Separating Weight Gain from Water/Glycogen

I am interested in this as well. In to see what more knowledgeable people have to say.

That's the toughest question to answer.
Fluctuations in weight are normal. In maintenance, it's not a "weight" you want to achieve but a "range" (ie 140 lbs, +/- 5 lbs). As long as you're within your determined range, you're fine.
As for glycogen/water weight, I've heard a couple of things:
1. you'll gain 5-10 lbs of glycogen weight
2. you'll gain some glycogen/water weight but it'll drop off again after a few months(weeks?).
Not sure about these but I did gain about 4 lbs when I first started to maintain and haven't dropped those pounds. However, I've maintained (within my range) since then.

When I first started to maintain, I logged my food for a few months, paying real attention to what the amounts looked like in various cups, plates, bowls so that I could more easily "eyeball" my portions in the future. After 3-4 months of that, I stopped logging every day and weighed myself first every week or two, then slowly to once a month. I'm still weighing myself once a month and not logging my food. So far, so good. I'm staying within my range.

That's how I did it but you've got to find what works for you. Maintenance can be harder than weight loss. It's easy to feel good when the scales go down; not so easy to feel good when the scales bounce around a little bit. But remember that it's a "range" that you are now aiming for.

Congratulations on reaching your goal weight.

Water/Gylcogen is usually a temporary gain. Weigh yourself again in a few days to a week and see if the weight is gone. If it is, then the gain was water and/or glycogen.

It is normal for our weights to go up and down, or have a normal fluctuation, when we are trying to maintain. I'm not sure if you are a man or woman. Although weight fluctuations are normal for both sexes, they are especially relevant for woman, because we have our cycles. And we can gain 4-5 lbs of water weight overnight, or not lose any weight for a couple of weeks even on a deficit, because of our periods and hormones.

I ate around 2100-2200 on Easter and got very bloated. I think my maintenance for most days is around 1900-2100, but can go under 1900 for lazier days or over 2100 for more active days. But I was also PMS'ing and I'm still bloated. It will go away in a few days.

To track actual weight gain, it takes more than just a couple weeks. If you are worried, you can weigh in once a week or every two weeks, and see if there is a slow upwards trend of weight gain. If it is true weight gain, it will happen over the period of a month or more.

Do you weight yourself everyday? you're going to get fluctuations in the scale due to water, food, poop, etc.
I would suggest limiting your weigh-ins to once a week, first thing in the morning.

BUT you said you're not logging so it could also be that you are not tracking properly in your head, which is highly likely. I have been on this site for 2.5 years and I can't track accurately in my head.

I eat the exact same things I would if I logged. I have actually been putting my food in at the end of the day just to make sure I am right and every time I'm spot on. I know that I am hitting the same amount of food each day.

do you weigh your food?

It is very common to gain water weight when you up your calories or start a new workout program. Same goes for when you eat a big meal. It is all temporary.

1 - when you transition to maintenance it is normal to gain between 3-5 Lbs...while you were dieting, you had chronically depleted glycogen stores...when you eat at maintenance you fill them. These are the same 3-5 Lbs you lose very quickly in the beginning of your diet...essentially water weight.

2 - body weight isn't static...water retention/release, hormones, timing of food in/out, more or less waste in your system from last weigh in, etc. I've been maintaining for 12 months...my 12 month average is 183ish Lbs...but I generally fluctuate between 181 - 185 and have gone as high as 187 (high sodium...also airline travel) and as low as 178 (substantially dehydrated and depleted of glycogen stores after a long training ride).

You have to get out of the day to day minutia here and start looking at things in terms of trends and averages or you're going to drive yourself bat **** crazy.

You have to get out of the day to day minutia here and start looking at things in terms of trends and averages or you're going to drive yourself bat **** crazy.

QTF!

Unless you're actually getting bigger--ie your clothes aren't fitting as well or you can see weight gain--I would assume it's just temporary.

With all due respect, with logging you would not have those questions in the first place. You would know now what you ate and how that possibly influenced your maintenance. Even if you don't like to log ( which in a way you do, because even a mental tally is a form of logging), I would do it on occasions like Easter, Christmas and other special occasions.
That way you are in control and would not have to rely on answers from people who have even less of an idea than you in regard to why and what you ate and how it influenced your weight, because only you know if you ate 3500 calories more than maintenance ( which with holiday foods and snacks is actually not so difficult to do ) or not. For all of us in this thread, it's even more unreliable guesswork than it is for you.

ETA: Unless you started recently a very hardcore new exercise routine or are a complete newbie to exercise you have nothing to worry about in regard to water & glycogen. Increased salt, medication, heat etc however are another matter.

I was struggling with this too, I was getting sick of logging so after I had been on maintenance around 2.5 months, I started tracking only on weekdays. I did this for a while, then went on h