Gaining weight on 'maintenance'?

LitheVixen

Hi all,

Last week I hit my goal of 50kg, after sticking to 1200 since June. The scale was wavering between 50 and 49, so it was quite inconclusive, but I wanted to stick to that number. I upped my calories to 1500, but consumed between 1200-1500. It varied, day by day. Quite frankly, I expected to have lost some weight.

This week I stepped on the scale, and the number said 50.6 kg - so that's a gain. I'm not sure why this would be.

A couple of questions:
- Is it normal to gain weight during the first week/weeks of maintenance? If so, why is that? How should I deal with this?
- How much weight is accounted for when speaking of 'water weight'? Do I retain water when I'm on my period?
Related; should I lose blood in between periods (this happened this week); could it then be due to my eating habits? If so, how could this be related, and should I consider visiting a doctor if it is recurring? Theoretically, would the water retention also happen during the time I lose blood?
(Did anyone have this happen to them, too? That'd be a great help.)

My diary is public. Sorry if they're a lot of questions, or it the topic is misplaced!

geekyjock76

You lost water weight when you initially began restricting calories. You recover that lost water weight when increasing calories back to maintenance. Thus, it shouldn't be observed as a "gain" in weight nor should you expect to remain at a static weight.

Temporary fluctuations of water weight can be as little as 1 kg to several kgs. Also, water retention is a common PMS symptom for women prior to and during their period (which is why you are heavier and bloated).

Regarding your bleeding in between periods, if it' persists for longer than 3 months, I'd check with your doctor. You can read this to know the various causes:

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/976.aspx?CategoryID=60&SubCategoryID=181

rick30316

It could have been as simple as a salty meal, but I think you can expect your weight to fluctuate a bit from day to day and even throughout the day. Just keep counting your calories and weighing every day until you sort out what your personal maintenance count is.

mjrkearney

Supposedly it's perfectly normal to gain a few pounds when you go into maintenance, as your body rebuilds its readily-available fat stores that had been depleted while you were losing.

There is a much more scientific way of putting that. I just have no idea what it is :happy:

Water can cause pretty serious fluctuations in weight given it makes up most of your body. Tracking your weight on a monthly or so basis will give you a better sense of maintaining than if you did it daily. Try a lovely Excel graph.

As for spotting, it happens to all of us. Well, logically about 51% of us. If it might be a possibility, pharmacies sell these tests that can let you know if your hormones are going to be out of whack of the next couple years. If it's not a possibility, and the spotting persists, see a doctor. I had 6-week long spotting that turned out to be caused by switching my birth control meds. My aunt had several year long spotting that led to a hysterectomy. You know your body.

KathieSwenson

1. Yes you can due to water retention
2. Every woman has the tendency to gain 3-5 lbs while in there period. (Sorry I'm from America we can't handle the metric system very easy. ). Kgs ugh! So hard to convert it. However am I correct that you are worried about lb or less. 1 kg = 2.2 lbs and per your response you went from 49-50kg to 50.6. Which would be a little more than a lb gain. Why are you freaking out about .60 kg? That sounds like water weight from either a salty meal or pms. Just a thought.
3. Bleeding between periods can indicate other problems. It depends on how much bleeding you are talking about. Is it spotting which could be caused from ovulation or a full on bleeding period like situation which could indicate a cyst or other issues. If it's more than a spotting issue and last more than a day I would advise to contact you obgyn. I had that happen and ended up in emergency surgery. Prevention is better than emergency surgery.

cwolfman13

1 - your weight isn't static...nobody weighs exactly XXX Lbs or whatever. You're going to have a range of natural fluctuations...for me this has generally been 2-3 Lbs either way of my average weight...i.e. on average I weigh about 183...but with natural fluctuations I've been as low as 178 and as high as 186 but usually I'm 180 - 185...but if I average my numbers out over time, on average I'm about 183.

2 - When you diet you have chronically depleted glycogen stores...this is essentially water for the purpose of not going into a whole bunch of science that you can research yourself. This is your body's immediately available energy and you are in chronic depletion when you eat at a deficit...glycogen has weight so when you go to maintenance your body is going to replenish/restock those glycogen stores...thus your weight increases on the scale...this isn't fat though...stop obsessing about some arbitrary value on the scale. Start focusing on how you feel and look...listen to your clothes and how you look in the mirror...the scale only tells one very small part of the story.

3 - TOM is going to further influence your fluctuations as will any other hormonal issues.

4 - you could also have simply held onto some water or something from having more sodium than usual or drinking less water than usual or something. Heck, maybe you just need to poop...

5 - stop freaking out.

LitheVixen

Yes; it's more than just a little spotting. It keeps going for a few days, steadily bleeding. Then it stops again, and disappears for a week or two. I'll go see a doctor for it, thank you Kathie.

And no, cwolfman13, I'm not 'freaking out'. It was a genuine question, that's all. 0,60kg is 1,3 pounds. I do keep track of my weight a lot and such an increase is not really common; hence I thought it might have to do with something I just didn't know anything about. There is no need to go off like that.
I did not know about glycogen, so I thank you for that info.

Seesawboomerang

If it wavered 49-50kg then it can waver 50-51kg. A continuing upwards trend over several weeks is all you'd need to get concerned about.

Everything cwolfman13 said is perfectly logical.

Probably check out the intermenstrual bleeding if it continues for two or more periods.

ETA I have had various types of intermenstrual bleeds - a couple of times was thin watery bright red blood and the result of uterine polyps (easily removed in surgery), more recently it's hormonal.