Do You Ever Gain Weight When You Weigh In?

Yes...it happens! I usually gain only 1 or 2 lbs and when this happens I get super frustrated. It is a life style change and you can do it!!

I didn't lose on my week 4 so I bought a new cloth tape measure, took all my measurements, put my scale out of sight, and promised my self not to step on it for another month. I will be weighing and measuring myself the first of each month from now on. Now when I go into the bathroom I don't see the scale looking at me. I think this will be better for me emotionally, less stress. I know I am exercising and logging in food diary, keeping my calories, protein, fat, carbs, etc in check so the weight will come off.

There are so many things that can affect the weight. Time of day, if you have eaten a lot of salt, etc.... The numbers don't matter that much. It's more how you feel. Also make sure to take your measurements. That's where you can really tell a difference. I went through a six week period of intense exercise and did not lose a pound. But I lost two inches around my waist and increased my stamina and strength. Don't let the numbers affect your mood. You know you are doing the right thing and it will pay off!

Yes...but here's what I do. I actually weigh daily..I only log my Friday AM weigh in...sometimes it's up from the previous friday and sometimes it's down...but when I weigh daily, I log that data into an app that spits out a nice little graph for me. Over the course of weeks and month you can see the general trend downwards. It is pretty difficult to see things early on as not enough time has passed and there aren't enough data points. Over the course of weeks and months is when you start to see it...also, you see it and feel it in your clothes. Of course, if daily fluctuations bother you, this may not be your thing.

You have to keep in mind that weight loss...and weight in general is not linear. For one, you're going to have natural body weight fluctuations from day to day, and even within the same day. This is due to water retention/release and the timing of food/liquid in and food/liquid out. I can fluctuate 2-3 Lbs and sometimes more day to day and within the same day. I wish I could figure out how to put my graph on here, but I'll just give you an example of the last couple of weeks for me:

Friday Jan 25 - 187.9 Lbs (official weigh in)
Sat - 191 Lbs
Sun - 189.5 Lbs
Tues - 191 Lbs
Wed - 188 Lbs
Thurs - 187.3 Lbs
Friday Feb 1 - 187.4 Lbs (official weigh in)
Saturday - 188.4 Lbs
Sun - 189 Lbs
Mon - 188 Lbs
Tues - 187.7 Lbs
Wed - 188.5 Lbs
Thurs (this morning) 188.2 Lbs

As you can see, from the 25th Jan to Feb 1 I lost .5 Lbs...the week before the 25th weigh in I lost 1.6 Lbs...I've found it kind of goes that way for me...one week I'll lose a little bit and the next week I lose more...but over the course of the time I've been doing this, it averages out to around 1.3 Lbs per week since I started on a 1 Lb per week plan.

This week looks like I might maintain, which makes sense because last Friday I bumped my calories up from a 1 Lb per week loss to a .5 Lb per week loss...I do this every 6 weeks or so, sometimes to maintenance and it always takes a week or so for my metabolism to reset. I call this my "diet break" and it's just my way of avoiding plateau.

I think I might keep it here though...haven't decided...I have 20 Lbs to go maybe, but I'm doing some weight training that would benefit from a smaller deficit. At a .5 Lbs per week loss, I would hit 170 Lbs in about 8 months...I'm not really in any big hurry though, and my focus has shifted from the scale to measurements with my weight training. It might not even be 170 Lbs as my goal weight either...I'm more focused on getting to a healthy BF% at this point...shooting for 17-18% for myself with 19% being the high end of healthy BF% for me. I figure I'll adjust my goals accordingly when I hit that 19%.

Anyway, just stick with it...it fluctuates. Most of that fluctuation is water. If you ever get discouraged just think about the fact (and yes it's a fact..math...science) that to gain even 1 Lb of fat you would have had to consume 3,500 calories more than your maintenance level of calories. Good luck.

It happens. More often than not, it's only water weight.
So don't fret too much if you do gain.
The measuring tape is more your friend than the scale


I wish you luck though!

Count on it and remember that it will be okay

Frequently. Probably almost always water weight. Some days I'm magically 4lbs heavier. Next day I'll be back to normal. As long as the trend over time is downward you're good

Of course! It's perfectly normal and to be expected. Weight loss is not linear. As long as the trend is downward, you're good. I tend to lose weight 2 weeks of the month (in larger chunks) and maintain or even gain the other 2 weeks. Overall, I am usually down 3 to 4 lbs. per month.

Here's my chart from the last 21 months:

Yes, my weight is all over the place. Partly water, partly crazy scale that cant seem to give me the same weight twice (yesterday I got on it six times and the weight variation was about a 1 1/2 lbs all were different, today it gave me three consistent weights).

I ignore those that my gut tells me are not correct and only record a weight gain if I get it more than a few days in a row.

Thanks for the encouragement of the not weighing in as much as the measurements. This really helped :0) its gets pretty lonely working and at best reaching my goal. It;s those times where you feel like its for nothing in those lulls, but like you stated do the measurements !!! I do feel so much better now that I've added doing aerobics 45 minutes a day and sometimes add a little sweating to the oldies.