Gaining vs losing!

activities1

I've been sticking to a 1200 cal plan for 2 months and have lost 20 lbs. it has only fluctuated by about a pound. Now, the last 3 days I have gone from 165 to 167!! I know to some this may be nothing but I'm thinking WTH!! It could be some of the food choices but really doubtful.

Any suggestions to get it back on track and/or lose faster as well as low cal snacks such as celery??

dawn_westbury

Water weight?

activities1

I guess it could be but why am I retaining it I wonder. Since I've been doing for 2 months I don't imagine it would just now be adding the water weight back on?

mitch16

Weight fluctuates daily due to different factors. Maybe you hadn't voided before you weighed yourself this last time? Heavier clothes? Monthly cycle? Also--depending on what you ate you might be retaining water--did you eat at a restaurant lately?

heybales

Stress increases cortisol, increased retained water.

You merely focusing and stressing about no scale loss can actually cause you to gain.

That you have been somehow able to manage no more than a 1lb variation doesn't mean you won't see the much more average 3-5 lb variations possible.

If prior weigh-in was proceeded by a lower than normal sodium day, and this current was by a higher than normal - there's water weight too.

But - if it is indeed stress related - probably a good sign to come out of the diet and take a recovery week.

You then will indeed gain the water weight you lost in the first week - good metabolism increasing water weight.
Ignore the scales, only measure.
Then head back into the diet, lose that water weight again.

jjpptt2

100 things impact scale weight, actual fat/tissue mass is but 1 of them. 2lbs is well within normal fluctuations. I'd keep an eye on it, but wouldn't worry unless the upward trend continues.

Speaking of trends... do you have a weight trend app? They can be really helpful with things like this.

DebLaBounty

I use the weight trend app Happy Scale on my phone. It shows that while I've had a number of weight fluctuations over time, the trend has been consistently downward. I don't really get stressed about gaining a pound or two in a day because it's truly just water weight caused by some mysterious blip in the cosmos. Keep doing what you are doing, you're having tremendous success!

quiksylver296

Menstruation/ovaluation can both cause water to be retained. Higher sodium or carbs than usual can cause water to be retained. Travel/flying can cause water to be retained. High outside temperatures can cause water to be retained. New exercise can cause water to be retained.

Unless you ate 7000 calories over maintenance in the last three days, it's likely one of the above.

To help you self-diagnose, here's the chart. (Hint, if you don't have and use a food scale, start there.)

rmgnow

You must be incredibly tired on 1200

MegaMooseEsq

My weight loss has generally been very predictable, but I've been under a lot of stress recently and sure enough - up goes the scale! Just trust what you've learned over the time you've been losing and try not to worry about it. Unless you really did eat 3500 calories over maintenance every day for three days. In which case, well done!, but also, maybe don't eat so much?

AnnPT77

activities1 wrote: »

I've been sticking to a 1200 cal plan for 2 months and have lost 20 lbs. it has only fluctuated by about a pound. Now, the last 3 days I have gone from 165 to 167!! I know to some this may be nothing but I'm thinking WTH!! It could be some of the food choices but really doubtful.

Any suggestions to get it back on track and/or lose faster as well as low cal snacks such as celery??

At a starting weight of 185, 20 pounds in 2 months - around 2.5 pounds a week - is very fast loss indeed . . . possibly unhealthily fast. I'd suggest reconsidering the idea of losing faster.

I agree with those who say that if you haven't materially changed your eating or activity - either exercise or daily life activities - it's most likely a water weight fluctuation.

However, at around a 1250 calorie daily deficit while eating 1200, I wouldn't discard stress/cortisol, unnoticed NEAT down-regulation, or underfueled workouts as potentially playing a partial role if loss rate slows.