is it water retention? how do you maintain your weight?

Everybody is different, however weight as far as I've experienced it is not linear. During my period I often gain 5-6 pounds, and then rapidly lose that right after my period is over. Or if I eat a large meal, drink a lot of water, exercise late, etc, etc. I try to take it with a grain of salt, and when I am maintaining I tend to think of it as a weight range rather than an exact number (ie: stay between 110-115). Also, scales can be innacurate, so I try not to weigh myself on friends' scales. In my opinion 2 lbs is well within the normal weight fluctuation from day to day. Good luck with your journey and try not to stress the numbers too much!

I have a minimum 5 pound swing, seriously can gain, lose, and regain that 5# within 24 hours. I am fairly close to my goal weight, so I decided that this month I'd start tracking my weight daily to try to determine what/why the fluctuations are occurring--overate on the weekend, hormones, etc. I know there are different opinions on how often you should weigh yourself, but my intention is just to get a better feel for what my body is actually doing and why so I can start to plan my maintenance strategy.

Every Saturday we take the kids over to my mothers for half a day. My mom buys us all lunch and whatever snacks we want (usually ice cream). This is where my scale is located to reduce the temptation of weighing myself after every meal.

Anyways, this last Saturday before heading out for food I weighed myself in at 262.4, and after returning with food weighed in at 272.2! Only had a medium pop (which is too sweet now), BBQ pork sandwich and small fries.

Really worried me and weighed myself over and over for about 15 minutes, but only once did it come back 2 pounds less.

I would not worry about a couple pounds here and there.

Edit: I am clearly not in maintenance mode, but thought it would be nice to share. I used to run track many years ago and would see large temporary gains every now and then.

When I first got into maintenance mode, I did something that made me feel silly and stupid at the time BUT it truly set my mind at ease. Typically, first thing in the morning you go potty right? Well, before I did, I would weigh myself first and then weigh after my potty break. A bit TMI but if it was just #1 built up over the night, I might show about a 1 lb weight loss after the potty break. However, if it was #1 and #2, I would often see anywhere from 1-3 lbs weight loss!

Just by bodily functions alone, you can easily fluctuate several pounds. This would not include water weight gained from a hard workout or too much Chinese takeout! It just amazes me about what our bodies are truly capable of which is why a 5 lb range of maintenance is a good guideline to follow.

I make pizza often, and my pizza has 2.33 grams of sodium in the crust. I drink a big glass of water before the pizza, another after the pizza, and another some time before bed. All that water near the time of taking in all that sodium seems to help flush out the sodium before the morning weigh in, although the price of it is interrupted sleep.

Right now I'm trying to maintain my weight and it goes up two lbs when I eat past a certain time. Or eat junk food.. I always gain two lbs the day after I don't drink because of water Retention

I'm 5'2" and and gain 2# over night, usually related to something I ate that was salty, whether chips or Thai food or Chinese food, etc. I hate to see it, but it does come back down in a few days.

You need to change your attitude as far as the weight number. Please don't be fixated on a specific number. Your body will be in fluctuation on a daily basis depending on what you eat how much you drank how hard your workout is the type of foods you eat weather temperatures for a woman the closer you get to TOM a whole bunch of factors will influence your weight.

To put things in perspective I have access to scales at work period during the course of the day to educate myself I weighed myself at different times and my weight fluctuate anywhere from two to four pounds during the day depending on what I ate my bathroom movements and a whole bunch of different factors.

You really have to look at the weight loss and once you go into maintenance as a long-term trending process. To put things in perspective I've been in maintenance for the past eight months. In October my weight was 208 whet on vacation in October. Ate too much drink too much had a great time came back weighed myself probably somewhere around 210 -215 give or take. Took me about two to four weeks to go back in that 208 range. Same thing went on another vacation in January for a week when I came back my weight was around 214. Took me a couple weeks to drop that I'm around 208 right now.

Not bragging but I could probably gain 5 pounds in a couple hours so I got you beat there. You really have to see how your clothes feel. It's a great indicator. went out for my daughter's birthday last weekend came in to work on Monday was somewhere around 2:12 by Friday I was around that 208 range it's basically water weight period to put things in perspective

Sorry for the long post but hope this helps

I can easily see a 3-6 pound fluctuation based on food intake and intense workouts.

A tool I like is the "Happy Scale" app. It smooths out your daily fluctuations and gives you average weight, trends, and predictions. It helps me see the bigger picture and recognize that variation is normal.

I just count calories and assume everything is okay. I don't weigh everyday. I just weigh whenever. I don't worry about water, etc.