A 6 lb gain in one week? Stuck at 200

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Something really strange is happening with my body. Three weeks ago I hit 200 (my 1/2 way mark), again. The following week, no change at all in the scale. Last week the scale said 194. This week the scale says 200 again. I've only had the past 3 days of bad eating but every day for the past week, the scale has climbed literally 1 lb. What's happening? Why am I stuck at 200? The only thing I can think of is that I've been eating more bread type products this week whereas I would normally only have bread maybe twice a week. Could this actually be the entire cause? Is it the PCOS (polycyctic ovary syndrome)? It's driving me crazy. I feel like I'm destined to weigh 200! I've still been exercising. Is it the stress raising my cortisol levels? Maybe the types of food I've been eating like crackers & chinese food? Help! Please! I'm trying not to get discouraged. but this is the 3rd time I've reached 200 only for it to be taken away from me. At this rate I'll never get to 140. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong. On a very happy note, my fasting blood sugars (diabetic) have been awesome so I know I'm doing something right

Ok, I've made my diary public.
Please be kind. As mentioned, the past 3 days have not been good. I've been bingeing due to stress. I know, I know. But the scale has climbed consistently every day the past week. I don't usually weigh in every day, it's just the 200 mark is driving me crazy.
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Replies

  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
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    It's water retention. All kinds of reasons for it, and you've named a few. Chinese food is loaded with sodium. I can gain 6 lbs over night after eating it. The sodium is outrageous. Stress can increase water retention. And I've also read that an increase in carbs can have an effect on water retention as well.

    Don't look at the scale again until you've had a few days of really good clean eating. That will fix you up.
  • kalyn_QT
    kalyn_QT Posts: 273 Member
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    that was me last week when i went on vacation. i came back after a week of vacation and even though i logged everything and didn't go over and i exercised....i gained 6 pounds. ive been back for 3 days and i am back down (almost)...so i am assuming it was just water weight from increase in sodium.
  • SorchaRavenlock
    SorchaRavenlock Posts: 220 Member
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    Chinese has a lot of salt/sodium in it, it's likely you are retaining water because of that. Drink more water and watch your sodium intake for the next few days, and that weight might come off again. ;)
  • mericksmom
    mericksmom Posts: 222 Member
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    HUGS. My body is doing the same after getting to 189. I must admit that I havent been eating super well and if I dont have my BM then I will keep the gain longer. If you can kick up your work out. Change your cals in maybe you need less or possibly more cals each day. Just keep at it eventually it will go down again.
  • tlblood
    tlblood Posts: 473 Member
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    And I've also read that an increase in carbs can have an effect on water retention as well.

    This would explain why I'm always up a pound after I have pasta for dinner.
  • jennco3
    jennco3 Posts: 72 Member
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    Dont give up. Our bodies tend to get stuck sometimes. And yes your food choices make a huge difference. Chinese food is loaded with sodium so you will gain water weight. I sudgest going on a 3 day clense. Nothing but fruit and vegetables and lots of water. Let your body clean back up and then go back on your diet. I have been there done that. Many times. And yes stress makes a difference too. Best wishes. You have come this far so don't give up.
  • LaurasClimb
    LaurasClimb Posts: 211 Member
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    Something really strange is happening with my body. Three weeks ago I hit 200 (my 1/2 way mark), again. The following week, no change at all in the scale. Last week the scale said 194. This week the scale says 200 again. I've only had the past 3 days of bad eating but every day for the past week, the scale has climbed literally 1 lb. What's happening? Why am I stuck at 200? The only thing I can think of is that I've been eating more bread type products this week whereas I would normally only have bread maybe twice a week. Could this actually be the entire cause? Is it the PCOS (polycyctic ovary syndrome)? It's driving me crazy. I feel like I'm destined to weigh 200! I've still been exercising. Is it the stress raising my cortisol levels? Maybe the types of food I've been eating like crackers & chinese food? Help! Please! I'm trying not to get discouraged. but this is the 3rd time I've reached 200 only for it to be taken away from me. At this rate I'll never get to 140. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong. On a very happy note, my fasting blood sugars (diabetic) have been awesome so I know I'm doing something right
    Don't give up. I know how you feel. getting to 200 was'n't bad, I've been stuck at 187 for a couple months now. (So now this advice is for me, too). Look at what you're doing & shake it up a little. Switch the order you eat like if you eat a small breakfast & a big dinner try a big lunch and a smaller dinner. Switch to a different exercise. Just try to do something that is equally as healthy as you've been but different.
  • Cold_Steel
    Cold_Steel Posts: 897 Member
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    I had just gained like 4 lbs this week strictly due to high sodium -

    Lowered my sodium a bit yesterday and drank over a gallon of water, this morning I had all the weight off and even lost an additional lb
  • Drenched_N_Motivation
    Drenched_N_Motivation Posts: 1,004 Member
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    Something really strange is happening with my body. Three weeks ago I hit 200 (my 1/2 way mark), again. The following week, no change at all in the scale. Last week the scale said 194. This week the scale says 200 again. I've only had the past 3 days of bad eating but every day for the past week, the scale has climbed literally 1 lb. What's happening? Why am I stuck at 200? The only thing I can think of is that I've been eating more bread type products this week whereas I would normally only have bread maybe twice a week. Could this actually be the entire cause? Is it the PCOS (polycyctic ovary syndrome)? It's driving me crazy. I feel like I'm destined to weigh 200! I've still been exercising. Is it the stress raising my cortisol levels? Maybe the types of food I've been eating like crackers & chinese food? Help! Please! I'm trying not to get discouraged. but this is the 3rd time I've reached 200 only for it to be taken away from me. At this rate I'll never get to 140. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong. On a very happy note, my fasting blood sugars (diabetic) have been awesome so I know I'm doing something right


    You gained 6 lbs in one week?! Please teach me?
  • LaurasClimb
    LaurasClimb Posts: 211 Member
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    And I've also read that an increase in carbs can have an effect on water retention as well.

