Message Boards› Goal: Maintaining Weight
Speakeasy76
Member Posts: 130 Member
Member Posts: 130 Member
Tired of weight fluctuations
Speakeasy76
Member Posts: 130 Member
Member Posts: 130 Member
I know it's normal, but because I'm on an SSRI (with a tendency towards anxiety anyway), I get worried when I see the scale go up. For example, according to my scale I went up more than 3 pounds since last week. Now I know that it is not physically possible to gain 3 actual pounds based on my food/activity level, but as a female and knowing where I'm at in my cycle it doesn't make a ton of sense. I also think my scale is wonky sometimes, but as I said, I know weight gain is common with SSRI's, especially the longer one takes them (6 months plus). I continue to track and even though I've reached my goal, I typically don't stay right around 250-500 below maintenance weight according to my Fitbit (which probably overestimates a bit anyway).
I can lean towards being obsessive about things (who am I kidding, I definitely can be), so I don't want to get caught up in it, but I also don't want my weight to creep up again. Does anyone else battle with this?
I can lean towards being obsessive about things (who am I kidding, I definitely can be), so I don't want to get caught up in it, but I also don't want my weight to creep up again. Does anyone else battle with this?
Replies
How long have you been in maintenance? Also, if you've reached your goal, why are you trying to stay at 250-500 BELOW maintenance?
It is possible that what MFP thinks is your maintenance number actually isn't, but you'll only learn that from monitoring your weight vs intake over a period of time, rather like people do to find out what rate they're actually losing weight at. I thought my tracking was quite accurate until lockdown happened just as I reached my goal. Multiple different changes all occurred at once and then I actually found myself continuing to lose weight at my new maintenance number. I now aim for 100 cals a day above what MFP thinks I maintain at. My weight still fluctuates, but the trend is flat.
If you want to, enter your data into a trend tracker - and only be concerned if, over a period of a couple of months, it shows you're gaining. Otherwise, enjoy your new goal weight.
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
I've been in maintenance for 5+ years now at a healthy weight, after around 3 previous decades of obesity before that. In the last 7 days, my low weight was 124.4 pounds, and my high weight was 127. I weigh daily, and those weights were 2 days apart, midway through the week; it's been everywhere in between those two numbers on the other 5 days. 🤷♀️ That's completely normal, just randomly. (I don't even *have* cycles anymore, haven't for a couple of decades - I'm 65.)
I can completely understand being stressed about unexplained changes, especially if newly maintaining. Over the 5 years, I've learned to trust my process: If I haven't eaten 10,500 calories above maintenance (or moved that much less), a 3 pound scale jump isn't fat. Can't be.
Bodies are weird.
It sounds like you have approached this in a smart way, and you know how to manage the process. Rely on the skills and traits that get you to this point. You have what you need to maintain successfully. Also, I hope the SSRI works well for you.
I don't know that it's my scale, but probably more likely what others have said in other posts: that weight (even on a perfect scale) will fluctuate, and that I need to learn to be ok with that as long as I know I'm doing what I need to do to maintain. I know this already, but because I'm taking an anti-depressant, there is always that thought that it is what's causing the weight gain.
But they can indirectly lead to weight gain either by interfering with your hunger signals (shouldn't be a problem to people food logging/calorie counting and so consciously controlling their intake) or by slowing you down / making you more lethargic which reduces calorie burns from daily life as well as exercise.
If you have been on your meds long term any effects really should be stable and accounted for.
I think you really need to work towards acceptance rather than battling something that is normal. Easier said than done of course but fluctuations need to be processed logically rather than emotionally. The realisation that nothing significant happens in a short time scale does help twinned with the confidence that if you do get a genuine weight gain you can correct that. Maintenance isn't a flat line, often it's a series of corrections.