WTF? First feelings of frustration.

jbuffan218

First let me say that I dont normally weigh in at all during the week. Weigh in once a week on saturday. So why did I do this today? No idea.
Got on the scale early this morning when I let the dogs out....dont feel at all like I have lost an oz. this week.
NOPE !!!!! according to the scale this morning I am UP 3 lbs????
Now last week I lost 2.5lbs which for me is nothing short of a small miracle. So much so that I weighed myself 4 times to make sure it was accurate.
I lose extremely slowly and even when I gain I gain slowly.
There is NO WAY I ate 10,500 extra calories this week. I would have to be eating non-stop. I have stayed in my 1200 calories range every day. The only thing bad I did this week was fall off the wagon all day monday. This is the first day I have faltered since I started on Jan 5th. But even then I didnt go bat **** crazy and eat the entire fridge. I had 4 slices of pizza (cheese & pepperoni ) for the entire day, didnt drink my water that day either, that was my act of rebellion. But that was it, didnt eat anything other than that and I spaced it out for lunch and dinner. WTF? I have managed to drink 12 waters every day this week, urine is totally clear. I have eaten lean protein at every meal, and have not had cereal or oatmeal for breakfast in 2 months. I have eaten vegtables almost every night with dinner. Have watched my sodium closely and since today is thursday I will REALLY watch it until weigh in. I know I cant let the scale derail me, and I am ok when I see stay the numbers stall and stay the same, I just keep plugging on and after a couple weeks the weight comes off, but GAINING ? that plays with my head big time. I can not / will not let this deter me. Dont tell me I'm building muscle since I haven't exercised in 2 weeks. I am afraid I need to get back to the dreaded exercise. Maybe 2 weeks without it really did make me gain 3 pounds? Serously?

hdelamore

depends what you ate last night etc
if you still have food in the body it's extra weight
also water levels change during the week which is why it's recommended you choose one day and stick with it
sometimes i jump on the scales and i'll lost 3 pounds then on my sunday i've only lost one, thats all, water levels

HonestOmnivore

:flowerforyou: No FEAR!!! It's just water! A day of fun eating almost ALWAYS involves sodium and that sodium pulls in pounds of depressing water. Drink plenty of water today, watch your salt and by Saturday you'll be back down and then some!!!:bigsmile:

nchaffin

So, I know how hard it is not to be completely hung up on the scale.... but try to step away from that thing.... only once a week.

Here's the deal: Your cycles can affect water retention, causing a spike on the scale. The salt you consumed last night, could cause this.... sometimes medications can cause water retention.

It is REALLY hard not to be consumed by the scale... harder when you REALLY want to lose weight and are working so hard to do it.

I would drink a crap load of water today.... and try to be on the low salt side of the menu today. You will see that your next weigh in will be just fine.

I totally understand where you are coming from though!

FrenchMob

You answered your own question. You're probably right, you didn't eat 10k cals, which means it's only water and/or glycogen weight, which can fluctuate up or down 3-5 lbs daily. Just keep plugging at it. Like you said, you didn't gain the weight quickly, don't expect it to come off quickly, and most importantly, DON'T START REDUCING YOUR CAL INTAKE, especially if you're already in the 1200s.

vanillasugar

definitely try to not let it get you down! Your scale/weight can fluctuate HOURLY. I'm bad a scale-hopping (not sure why) several times a day/week, but I know not to pay attention to it accept for the day/hour of the week that I'm doing my weigh-in. I don't usually get discouraged by the fluctuating numbers throughout the week, but if it bothers you and you can't stop, you might consider having someone hide the scale until your weight day - that's what my mom had to do when she found herself waking up at night to pee and feeling the need to jump on the scale, lol. It can become an obsession.

sjcply

Dont get discouraged, I know.... easier said than done!! It happens to me all the time! If I weigh during the week, I always flucuate on the scale and it gets discouraging! Welcome to the world of being a woman! Hormones, water gain, if I think about bad food I gain....LOL! Keep on keeping on and it will come off!! Have you tried changing up your workout?? That sometimes helps me when I workout a little harder or do something different! and are you eating your calories you burn during workouts? I dont usually eat all of mine, but atleast half!
Good luck to you!

cmriverside

Scale is the :devil: Spawn.




Pitch it. Or at least take two weeks away from it. Serenity now.

whyflysouth

My advice for you would be to use some metrics other than the scale as the means to determine progress. If you focus on your weight alone you'll find it will seem nearly impossible to lose. I learned this after a couple of weeks that I need a goal that I can measure more reliabily than weight (b/c I don't know why my weight goes up one day and down the next - the body is a complicated mechanism), so for me I've chosen the amount of time I can spend jogging. If I can jog 30 minutes straight this week compared to 20 minutes last week, that's an improvement. If I can jog an entire 2 hours straight then I've achieved my goal.

You should also use waist, hip, neck, thigh measurements as your progress metrics too, but be careful not to be let down if they sometimes seem to fluctuate in the wrong direction.

Too often folks get encouraged and discouraged by the amount they weigh or the way they look as they are going through this change in diet. But you are getting allot more out of this than just a number on the scale or an image in the mirror, you need to see what the other benefits to this lifestyle are and then you won't be so concerned wtih the weigh-ins.

lt_mrcook

The scale isn't your friend. It will only tell you your weight. I will not tell you you had a great week, and today is just a blip. It won't tell you it's your hydration or sodium levels. It won't tell you it's a potassium issue (related to sodium so watch both). I won't tell you anything other than what it's designed to tell you. The great thing about the human mind is hat you already know. We have a built in filter that tells us (if we listen which we've all not done at some point in our lives) to ask WTF?!?! If what you are seeing doesn't make any sense, it really might not make sense. If your mind asks WTF, then don't believe what you see and questions it. You did that when you lost, and you did that when you gained. You're solid and you have the right mindset. Keep doing what you know will work, keep your eyes on your goal, and keep positive. You are making a change and it's a good change. Know that, believe that, and love the fact that you have made that change. Good luck and God bless!