Possible Explanations for this Slight Gain?

_lyndseybrooke_

Please read the details before sending some knee-jerk response.

What I'm Doing: 1850 calories per day averaged over the week (about 1650 M-F, 2000-2500 Sat-Sun), lifting heavy 4x/week, 45-60 minutes of cardio 1x/week. Weigh in weekly on Saturday morning. One "cheat weekend" a month during which I keep my weekly average at or below maintenance.

**None of this has changed in the past two months other than switching up some assistance lifts every now and then. My calorie goal has also not changed. I've been lifting heavy for 5-6 months.**

Weekly Weigh-Ins:

8/2/14 - 128
8/9/14 - 127.2
8/16/14 - 126.2
8/23/14 - 125.8
8/30/14 - 128
9/6/14 - 127.4

So, you can see the jump of 2.2 lbs between the 23rd and the 30th. Nothing out of the ordinary happened that week. I figured it was just a temporary fluctuation, so I waited another week. It still hasn't gone back to normal. I know damn well I didn't eat 7000 calories over maintenance, which I would need to in order actually gain 2 lbs.

Before Anyone Asks....

Yes, I weigh my solids and measure my liquids. If you see a solid listed in cups or tablespoons in my diary, it's because I'm using the grams listed on the package to measure out exactly one serving, but I don't search for an entry listed in grams. For example, 1 T creamer is 5 g. I measure out 5 g and log it as 1 T. I do sometimes have to guess when eating out, but I try to overestimate and I haven't been eating out more than before.

Yes, I log every single thing that passes my lips, every single day, even on weekends, even if it's just one bite-size cookie.

Yes, I am close to my period, but I can't blame two weeks of weigh-ins on that. I usually don't see any weight fluctuations around my period.

No, my sodium intake hasn't been higher than normal and yes, I drink plenty of water every day. I don't feel bloated and I don't see any reason why I'd be retaining water for an extended period of time.

No, I don't expect to lose a pound a week or even a half a pound a week. I'm very close to goal (125 lbs), so I expect weight loss to be slow. It was abnormally fast last month, but before that I was losing about half a pound a week. A stall would've been fine, but not a gain.

No, my scale isn't broken. It's saying the same thing on both of my scales and my husband's weigh-ins have been normal.

Finally, no, I'm not obsessing over the scale. I'm not unhappy with my body and I know it's not all about the what the scale says. I'm just trying to find a logical explanation for a gain, but can't think of one on my own.

So, what could be the answer? Was the last week of weight loss a total fluke? Should I set up a camera and see if I'm eating in my sleep (joking, of course)? Have you ever seen an unexplained jump in your weight that lasted 2+ weeks? Did it ever go back to normal? I know I'm not gaining muscle while eating at a deficit - I don't take measurements until this weekend, but I suspect they're about the same. Something that was working before suddenly isn't working, so what gives?

DeguelloTex

I don't know, but I'm in for the answers.

My weight jumped up like five pounds a couple of weeks ago. It's coming back down at a reasonable rate, but the jump stands out noticeably. There was absolutely nothing different that week than in any of the weeks before or since and I've eliminated that long list of possibilities much like you have.

It's not the end of the world, but it was kind of annoying.

rileysowner

Since your measuring seems as good as most of us can get at home, my guess, and this is a guess, is this is primarily water weight. Water weight can remain around a long time, especially if the water is being used for some reason by your body. I assume you check your body measurements as well, so keep watching them and your weight to see what happens over say the next 4 weeks.

GiveMeCoffee

Haven't you been here long enough and asked enough questions to understand that weight fluctuates and bouncing in that range is normal?

MinnieInMaine

Could be hormonal. Some months I get more cravings and bloating around ovulation than I do from TOM.

Do you watch your macros at all? Sometimes a fluctuation in carb intake can make a difference. This is why a lot of people see major weight loss when starting a low carb diet.

Anything else in your diet change recently? Any new meds, supplements, etc?

ETA: I'm going to assume some things have changed during your workout routine - meaning maybe you do the same basic moves but you must be increasing the amount of weight or reps or something, right? That could still lead to water retention as you challenge your muscles to push harder.

a_stronger_me13

Is this even real? You are within your maintenance range of your goal. What do you think 3lbs is going to achieve?

Sounds like a case of dramaqueenitis.

ETA: How do you not see this as obsessing over the scale? Pretty sure it's the poster child of just that.

JTick

My weight bounces like that if I put my left sock on first instead of my right sock.

hellodangergirl

Mercury was in retrograde? ¯\o_O/¯

Honestly, it just looks like normal fluctuations that happen when you're maintaining weight. Variations can include increased stress causing you to retain water, hormone cycles (I know you said those didn't affect your weight before, now maybe they do?), poor sleeping, constipation, you haven't gotten a hair cut recently and your hair is really thick.

