Can 7lbs make this much of a difference?!

I am 5'4" medium framed and currently at 129lbs. I had went from 152
to 122 in 6mths by MFP tracking eating healthy and walking. In the
last few mths I've gained 7lb back. Still eating healthy and staying in calorie range
but do have sweets,
something I was rarely eating before. I also was walking 30-60mins
at least 4x wkly now about 15 mins 5 days wk and 30-40 2days a wk.
My question is the 7lbs has complete changes my body- clothes
are tighter and I look noticeably bigger I also feel almost puffy even with
Increased water watching sodium and eating plant of raw veggies(they are
my favs!) Why is there such a difference with not a huge gain?

Are you using MFP or TDEE . How many calories are you eating? And if you open your diary we can help you much better

its common to gain weight back after getting to your goal weight and beginning maintainance - this post explains why:
*****Reposted from the main forums*****

It seems this is new information for a lot of people and it could potentially relieve a lot of anxiety about weight gain when increasing calories. So for anyone who thinks, "But 1700 calories IS my maintenance amount!" Or, "I must just have a really slow metabolism because when I go over 1200 I gain." ... this post is for you.

The reason most people think they have to eat so little to maintain their weight is because our bodies naturally store glycogen and water in our muscles. This is the body's ready energy. When you eat at a caloric deficit, the glycogen stores (and the water molecules they must bind to in the cells) are shed first. That's why you get a big loss the first week of any diet. You just depleted your glycogen stores and now the body has no choice but to resort to fat in a continued caloric deficit.

So you keep up your deficit and your body is burning both glucose from the food you're eating and fat from your body (and some lean mass because you're in a deficit and that will just happen anyway) and you finally get to a weight you like. So you increase your calories to stop losing...

Or, you just decide to ditch the caloric deficit for a weekend of eating without discretion...

Or Christmas rolls around or you go on vacation and you eat to satisfaction and maybe a touch more...

... and you find you almost instantly put on 5 lbs.

All that has happened is your body has restored its glycogen stores and the water that glycogen must be stored with. In fact, trained endurance athletes will deliberately store extra glycogen by carb-loading before major events in order to have more energy for sustained effort. The body will, under perfect conditions, store this energy for use. It's part of being human.

So suppose you want to maintain your weight at 125 lbs. You diet down to 125 and then think, "Awesome! I will diligently increase my calories to maintenance." So you were eating 1700 calories/day to lose and you increase to 2000 calories daily... and after 1 week you've put on 1.5 lbs... so you cut back down to 1800 and your weight stays the same but now you're at 126.5... but you want to be 125lbs, so now you're just pissed off. So you go back down to 1500 calories for a week and you get back down to 125lbs. Then you increase by only 100 calories/day for a week and your weight stays the same... so you do it again... and you stay the same. You think, "Yay! I'm maintaining!"... And any time you eat over 1800 calories daily you start to gain again.

Why?

Because your body just wants 5 lbs of glycogen stores. The solution? Cut down to 5 lbs under your target weight and then eat at maintenance. Your body will rebound up to a healthy non-glycogen-depleted state and you'll be able to maintain relatively effortlessly and eat more food.

Heck yes. I mean, I know how bloated I can get every month so it stands to reason that a seven pound gain would be felt. Everyone has their ups and downs though. Keep on keepin on! :flowerforyou: