Lose a bunch then gain half back immediately

mom2ava07
mom2ava07 Posts: 186 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
Just a little background on me: female, 5'5, started at 167, currently at 146.5

My original goal was to get to 145, as this is the weight I always gravitated towards naturally pre kids. Sunday I finally got to 145.2. However, between yesterday and today I fluctuated up to 146.6 despite drinking 80 Oz of water yesterday and only eating 1240 calories. I know weight loss is not linear, and there will be fluctuations. However, every single time I lose I gain half right back in the immediate days. Does this happen to anyone else? I really want to up my calories significantly since I'm within 5 pounds of my goal (10 at most) but I'm afraid to. I tend to lose nothing for a week, then lose 5 lbs in a single week, and then the next week gain half of it back lately. I'm just curious of there is a reason and this is just common, or maybe my body is fighting me to stay around 145 since I've spent most of my adult life around that weight. I really want to up the calories since I know I'm likely eating way too low this close to goal.

Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    There are reasons, but it can be tough to identify. Common causes: TOM/hormones (this one tends to be monthly so you could probably identify the trend easily), sodium, sleep, stress, workout routines, carb level intake.

    Carbs: if you typically have a fairly low carb intake, and then eat more than usual: temporary water weight gain
    Sodium: high sodium intake = temporary water weight gain; not unusual to see a scale 'gain' a day or two after eating Chinese or other high sodium food
    Lack of sleep, increased stress levels: water weight gain
    New workout routine, increased intensity: water weight gain

    The water weight gain is temporary - but these are some common causes.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Ps-what was your goal weekly loss based on? If 1 pound per week, then you would have had a 500/day deficit. Try increasing by 200 calories per day. Assess over the next 8 weeks. If you feel nervous about the increase, you can partially offset by a little extra activity. Does not have to be drastic, perhaps a 15 minute walk? Would partially offset the extra calories and give you some mental peace of mind.
  • mom2ava07
    mom2ava07 Posts: 186 Member
    edited March 2015
    My diet looks a little high in carbs. I usually don't go but a few over what MFP recommends, but I know I'm slightly higher on carbs, and fall short on fat and protein. It's not TOM, so that is ruled out. I find that on the days I eat right around 1500 cals and run for 45 min on the treadmill I tend to drop pounds to the tune of a half pound to 1.5 lb per day. However, on my rest days I eat no more than 1250 and always gain at least a half pound a day. I generally run 4 days a week, but due to my schedule they end up being 4 straight days in a row with 3 rest days in a row. So, I lose my weight on the 4 exercise days then gain half back on my 3 rest days.
    Maybe I need to find a way to break up the rest days, but working 50 hours, having two little kids, and helping my husband coach a softball team I would just have to cut out some of my 6 hours of sleep.
    I just feel like life is always going to happen, and I will never be exercising every single day. How will I ever maintain that way?

    I have my weight loss goal set at 1 pound per week, which gives me 1240 calories. I eat back half of any exercise but don't eat back any of the fitbit calorie adjustments on my rest days, as I'm not sure I trust it. I would only like to lose 10 more lbs tops, but like I said leary of increasing if I always fluctuate up just by not exercising.

    Also, I opened my diary. I do weigh any non pre packaged foods (example: peanut butter...I actually weigh it out). So, fruits and all other "loose" items get weighed if that makes sense. I'm suspecting sodium, and a macros problem but trying to eat things I enjoy so I can stick with this long term.
  • dolliesdaughter
    dolliesdaughter Posts: 544 Member
    Stop weighing yourself daily. Weigh once a week.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Personally I say if you can tolerate the nuisance of fluctuations, then weighing daily is good.

    For Fitbit: my general advice is to assume 5-10% error initially then judge by results. Meaning if Fitbit says you burn 2000/day, assume its really 1900-1950. That way you offset for error potential. Its not going to be HUGELY off. Then based on results, if you're confident of your food logging and you lose faster (over 3-4 months time) than 1 pound/week on average: its probably more accurate than assumed. If you lose slower, its a little less accurate. So feel free to eat those calories, but leave 50-100 as a buffer.

    I have learned more about my Fitbit as I've been in maintenance and no longer aiming for weight loss. I have figured out that if I get a big chunk of steps in a day based on running in place, my Fitbit burned # will be too high. It counts steps per minute and thinks I'm running, but running in place (based on a heart rate monitor) is a little less of a workout than a brisk 4.0 on the treadmill. And walking on the treadmill with an incline: Fitbit underestimates, as it does not know I'm using an incline. Just a couple of examples. You can probably apply some logic to what you do, to have an idea of when Fitbit will count high vs low.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    dolliesdaughter wrote: »
    Stop weighing yourself daily. Weigh once a week.

    Or weigh yourself every day, log the fluctuations and learn to accept them. To show you that they will happen and that they happen to everyone, here are a couple of graphs of my weight loss. The first is over about 8 months, I then stopped dieting for a bit, gained some weight back and started again about 3 weeks ago, the second these last 3 weeks. They're both full of fluctuations, but the weight always goes back down again.

    f9veXdG.pngZuKMtIz.png
  • oneloopygirl
    oneloopygirl Posts: 151 Member
    dolliesdaughter wrote: »
    Stop weighing yourself daily. Weigh once a week.

    This.

    Weight fluctuations are normal throughout the week. Pick a day and weigh yourself about the same time that day every week. I don't weigh daily. It would make me crazy if I did. I weigh once, sometimes twice a week.

    As for what could be causing fluctuations, @StaciMarie1974‌ covered the most common ones well. One additional possible one - illness/not feeling well. I get migraines. I've skipped weigh in days because of them. Not sure if the meds cause it or not, but I'll get fluctuations for a day or two after one.
  • EmmaFitzwilliam
    EmmaFitzwilliam Posts: 482 Member
    I weigh myself daily, but I don't fret about the fluctuations.

    As for the lose some, gain some back, that's the story of my graph. In the end I'm still steadily losing so I don't worry about it. My progress is pretty much flat for the past 10 days (except it's actually up and down). My weight today is the same as on 2/28, but in the days in between, I've been down a half pound from today's weight twice, and up by a pound on a couple of occasions.

    I have high water days, low water days, high calorie days, low calorie days, high carb days, high fat days, high fiber days, high activity days, low activity days, and the occasional weights workout day.

    I don't worry about pinning my weight today to my food/activity the day before.

    It's all about trends, not days, with perspective that "real life" happens.
  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
    I weigh daily and sometimes it can be frustrating. What I do to stop worrying about it is to look at my last month of losses and how my weight is constantly moving down over a longer time frame than 2 days. BTW, mine goes in cycles every 1-1.5 wks I'll gain 1-2lbs overnight in water weight. Usually it's gone a day or two later.
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