Oh, why isn't this dieting business more predictable?

TwelveSticks

I checked the scales this morning and they tell me I am almost 3lb up since 3 days ago. I kind of expected a small gain, but not quite that much.

It's very frustrating, because there is no 'logical' reason for this gain. Experience told me to expect a small increase after the weekend I had, but logically? It shouldn't have happened.

Since Friday, I have eaten slightly over my target calories on 2 of the 3 days, but I have done loads of exercise, and only eaten back a small percentage of that. So, technically, I have been more than 1700 calories in deficit over those days. And that is from my 'losing' goal, not even maintenance levels. Yet I see a weight gain this morning.

The reason why I expected this to some extent is that the last time I went for a long, tiring walk on a Sunday, and ate in a restaurant afterwards (as I did yesterday), I also saw a gain and ended up losing more than a pound less than usual the week after.

So, I know that this is only a temporary fluctuation, but it is nevertheless a gain and I know that it will make it harder for me to lose as much weight again this next week. Today is a fast day. I would normally expect to have lost a little by tomorrow morning, but the chances of me losing over 3lb in a day are slim (no pun intended).

Now, I don't really understand what's going on here. Logically, a lot of exercise and a significant calorie deficit should result in a loss, not a gain, right? My sodium levels yesterday were a little high, and I sweated out a fair amount while exercising (I walked over 17km in the sunshine yesterday alone). But I took in loads of liquids to counteract that.

Any ideas? I haven't. But my experiences recently tell me that I should sit on my *kitten* all weekend and forget the hikes - they only seem to slow down my weight loss. That can't be right...

neanderthin

Because people believe there are magical foods, magical workouts, magical pills, magical macros, magical metabolisms.........just kidding, most people are too impatient, they want change by Monday.

Delicate

Water retention from the walking and your muscles repairing and the increased salt
you need a massive pee
you need a number 2
all the food is still in there?

if it aint out, its still in there

onwarddownward

your profile says you're fasting? Well that's it right there.

Open your food diary and people will be able to have better insight. Good luck, no one likes a gain.

pluckabee

It might help you to understand that weight loss and weight gain aren't the same as fat loss and fat gain.

Just because the scales went up doesn't mean you gained fat. A minor fluctuation doesn't mean you've put on fat and need to create a caloric deficit to lose it, it probably means you are storing water.

There are several reasons you could be storing water. Too much sodium can cause you to store water. Another reason could be you ate more carbs than your used to now and your body stored it as glycogen. When your body stores glycogen it also stores water. Muscle repair can also cause you to store more water as they recover, this is probably why you are seeing a gain after a workout

It isn't possible for you to put on 3lbs of fat overnight. It just isn't, your body cant do it. So when you see crazy up or down fluctuations you need to understand that it isn't fat and not be discouraged and most importantly don't change what you are doing just to prevent the scale going up arbitrarily. Stick to your plan if it is working for you long term.

What has really helped me is using a web app that generates a trend line http://www.weightgrapher.com/

It evens out the fluctuations to show you a steady line. If your weight is trending down you are losing fat, if it starts trending up (which you cant find out until after a couple of weeks) you are likely gaining fat.

TwelveSticks

Thanks for the feedback - especially pluckabee.

It's not that I'm particularly discouraged, nor do I plan to change anything. Logic tells me that I can't be gaining fat while eating a deficit, and I know that exercising is better than not. I was more just puzzling at why I always seem to have slower weight loss weeks after doing the most walking the weekend before, which just feels unfair and counter-intuitive!

I've been following the same (5:2) diet for more than 16 weeks now and have consistently been losing weight, albeit with a couple of slow-down weeks as mentioned. The fasting isn't the issue.

I have opened my diary if anyone wants to look. Just be aware that I have adjusted my protein/fat/carb percentage goals as of this morning (I figure more protein is required overall, to help minimize muscle loss), so ignore those (it's a shame MFP retrospectively applies levels to all previous days).

cmeiron

Short answer: weight loss isn't linear. You'll get fluctuations in the short term, yes...but it's the overall long-term trend that matters. Here's mine from the past few months:



There are lots of factors, particularly water retention (a lot of sodium, extra carbs, increased intensity of exercise etc.) that can cause temporary gains/losses.

coreyreichle

Adding muscle mass will also add to your weight (Or, reduce your weight loss).

I would suggest also tracking neck-hips-waist measurements, which are a great indicator of overall fitness.

cmeiron

Adding muscle mass will also add to your weight (Or, reduce your weight loss).

I would suggest also tracking neck-hips-waist measurements, which are a great indicator of overall fitness.

You need to be eating at a fairly significant surplus and training pretty intensively to see any kind of appreciable muscle gain. For anyone trying to lose body fat, this won't be the case.

But yes, measurements and photos are great ways to track progress.