I weigh in kilos and I'm up 1.5kg from my weight on Monday. I'm trying not to freak out though, I know it's probably water retention.

leajas1 · July 2017

If you don't have one already, use a weight trending app like Happy Scale (for iPhones) and Libra (for Android). Then you can just see the trend of that graph going down and feel good about it instead of focusing on the day to day fluctuations.

kshama2001 · July 2017

I gain at ovulation and right before my TOM. Because of this (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6846ZTBu08k&index=4&list=PLUXvX9BaxgqG9yO5XWB3gA_QshvrrcjVr

not_a_runner · July 2017

kshama2001 wrote: »

I gain at ovulation and right before my TOM. Because of this (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6846ZTBu08k&index=4&list=PLUXvX9BaxgqG9yO5XWB3gA_QshvrrcjVr

This!
I recently watched this and learned a lot!

I tend to not see much of a spike on the scale, but my weight always stalls for a good half of the month at least. Then I'll have a big drop all at once. Usually when I see a new "low" weigh in it is a true low. Only the high ones seem not to be trusted haha.

youngmomtaz · July 2017

Yup. Same crazy scale issues for me. Last week I weighed 8lbs more. As of today 1lb of that may be weight loss. The water weight try's to mess with my head every month.

zjpq · July 2017

Yes, I gain a couple lbs the day or so before it starts and can't depend on getting an accurate weight until about a week later. It really throws a spanner in the works (never mind the cravings and trying to have self control when you feel crazy lol)

brentleyann1 · July 2017

I gained .5 lb but my clothes acted like I gained 10. I'm in sweat pants because my lose clothes don't fit right. Uterus(es?) suck.

ahoy_m8 · July 2017

TresaAswegan wrote: »

I tend to not see much of a spike on the scale, but my weight always stalls for a good half of the month at least. Then I'll have a big drop all at once. Usually when I see a new "low" weigh in it is a true low. Only the high ones seem not to be trusted haha.

This! Serious dehydration is the only thing that would make my scale weight artificially low. And I'm not at risk for that. There are lots of water retention causes that can inflate my scale weight. So I trust the lows!

For a long time I tracked 7-day rolling average in a cut (and 28-day rolling in maintenance to net out TOM fluctuations). Then I saw a MFP comment re: 10-day low. That makes so much sense to me! Since switching to that, my TDEE calculations are much less variable.

annaclose123 · July 2017

Legit only clocked on to how much I gain the days before my period! I gained 4 pounds last month and once my period slowed close to an end I was back down, 5 pounds! So although I had lost a pound, I have gained 4 pounds of water weight during. This month, I think I'll avoid the scales! Haha

pennygm72 · July 2017

Perimenopausal here, I go through TOM every 10 days roughly, the water weight gain still sometimes gets to me despite knowing full well what is causing it. I also use Happy Scale and a quick look back reassures me that everything is still on track

Machka9 · July 2017

Two helpful threads:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10359984/women-menstrual-cycle-weight-and-fitness-matters#latest

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10482404/is-it-over-yet-the-perimenopause-thread#latest

ceiswyn · July 2017

I gain up to 7 lb before TOM. But looking back at my weight trend reassures me. I just tell myself that my weight for that week isn't 'real', and once I drop weight after TOM I know where I actually am.

kdavid1987 · July 2017

Machka9 wrote: »

Two helpful threads:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10359984/women-menstrual-cycle-weight-and-fitness-matters#latest

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10482404/is-it-over-yet-the-perimenopause-thread#latest

Thanks! I will check them out

animatorswearbras · July 2017

Chances are you didn't maintain last week you were probably losing fat but retaining more water, this week you got a double hit since the excess water weight came off too from last week, my weight graph always creeps up a bit or stays stable for a week or two then goes down faster for 2 or 3 weeks. You get used to the patterns

Sharon_C · July 2017

I don't understand what you mean by "trusting" the weight loss. It doesn't matter to me what the scale says. I just keep plugging along and stay consistent. If the weight goes up a little, it goes up and I keep working on shedding it. If it goes down and stays down then yay! Either way I just keep going.

Menstruation & Weight Loss

Replies

Categories