Huge Weight Fluctuation

PicoBoulevard

I've been maintaining for a year within the 119-121 range. I'm 5'4. I weigh every day at the same time in the morning. I'm older and my dietitian has me on 1200 calories a day.
In July, I started seeing larger weekly weight swings (119-124). Then in October, the swings increased radically, with four pound differences almost every morning. Now for the entire past week I've been mostly weighing around 126-127, with only occasional drops back down to 121-122. But mostly I'm averaging at 126.
Is it possible that I gained six or seven pounds in such a short time when I haven't changed my calorie intake and log everything in every day?
The scale numbers keep scarily rising and the daily fluctuations remain very large. The only diet change I made (which I am completely stopping now) is that I began drinking beer in July after not drinking alcohol for several years. And yes, I faithfully log in the beer's calories.
I'm really scared and don't know if I can manage to cut down to 900 calories daily to try to stop whatever is happening to me. But if that is what it's going to take, I will do it.
I'm not on any new medications and have no thyroid problems. My activity levels have remained exactly the same throughout the year.
Any help, suggestions, observations, etc. is greatly appreciated.

AnnPT77

If nothing material has changed in either eating or activity, odds are good IMO that it's either water fluctuation, or (less likely) some new health condition (and that latter would be likely to have other symptoms).

You probably have thought of this, but for completeness, I'd note that activity means not just exercise, but also daily life stuff. Seemed like we had a spate of folks who gained a few pounds at the start of the pandemic when they went from office work to work-at-home. On discussion, it turned out that their incidental movement was much lower in the home setting, enough to add up to a couple of hundred calories or so daily (or more).

Even pre-pandemic, that's come up sometimes with people who (say) downsized from a big house with stairs and lots of yard/garden/housework chores to a one-floor condo or something like that. That sort of thing tends to lead to gradual gain over weeks to a small number of months, though, not an instant scale jump.

Quick stuff, IME, tends to be water-related. There can be lots of triggers. If you haven't read it yet, this would be a good run-down on the main possibilities:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

I'm around your size (5'5", mid-120s pounds), maybe age (I'm 66), but eating much more (2000+ most of the time), in year 6+ of maintenance. My weight has gone up and down a few pounds within the healthy range over those years from fat regain/reloss, but multi-pound water weight shifts have happened sometimes, too, and those can literally happen overnight.

I think my magnitude record was a 6-pound drop overnight one time; I don't remember the biggest upshift, but 2-3 pounds is totally common, and I'm sure it's been more occasionally. For me, usually I know the "why", but not always. So far, if calories (in, out or a combination) don't explain the change, it has always dropped off with time and patience.

If you feel bloated, too, then maybe see your OB/Gyn. (I've done that, during the 6 years. So far, so good, in results, though.)

Bodies are weird.

I hope you can figure this out - I can imagine that it would be really frustrating!

jillbleu

One frustrating thing about weight is that it fluctuates so much it’s beyond crazy and sometimes not reliable. I have had the same issue for awhile and then it goes away and abruptly comes back. cutting down to 900 calories isn’t healthy so please please don’t do that! it may help for a second but it will end up doing more harm then good. I think the weight changes just because that’s how the body is, I don’t necessarily think you’re doing anything wrong. for example during for new years I flew out to see my sister and since it was the end of the new year I allowed myself to eat more than I have in a long time. i’m talking a lot, i say down and ate a whole pizza by myself which is well over probably 3k calories right there which is over the amount i should have a day and i did that twice! she doesn’t have a scale so it was worrying me to see my weight but when I came back i saw that i actually lost about 2 to 3 pounds from when i left. I don’t think it’s the beer that did anything, sometimes our bodies just don’t make any sense. even though the number may get higher it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing anything wrong. sometimes i barley eat anything in a day and by the end of the night when i’m weighing myself I gained like 3 pounds. I would suggest being careful when it comes to weighing yourself because doing it everyday can make you overthink and i’m sure you’re fine. if you’re really worried I would suggest doing specific workouts that target fat loss or just drinking lots of water. What also could be happening is that since you have stuck to the same plan for such a long time it’s not longer working and you’re in a plateau which just means you may have to change things up a little bit. I would google plateau in weight loss for dieting and see what comes up with how to get out of it but cutting it down to 900 calories won’t work. I hope this helps some, if not i’ll do further research because I also have the same issue at times and wanna know how to fix it! have a great day

ChickenKillerPuppy

I’m your size too - 5’4” and about 122 pounds. I am 49 FWIW. I think that if you haven’t been eating 3500 calories over maintenance (to gain a pound of fat), you have not gained fat. That is generally my realty check - does the math make sense. Even if you were eating 200 calories a day more than maintenance, you wouldn’t just balloon up several pounds. Although I TOTALLY understand why that is freaky and scary. I would wait it out a little longer, keep tracking, but there is no way I would go below 1200 calories a day. I lose at an average of 1700-1800 calories a day and maintain at 2000-2100 calories a day just for perspective. I think if you were actually gaining fat it would be gradual. Just my amateur opinion, but I hear you, and I’m sorry you are going through this.

sbelletti

I can't see your age, but are you in your 40s by any chance? Perimenopause can cause some hormonal changes that affect the scale.

spiriteagle99

If the weight doesn't go away as quickly as it came, it would be worth it to see a doctor to make sure you aren't having thyroid issues or getting bloated for some health reason.

ahoy_m8

Ditto to bodies are weird. A 2-3 lb fluctuation is pretty small. I weigh a few pounds less than you, and my fluctuation is pretty small also, but what you are seeing I would call normal. I’ve averaged a 5 lb gain for a month for no discernible reason and then lost it as suddenly and mysteriously as it arrived. Weird. But normal.