Lost 9 lbs and gained 4 back... what is going on?

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lizfiz50
lizfiz50 Posts: 179 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been sticking to 1300-1500 calories and working out 4-5 times a week and this week I lose a bunch, plateau a few days, then gain??? Is this normal?

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  • angelpinkgal
    angelpinkgal Posts: 16 Member
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    how long have you been at it? and what have you been eating at consistently to loose. for me, 200cals difference will make me gain for sure. so it depends on what weight you are at. I'd say gaining immediately after loosing is a bit strange, but it could be normal weight fluctuations.
  • lizfiz50
    lizfiz50 Posts: 179 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I started a week ago. I'm sure a lot of that weight was water weight, but it seems that since I started working out (3 days in), my weight went up 2 and a half pounds and stayed the same for two days. I didn't work out yesterday, but I stayed well within my calories. Today, I went up another pound and a half.

    I'm 5'8", 226, 1520 calories per day. I try to stay within 100-200 calories of my target. I've either been at or right below the amount required the whole week. If I go over, I more than make up for it with exercise on my stationary bike, row machine, and weights.
  • lizfiz50
    lizfiz50 Posts: 179 Member
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    The only thing I go over with is sugars by 30-40 grams because I consume 2 large fruit a day. I'm eating less carbs too.
  • jennifurballs
    jennifurballs Posts: 247 Member
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    Keep accurately logging and stop weighing so frequently. It'll drive you nuts. I weigh on the 15th and the last day of the month. That way any water retention or hormonal stuff will even itself out. Started doing that August 1st and it's been wonderful to not have the stress of weighing every week or more frequently.
  • lizfiz50
    lizfiz50 Posts: 179 Member
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    jennifurballs wrote: »
    Keep accurately logging and stop weighing so frequently. It'll drive you nuts. I weigh on the 15th and the last day of the month. That way any water retention or hormonal stuff will even itself out. Started doing that August 1st and it's been wonderful to not have the stress of weighing every week or more frequently.

    I know!!! The temptation is super strong! I should have my husband just hide the scale!!!

    On the plus side, my pants fit me!

  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Weight loss isn't linear, and water weight can fluctuate by several pounds during the day.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
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    depending on what time of the day you weight yourself it can change by 3-4 lbs pretty easy too. Just make sure you're logging everything accurately and in a deficit. If it's not the fluctuation thing, you could pretty easily be 200-300 calories higher than you think due to either underestimating calories in or overestimating calories out.
  • sweating_for_wedding
    sweating_for_wedding Posts: 41 Member
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    lizfiz50 wrote: »
    I started a week ago. I'm sure a lot of that weight was water weight, but it seems that since I started working out (3 days in), my weight went up 2 and a half pounds and stayed the same for two days.

    I've read that if you've started a new routine, your muscles have a lot of water retention to help repair the small tears they make. The same place I read that said it can take around two weeks for all the water retention to go away Have you started some weight lifting with your workouts?

    I've experienced the same thing, only losing about 1 pound in the 2 weeks that I've revamped my lifestyle. I decided to start only weighing weekly and saying if I feel better and feel healthier it is worth it until the pounds start coming off! I know it's discouraging to gain when you've just started though. Stick with it!

  • pplastics
    pplastics Posts: 135 Member
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    lizfiz50 wrote: »
    I started a week ago. I'm sure a lot of that weight was water weight, but it seems that since I started working out (3 days in), my weight went up 2 and a half pounds and stayed the same for two days. I didn't work out yesterday, but I stayed well within my calories. Today, I went up another pound and a half.

    I'm 5'8", 226, 1520 calories per day. I try to stay within 100-200 calories of my target. I've either been at or right below the amount required the whole week. If I go over, I more than make up for it with exercise on my stationary bike, row machine, and weights.

    Water weight gain is very common, especially when starting a new exercise program. It is temporary and will go away.

    Your weight can fluctuate a few pounds every day, especially around that time of the month. If you are going to weigh yourself often, you will have to get used to the ups and downs.

    Keep doing what you are doing and it will go down again. If it doesn't within a month, I'd try knocking a 100 calories off per day for a week and see what that does.

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Yes, it's normal. It could be from high sodium, it could be from TOM if you're nearing it. But most likely it's from your exercise. Give it a couple weeks and it'll disappear.
  • TossaBeanBag
    TossaBeanBag Posts: 458 Member
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    lizfiz50 wrote: »
    I've been sticking to 1300-1500 calories and working out 4-5 times a week and this week I lose a bunch, plateau a few days, then gain??? Is this normal?

    I put a lot of seasoning on some chicken the other day and the salts likely caused me to retain water. I gained a few lbs in a day, but I did not change anything else. Then, I dropped a lbs, over night. Water fluctuations caused by salt for me. Women can have their weight fluctuate for other issues, too, though.
  • lizfiz50
    lizfiz50 Posts: 179 Member
    edited October 2014
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    extra_medium wrote: »
    depending on what time of the day you weight yourself it can change by 3-4 lbs pretty easy too. Just make sure you're logging everything accurately and in a deficit. If it's not the fluctuation thing, you could pretty easily be 200-300 calories higher than you think due to either underestimating calories in or overestimating calories out.
    I'm measuring everything, but even if I wasn't, I'm under eating 100-300 calories a day and I'm still eating enough to lose weight.


    I'm guessing the initial loss was water. Its still lost 5 lbs in a week! If I weigh more tomorrow, I'm going to be a bit frustrated.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    lizfiz50 wrote: »
    extra_medium wrote: »
    depending on what time of the day you weight yourself it can change by 3-4 lbs pretty easy too. Just make sure you're logging everything accurately and in a deficit. If it's not the fluctuation thing, you could pretty easily be 200-300 calories higher than you think due to either underestimating calories in or overestimating calories out.
    I'm measuring everything, but even if I wasn't, I'm under eating 100-300 calories a day and I'm still eating enough to lose weight.


    I'm guessing the initial loss was water. Its still lost 5 lbs in a week! If I weigh more tomorrow, I'm going to be a bit frustrated.

    I fluctuate constantly. I weighed in at 126 at the end of last month, and now I've been fluctuating upwards of 3lbs pretty frequently. This also happened around the time I upped my exercise routine. I don't give two diddlies about the number on the scale, in comparison to the actual physical changes happening to my body, and the changes being reflected in my measurements.

    The number is arbitrary, and it's not worth getting frustrated over; trust me!
  • granturismo
    granturismo Posts: 232 Member
    edited October 2014
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    This guy is on MFP and explains why weight fluctuates from day to day:
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=Xkg5E1sw7lg&list=UUXDX5yHGUm5xIKv46yxm9JA

    He suggests using the Libra app, which I have for android and it averages weight trends over a 7 day period. This is the default setting - it can be changed.

    As mentioned in other posts, weight loss is not linear on a day to day basis, instead look at a trend averaged out over a few days or a week or 2 weeks.

    Also, from your profile pic you dont look as if you have a lot of excess weight so 5 lb loss over a few days seems a success to me.

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