    This would explain why I'm always up a pound after I have pasta for dinner.
    Hmmm....I've noticed that I'm up a couple pounds for a few days after pasta. I just figured it too longer to go through you. Good to know.
  • jrutledge01
    jrutledge01 Posts: 213 Member
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    can't give accurate advice with a closed diary.. share it up!
  • Goal_Line
    Goal_Line Posts: 474 Member
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    Relax. The goal is fat loss, right? The one thing we know is it isn;t fat. I doubt you were 21,000 cal over this week. It's water.
  • tami101
    tami101 Posts: 617 Member
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    Water weight, just as the others have said. If I eat chinese food I don't dare step on the scale for at least 3 days til the water weight drops off. Last week I was on vacation and made unhealthy choices and I had a 6lb increase even though I only went a little over my daily calorie goal twice. But by Wednesday, the 6lbs were gone! =)
  • kristi012173
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    I feel your pain...its like everytime I get to just below 200...the weight just starts creeping back up!!!
  • fififox
    fififox Posts: 394 Member
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    Hi. I have PCOS too. I have been stuck for about 4 months - going nowhere, and like you finding it very hard to keep motivated. But basically I have been managing to maintain at around 140. In the past few months I have been eating more breads etc, less fruit and veg and have started to feel awful. I had been eating lots of veg and eating very low amounts of bread and potatoes - more ricecakes, basmati rice, wholewheat pasta, etc. I bought a breadmaker about 2 weeks ago and have been indulging way more than usual in fabulous breads. I have been eating way more potatoes and back to eating stuff I shouldn't. A few days ago I decided I am going to cut out breads altogether to see if it will make a difference. I feel sluggish and like I am getting a headcold all the time. Sorry - I am ranting on a bit, but basically I highly suspect that the bread and all the poor carbs are playing havoc with my pcos. This feeling is familiar. While I was eating well it felt like someone switched the light on - my head felt clearer, I felt more energetic. I also felt this way before when I turned to the GI way of eating. I reckon that your change in diet could have something to do with it. I have shot up 3lb this past week. I did have one high cal eating day yesterday, but that was not it. I think the gain is down to my eating too much bread now and not enough fresh fruit and veg instead.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
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    I went a month and only dropped like 7 lbs ... painstakingly going from 169.8 to 163 .. most of that like in the last month of June... Many of those days had higher values than earlier days. It is like my body went into reset mode. Then as soon as it came on...I started dropping again at my usual rate of about 15 lbs per month. (Understand that I am actually in the obese range and the higher rate was not a problem because of that... I understand that 7 lbs per month is good for most and I'll soon be in the range where that will be closer to my goal)... That being said, Yeah, lay off the salts and such but weight loss is seldom linear... It goes up and down.. When it drops in large quantities, at one time.. that is a fun time... when it sticks on us like peanut butter on bread, it is not so fun.. but the real progress is happening all along. Try not to panic.

    Also, if you are a lady, often, your cycle will cause things such as this. Best wishes on your journey.
  • newmein2013
    newmein2013 Posts: 674 Member
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    It's water retention. All kinds of reasons for it, and you've named a few. Chinese food is loaded with sodium. I can gain 6 lbs over night after eating it. The sodium is outrageous. Stress can increase water retention. And I've also read that an increase in carbs can have an effect on water retention as well.

    Don't look at the scale again until you've had a few days of really good clean eating. That will fix you up.

    This makes me feel better. Ok, today it's back to perfect eating for me. Thanks. :)
    PS. Congrats on your loss.
  • newmein2013
    newmein2013 Posts: 674 Member
    Options
    Something really strange is happening with my body. Three weeks ago I hit 200 (my 1/2 way mark), again. The following week, no change at all in the scale. Last week the scale said 194. This week the scale says 200 again. I've only had the past 3 days of bad eating but every day for the past week, the scale has climbed literally 1 lb. What's happening? Why am I stuck at 200? The only thing I can think of is that I've been eating more bread type products this week whereas I would normally only have bread maybe twice a week. Could this actually be the entire cause? Is it the PCOS (polycyctic ovary syndrome)? It's driving me crazy. I feel like I'm destined to weigh 200! I've still been exercising. Is it the stress raising my cortisol levels? Maybe the types of food I've been eating like crackers & chinese food? Help! Please! I'm trying not to get discouraged. but this is the 3rd time I've reached 200 only for it to be taken away from me. At this rate I'll never get to 140. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong. On a very happy note, my fasting blood sugars (diabetic) have been awesome so I know I'm doing something right
    Don't give up. I know how you feel. getting to 200 was'n't bad, I've been stuck at 187 for a couple months now. (So now this advice is for me, too). Look at what you're doing & shake it up a little. Switch the order you eat like if you eat a small breakfast & a big dinner try a big lunch and a smaller dinner. Switch to a different exercise. Just try to do something that is equally as healthy as you've been but different.

    Your post made me realize my meal times haven't been the greatest lately. I do have to get back on a regular schedule. Thanks for your suggestions.
    P.S. Congrats on your loss.
  • newmein2013
    newmein2013 Posts: 674 Member
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    I had just gained like 4 lbs this week strictly due to high sodium -

    Lowered my sodium a bit yesterday and drank over a gallon of water, this morning I had all the weight off and even lost an additional lb

    That's awesome! Thanks. And congrats on your weight loss!
  • newmein2013
    newmein2013 Posts: 674 Member
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    Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I have some tweeking to do in my food plan.