Tired of this being so hard...

You and me both. Sorry I don't have any words of wisdom but just wanted to let you know that you are not on your own xxx

Depends on if you want to lose fat or lose water. You have to eat 3500 calories OVER maintenance to gain a pound of fat. Which most people can't do in one meal.

But you can gain water weight and food weight from over eating. Especially if you eat more carbohydrates than normal. Your body will bind water molecules with glycogen and store that in your muscles, when that is full that extra will spill over into your adipose tissue(fat under the skin). Normally if you get back on track it'll eventually go away again. I've gained 5 lbs + over night from a cheat.

Don't get discouraged.

Sorry but those other people are right... and you are not a special snowflake no matter how much you believe you are.

It does take 3500 calories over maintenance as another poster mentioned to gain a pound of fat.. it also takes that much to lose a pound of fat. So unless you are eating 500 over for 7 days straight, then you did not really gain two pounds.

My suggestion, watch your sodium intake if you don't already.. that is generally the cause of rapid weight gain/loss due to water retention. If you know that you are going to have a high sodium day, then drink more water to help balance it out.

Yes i was going to say the same, your 'cheat' meal is probably high in sodium and you'll store water. I'm always way heavier the day after something salty but it goes back down again after a couple of days. Good luck.

I'm very thankful for the weight I have lost since the end of May but over the last month I'm finding this a lot more difficult to stick to it. I'll have one cheat meal on a weekend and it will blow my weight loss for the week. It's very frustrating to read people posting that you need to eat 3000 over to gain a pound. Obviously they have never had my body as I gain 2 lbs from being 500 over. I guess I need to do some tweeking again. I've had more pasta than usual lately so maybe that's the issue. It's just so difficult to stick to this and I'm just tired :sad:

Have you been drinking your water? Whenever I eat a meal out, I make sure to drink more water than usual. Drinking the extra water will make what looks like a gain come off much quicker because you truly didn't eat 3500 extra calories. Also, when I plateau, which I have been doing for weeks, I try to work out more. I am finding the Couch to 5K program has helped in this regard and I've taken off a lot more inches by doing it.

Don't lose hope... just hang in there. We all have low days.

Hang in there! You are doing awesome! I started in April and have lost 31 pounds, and I know how hard that's been. I totally understand about the whole "ate 500 calories and are up 2 pounds" thing. My body reacts the same way, in fact I believe most people's do. That's why people quit, because the numbers lie. You can't eat 500 calories over and gain fat, but you can retain sodium in your cells, which causes water retention, which causes the scales to show higher immediately. I just keep telling myself, it's not fat, it's my body processing my food. Exercise does the same thing to me, if I am sore from starting something new, I will show higher on the scale for at least two or three days. But again, it's not fat, it's just the cells in my body adjusting. Mentally I do better when I think of my cells holding water instead of focusing on my stomach or my neck or flabby arms. In my mind, those areas are only getting better, slimming down, and toning up. Hope you have a good day today, and know lots of people are right there for you!

Just a suggestion - try weighing yourself no more than once a week, and ideally only every 10-14 days. You'll see bigger losses, which will be encouraging and motivating, and normal bodily fluctuations are less likely to make you think you've gained weight, when really your body is just holding on to water. If the weekend days are when you 'cheat', maybe make first thing Friday or Saturday morning your weigh-in time, rather than weighing on a Monday morning after a high-sodium meal or two (I'm guessing) and panicking because you've 'gained' 2lbs of water retention.

Wow learned something new here.

I agree with the posters above...it depends on what is in your cheat meal (s). You're not the only one that gains a few pounds by one or two days of bad eating. I always find that getting right back on track with eating healthy, exercising and drinking LOTS of water those pounds come off fairly quickly. Don't give up! There is definitely a learning curve to being successful with your weight loss and healthy lifestyle. A big part of it is learning how your body responds to what you eat and certain exercises. Be patient and stay encouraged

I'm very thankful for the weight I have lost since the end of May but over the last month I'm finding this a lot more difficult to stick to it. I'll have one cheat meal on a weekend and it will blow my weight loss for the week. It's very frustrating to read people posting that you need to eat 3000 over to gain a pound. Obviously they have never had my body as I gain 2 lbs from being 500 over. I guess I need to do some tweeking again. I've had more pasta than usual lately so maybe that's the issue. It's just so difficult to stick to this and I'm just tired :sad:

This is something that has puzzled me from the day a started this site almost 2 monts ago....If you are trying to lose weight and change your eating habits and life style why in the world would you want to have a cheat day???? Purposely cheating is not a concept that I believe fits in to a weight loss program. If you happen to go over a little one day that is another thing but it seems to me that when a person begins to incorporate the concept of purposely cheating on the weekend or any day you set yourself up for the strong possibility of not being successful in keeping the weight off over the long haul. Just my opinion take it for what its worth.