Fluctuating after the Last 12 pounds...help please.

Mariachicat
Mariachicat Posts: 311 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Any constructive input is welcomed....After starting at 152 in May, I finally got down to 10-12 pounds left to lose, but within the last week I'm back up to 17 pounds less. I don't know if this is because I updated my goals on MFP to lose .5 pounds a week instead of 2, meaning I'm eating 1400 calories daily instead of 1200 now. I work out hard for at least an hour a day, sometimes 2, doing circuit training and weights, or running, or both. I can't believe that in the last week I went up about 5 pounds. I am also PMS and expecting my period any day. Lastly, I've been eating some high sodium foods, maybe I'm holding onto water. I'd been frustrated because I'd been plateauing around 123 but went down to 120, yesterday the scale was up from last week's 123 to 127.2! Is this just PMS? I need to check in...life has gotten busy but I want to make sure I'm still going in the right direction...or if I need a course correction, I want to make sure that I make one....thanks.

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I am also PMS and expecting my period any day. Lastly, I've been eating some high sodium foods, maybe I'm holding onto water.

    These are your answers right here.
  • Mariachicat
    Mariachicat Posts: 311 Member
    Thanks....I can't believe it went up 5 pounds....has this ever happened so drastically, with a subsequent drop after getting your period? I'm trying to get down to 110, so to go from 120 to 127 in a week or two while working hard and logging is quite disheartening.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I know how you feel. Last weekend I gained over four and a half pounds from a wedding and my birthday, and I'm only today back to just above where I was before those two days. I only gain about half of that during TOM, so it shocked me quite a bit!
  • jodios528
    jodios528 Posts: 379 Member
    I think a 5 lb temporary gain is possible given what you described. How much to you normally gain right before your period (I could sometimes put on as much as 3 lbs)? What have you seen in the past for sodium water retention - 1-2 lbs? In your "perfect storm" I think 5 lbs are possible. Try drinking lots of water and waiting until you are done with your period to weigh in again. I bet next week those 5 lbs are gone.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Water retention. You would have had to eat an extra 24500 calories to gain 7 pounds.
  • Scott_2025
    Scott_2025 Posts: 201 Member
    Weight fluctuations are so mean to us when they are upward fluctuations. But we love them when we get an unexpected downward fluctuation.

    My suggestion is to be watchful, but don't fret over 5 pounds or so. 10 pounds is time for a course correction.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    You say you're eating 1400 calories but from the entries I see your eating upwards of 2000 calories most days and even then your logging isn't that accurate (cups and spoons when things should be weighed) so I'm guessing your eating a lot more than that. SO you need to be honest with yourself. Also as you have so little to lose it will be slow and the normal fluctuations will be more obvious and any logging errors will have a greater effect. So you need patience as well
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
    I am also PMS and expecting my period any day. Lastly, I've been eating some high sodium foods, maybe I'm holding onto water. I'd been frustrated because I'd been plateauing around 123 but went down to 120, yesterday the scale was up from last week's 123 to 127.2! Is this just PMS? I need to check in...life has gotten busy but I want to make sure I'm still going in the right direction...or if I need a course correction, I want to make sure that I make one....thanks.
    You say you're eating 1400 calories but from the entries I see your eating upwards of 2000 calories most days and even then your logging isn't that accurate (cups and spoons when things should be weighed) so I'm guessing your eating a lot more than that. SO you need to be honest with yourself. Also as you have so little to lose it will be slow and the normal fluctuations will be more obvious and any logging errors will have a greater effect. So you need patience as well

    Both your TOM, and sodium intake around this time can be to blame, but don't forget that the closer you are to your goal weight, the harder it is to lose it. Therefore, the logging of food needs to be the most accurate you can get. Like the poster I've quoted above said, if you're logging inaccurately, then you have to understand that you might be fluctuating higher than you might have. Sooooo, course correction might be needed soon, just not quite yet. Take a look at your after TOM weight and it will more accurately reflect what is going on.
  • JustFindingMe
    JustFindingMe Posts: 390 Member
    Yep its most likely your TOM and Water. I was in a mild hysteria last week ( even KNOWING logically why ) and went up 7.5 lbs over night and it stayed for 6 days, down 4 , up 1 then down 3.

    Its normal. ...and like Lifting4Lis said, unless you ate THAT many calories up and above your TDEE, it aint fat :flowerforyou:
  • Mariachicat
    Mariachicat Posts: 311 Member
    Yep its most likely your TOM and Water. I was in a mild hysteria last week ( even KNOWING logically why ) and went up 7.5 lbs over night and it stayed for 6 days, down 4 , up 1 then down 3.

    Its normal. ...and like Lifting4Lis said, unless you ate THAT many calories up and above your TDEE, it aint fat :flowerforyou:

    Thank God. I do log pretty accurately but I do eat back a significant portion of my calories. However, I usually do conservative calorie burn estimates. I could always be more exacting when logging, but I do think the issue is the "perfect storm" of TOM and sodium.

    Thank you all so much for your responses!

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