Having a rough time

Sounds just like me! My husband thinks I'm nuts but really my scale says I gained 3 lbs overnight too! I came back to MFP (after dropping out/giving up) with a new determination, eating healthy, logging and lost 1 lb. Whoo-hoooo, really :-)
2 days later I gained 3!
Trying hard not to get totally fed up but I am discouraged.
We should both just carry on, say a prayer...and believe in our future success!
You in?

bwogilvie wrote: »

To gain one pound of fat you would have to eat 3,500 calories over maintenance. I doubt you did that in one day! And even if you did, it would take a couple days to fully digest and metabolize that food.

Possibilities: your muscles are retaining water from the unaccustomed exercise. You ate salty food and that's causing water retention. You ate a lot of nutrient-dense, fiber-rich food, and that's now sitting in your digestive system (on average, it takes a couple of days for food solids to go from mouth to the toilet). It's hard to say. I weigh daily, every morning after visiting the bathroom. My biggest one-day jump has been 4.4 pounds!

In any case, don't beat yourself up about it. A lot of people will suggest weighing yourself only once a week, or even once a month. Personally, I prefer to weigh daily but to concentrate on my trend, as measured by an exponentially smoothed moving average. Sites like TrendWeight.com or The Hacker's Diet Online will do that for you; John Walker explains why he recommends this in the chapters "Signal and Noise" and "Perfect Weight Forever" in The Hacker's Diet (free, highly recommended).

Losing weight isn't complicated, but it isn't easy either. In addition to Walker's book, this post by longtime MFP member SideSteel is great. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff's recent book The Diet Fix is also worth a read. It offers a "10-day reset" that's a bit gimmicky, but the ideas in each of the 10 days are good. (I don't need to snack the way he recommends, but he has good reasons for the recommendation that just don't apply to me.)

Good luck!

Boy you really know your stuff! My problem is not the exercise you mentioned, or the bathroom situation...likely water retention (on dr prescribed water pills now). I just need to keep on keeping on...get back on my daily walking and think positive.
Thanks for your insight :-)

Everything bwog said.

Do not beat yourself up.
Do not demonise food.

I think you already said it. You have to keep going. I gained weight my first few weeks. If I had stopped I would be back at square one. Now I feel great only just a few months later.

That's why don't weigh daily. Water retention especially from soreness and maybe even sodium intake. How was your sodium intake the day before?

sleecio wrote: »

I've tried multiple times to lose weight but it seems like I can never shake more than 5 pounds. This is getting rather aggravating. this time around I thought I was doing pretty good, I weighed myself every day to keep tabs, but then all of a sudden yesterday I went from 204 to 209. is it even possible to gain five pounds overnight?? it's really disheartening for me because I was so proud of myself for shaking off a few pounds, and then I'm heavier than I've ever been before. The day before I gained the weight I didn't drink an extreme amount of water, and I did some running. Any ideas of what may have happened/ some motivation to keep me from giving up is highly appreciated

Lots of people to lift you up! Hope you have a good night

sleecio wrote: »

I've tried multiple times to lose weight but it seems like I can never shake more than 5 pounds. This is getting rather aggravating. this time around I thought I was doing pretty good, I weighed myself every day to keep tabs, but then all of a sudden yesterday I went from 204 to 209. is it even possible to gain five pounds overnight?? it's really disheartening for me because I was so proud of myself for shaking off a few pounds, and then I'm heavier than I've ever been before. The day before I gained the weight I didn't drink an extreme amount of water, and I did some running. Any ideas of what may have happened/ some motivation to keep me from giving up is highly appreciated

Taking your post, then I have the following insights.

1. You have tried multiple times, so you need to identify what went wrong, why you failed to stick with it and do soemthing different which avoids you repeating the same pattern. You really need to think about this imo before you even start dieting becayse the situation will arise again and you will most likely end up repeating it unless you have a strategy to deal with it.
2. You need perspective and to think of it as a journey in which you will lose weight over a period of time, steadily until you get to target. This is why its suggested its a lifestyle change not a quick fix where you can go back to old way once you reach target. 50kbs look at it as a year long project, some people might go faster but other people will take longer. the important thing is to make it and not quit. Ut only comes to an end when you stop trying/ doing.
3. There is nothing wrong with weighing every day, but you have to understand what the scales are telling you and appreciate your body fluctuates, just as bwog pointed out. Take it with a bit of scepticism and please use soemthing like trendweight (bwog linked it) so that you cna see how your weight fluctuates. It can fluctuate up to 4 lbs a day for the reasons bwog highlighted. If you weigh lss its a good sign, but if you weigh more it just oputs you on alert, but you should keep doing the same good things by a consistent deficit. Weight loss inst linear and most people have slower periods or a stall. This means you were not keeping it in perspecive and you should be ready for the fluctuations.
4. As youve tried multiple times, then I suggest taking some time to get the basics right. Your aim is to deliver a consistent calorific deficit by burning more than you need to maintain. If you do this consistently then you will lose weight. Dont over complicate it but get your numbers right and aim for the correct target. Keep on doing the same thing if you are satusfied you are at deficit. Overestimating byrns and underestimating what you eat are common mistakes.
5. You need to log all your food and its important for most people , especially those who arent losing consitently to weigh all their food. We cant see your diary.
6. If you are doing the right things, then keep doing it until theres no change fora sustained period. id say 3 weeks would start to cause me concern but it cna be much longer for other 6+ weeks. You then need to take appropriate measures.
7. You will find it easier to lose weight if you plan, have the correct mindset, get the knowledge how it works and then are consistent at posting accurate deficits.
8. Its completely within your power to lose weight in a healthy way.
9.Good luck.

sleecio wrote: »

I've tried multiple times to lose weight but it seems like I can never shake more than 5 pounds. This is getting rather aggravating. this time around I thought I was doing pretty good, I weighed myself every day to keep tabs, but then all of a sudden yesterday I went from 204 to 209. is it even possible to gain five pounds overnight?? it's really disheartening for me because I was so proud of myself for shaking off a few pounds, and then I'm heavier than I've ever been before. The day before I gained the weight I didn't drink an extreme amount of water, and I did some running. Any ideas of what may have happened/ some motivation to keep me from giving up is highly appreciated

Weight can fluctuate quite a bit, it's nothing to worry about and it's super normal. My suggestion to you though would be to take a before photo and then put away your scale. If you have been exercising you can gain muscle mass, and muscles weigh more then fat does, so doing progression photos can actually be more effective in measuring progress then a scale!

Keep going, and have fun doing it!

sleecio wrote: »

is it even possible to gain five pounds overnight??

Yes it is! For me anyways. When I eat more than 1900 mgs of sodium. I'm highly sensitive to salt apparently lol. Today I ate a lot of spicy pork rinds while staying in my macro range. I'm at 4300 mgs of sodium right now. I fully expect to be at least 4lbs heavier tomorrow morning, then spend the next 4 days peeing a lot. It is impossible to gain 5lbs of fat overnight, unless you have eaten 17,500 calories over your set goal caloric intake HA!!. The human body is a wonderful machine of efficiency and homeostasis. Sometimes it clings to water a little linger than it needs to, to sort itself out. Remember the long haul. Since I'm a nerd I graph my weight loss. That graph will have many little peaks in it, but as long as it steadily slopes downward, you're doing good!!!

It is ABSOLUTELY possible to gain 5 pounds overnight. I do 2 days before my period starts. That's how I know it's about to begin. Very weird. Has happened all my life. You can't judge your weight loss by week, but by month. There's too many factors involved. Did you know you can retain pounds when the temperature severely drops? Stick with it......