Did simply changing my goal make a difference? Or was it just a (big) fluctuation?

mtaratoot

This seems kind of crazy to me. Is simply changing a goal making the difference?

I hit my goal weight and switched to maintenance. That was great! I stayed pretty steady for a month and a half, although I was more active than usual (two river trips and a dive trip adds movement to my day).

Then, all of the sudden, and I'm not sure what I did differently, I started gaining again.

No problem. This is just fluctuations, right? Well, maybe, but I blasted right through the top of my goal range. Probably still just a blip, right? Well, maybe. I saw over two weeks of fairly linear gains based on scale weight that lead to a bounce in my running average trend.

Minor problem. I was about seven pounds heavier than when I started maintenance when I was smack in the middle of my goal range and right on my goal weight. I am NOT going to gain back what I lost. I am not going to gain back even half of it. So I figure it's time to switch back to weight loss from maintenance -- after about only six weeks. Then, in just a few days of weight loss mode, 3.5 pounds fell off of scale weight. That's half of what I gained in a couple weeks. My trend weight is going to start to decrease again. Aside from changing my goal, I'm not so sure what I've done to reverse my regain. Very odd.

The good news is I will get back into my goal range in the next week or so, or maybe even sooner. Then maybe I will chase it down to the bottom half of my goal range before I switch back to maintenance. Then let's hope I don't repeat this cycle, because it's kind of odd to me.

OK, I'll come clean. I have an idea what happened -- I got a little loose with my food tracking. I ate SO MUCH on my trips and just estimated an amount of daily calories. I know caloric expenditure rates on MFP are suspect, but I did log at least my diving and rowing. I didn't log running up and down ladders, loading and unloading the boat, or other in-camp movement.

This is why I find it beneficial to hop on the scale every day and keep track with a rolling average.

lorrpb

Good job upping it in the bud! Maintenance is not linear just like weight loss isn't. If the blip lasts1-2 weeks take action, like you did.