If you're using a wifi scale (Fitbit Aria or Withings), there's a website called TrendWeight that takes all your measurements and plots a moving weighted trendline (it's super statistics geeky if you want to read the full explanation). Visualizing your data that way may help you see if you're really gaining or if you're maintaining around ~127ish. The website also recommends weighing everyday for a more accurate trendline.

SezxyStef

To answer yes it happened to me on the week of June 30th.

Was at goal for calories and weight, no changes in exercise and it didn't move until July 21st...it took 5 weeks for it to go away and when it did...it stayed gone...and I have continued on my downward trend ever since...

j4nash

My weight bounces all over the place. Anywhere from 263 to 272 within a week. Could just be that your Saturday happens to be one of those fluctuations? Why not try weighing every day to see if this weight gain is consistent?

Branstin

The amounts below are your weight lifting totals for each week:

8/2/14 - 1770
8/9/14 - 1805
8/16/14 - 1885
8/23/14 - 1405
8/30/14 - 1755
9/6/14 - 1790

You reduced the amount of weights you lifted between week ending 8/16 and 8/23. Next, you increased the weights for week ending 8/30 which seems to coincide with the weight gain. Could it be water weight gain due to the increase in weights?

_lyndseybrooke_

Is this even real? You are within your maintenance range of your goal. What do you think 3lbs is going to achieve?

Sounds like a case of dramaqueenitis.

ETA: How do you not see this as obsessing over the scale? Pretty sure it's the poster child of just that.

For you and the other couple of folks that say I'm freaking out over nothing or I've been here long enough to know weight loss is not linear...

I'm very aware of that fact. However, I know what's normal for ME when it comes to weight fluctuations. If I "gain" weight during the week of my period when I've never experienced a weight fluctuation during my period before, then that's not normal for me even if it's normal for someone else.

I'm not even considering decreasing my intake because of this gain, so no, I'm not freaking out. It's just something I'm curious about. Any gain that lasts more than a week, even if it turns out to be temporary, sucks at the time. I'm just wondering what else could be going on that could cause something to happen with my weight that has never happened before. That's it.

_lyndseybrooke_

The amounts below are your weight lifting totals for each week:

8/2/14 - 1770
8/9/14 - 1805
8/16/14 - 1885
8/23/14 - 1405
8/30/14 - 1755
9/6/14 - 1790

You reduced the amount of weights you lifted between week ending 8/16 and 8/23. Next, you increased the weights for week ending 8/30 which seems to coincide with the weight gain. Could it be water weight gain due to the increase in weights?

Wow, thanks for that info. The week of the 23rd was my deload week. I've had two previous deload weeks and didn't experience this type of weight fluctuation, but I suppose it's possible.

Branstin

How was your sodium intake during the previous two deload weeks compare to the last one?

fivethreeone

My guess is that you learned something new recently, adding "knowledge weight" to your brain cells. I forget the technical term. You can google it, but it might show up on the scale.

DBoone85

My guess is that you learned something new recently, adding "knowledge weight" to your brain cells. I forget the technical term. You can google it, but it might show up on the scale.

This happens to me every day. My hat size has increased by 1 1/8 since I joined MFP.

(For those who read this and get riled up, it's sarcasm.)

_Zardoz_

Weight fluctuates except it and move on

vismal

Weight tends to fluctuate more and more as you become leaner. So even if these fluctuations have not been normal for you in the past, as you progress they will become the new normal and will likely get much worse. When I was fat I would reliably lose weight each week. As I got leaner I started stalling or gaining for no apparent reason but the overall trend was still downward. As I got very lean there would be points where I wouldn't lose weight for several weeks and then almost overnight several lbs would vanish. Here is the best article as to why this happens: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

My advice to you is to continue weighing daily but stop paying attention to day to day changes. Weigh daily right after you wake up after you pee, record those weights in a log. After 7 days, take an average. This number is slightly more meaningful then your daily weights but again, pay little attention to it. After a month start comparing the averages. This is much more significant and will show your actual progress. The advantage of averaging is if you happen to weigh in on a day where water retention is unusually high or low due to sodium or glycogen or any of the MILLION different things that cause fluctuations, you don't have to freak about the massive shift in weight. The averages will account for the high days and the lows days and give you an idea of what you really weigh. After a month goes by, your averages should go in the downward direction, if they do not then you need to either reduce calories, increase exercise, or both.

brower47

There's two questions you didn't pre-answer.

Why are you obsessing about normal fluctuations?

Why do you need to label each normal fluctuation with an arbitrary reason?

DavPul

we talkin bout quarter pound gains in the middle of the month? really? REALLY?

tar0809

I wouldn't worry too much! Maybe switch up your work outs or the foods you eat. Maybe one day you had more salt in your diet for that day. Water retention? I know people have told me that females will tend to fluctuate a lot with weight during their periods and such. This happens to me here and there too and sometimes I get frustrated but tell myself I'm doing all the right things so don't worry about it too much! hope this helps.