Discouraging Week

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BrookeLynn18
BrookeLynn18 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started actively trying to lose weight about a month and a half ago. I'm almost down my first 10 pounds (sitting right at 7), but this week it seems like the weight just won't come off. I'm always in a calorie deficit, I exercise 3-6 days a week, and so far I've been pretty motivated. I've had a few ups and downs, but I've learned a lot about myself and how to be successful on this journey.
This week I've been really discouraged because over night I "gained" three pounds. I suspect it's water retention after a salty day, but it was still really discouraging. I've been telling myself that it's just water weight, and it will come off naturally in time. This morning I only lost about a pound of it and I was still really discouraged. It's around that time of the month and I know I can get bloated during this week too. I guess my question is how do you look past that? I thought about starting to weight myself every day to see natural fluctuations instead of once a week, but I don't want that to discourage me also. What are other women's "normals" in regards to weight during their time of the month? I'm not trying to only focus on the scale because I want to achieve overall health, but a scale is so easy and convenient.
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Replies

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    3-5 lbs was normal for me every month.
  • CindyWard2
    CindyWard2 Posts: 88 Member
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    Typically I gain 2 or 3 around that time of the month but it has been as much as 7. I do weigh myself every day for the very reason you stated. I helped me get over the disappointment of the once a week weigh in when I didn't lose. Now I realize that I may have actually lost that week but that particular day I was probably retaining water for various reasons. I realize that it doesn't work for everyone but it really helped me.
  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
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    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Don't obsess on the daily weight. You can still weigh daily and check-in with your daily weight. That's nice data, but don't obsess on it. Be aware that your menstrual cycle imposes waves of water retention, hunger, and water discharge which are quite independent of your dietary intake. Everything from salt, cortisol, exercise, and even carbs eaten within your calorie budget can modulate your water retention. Water is dense and heavy, and moves in and out of your body quickly. Daily weighing mostly observes the changes in hydration you are constantly experiencing.

    The weight trending apps which you can install and use will help you see the true trend of your weight. But even then, it's not accurate to say that it tells you your weight. It's only going to smooth the graph of your weight trend. The most you can use this data for is to determine if your weight trend is moving in your preferred direction or not. If it's not, you can make some changes.

    I like this post.
  • GrumpyHeadmistress
    GrumpyHeadmistress Posts: 666 Member
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    Last week I was 128.4lbs. On Friday I had a salty meal out and it’s ovulation week. On Sunday I was 129.8lbs. This morning i was 131lbs! I certainly haven’t eaten the excess calories to have put that amount on (3500 above maintenance per pound). Have you?

    If not try to look at the gain calmly and rationally: it’s only water. It’s masking your true loss which will show itself soon. Keep the faith!
  • MarylandRose
    MarylandRose Posts: 239 Member
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    I weigh 3x/week, with Tuesday as my arbitrary official day to update MFP. I update Libra (an Android app that does weight trend graphing) each time I weigh in.
    Sleep quantity/quality, salt, volume of food consumed, meal timing, digestion, stress, and my period all affect my weight in ways that have nothing to do with my calorie count or gym habit. Over the last year I've shifted into a sort of science experiment mentality - I know I'm doing the right stuff with food and exercise, but given that there's a lot of other random inputs, what's the scale say? Based on what I know about myself over the last few days, why do I think that is?

    My period tends to induce one of two things: gain 1-2 lbs before period, then drop 5 lbs after period (or net -3 from where I was before my period) OR gain 5+ lbs before period, then return to where I was before my period. Either way, I know I'm not eating that far over maintenance, so it's weird to see the numbers, and it's annoying to destroy my trend in Libra, but I know it'll correct itself in a few more days.
  • sheltrk
    sheltrk Posts: 111 Member
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    One observation that might help with the "mind game" aspect...
    Unless you ate at a surplus of ~10,500 calories, you certainly didn't gain 3 lbs of fat!

    I've been in maintenance mode for a while now, and I still weigh myself every day. (I like to eat, I like to exercise, and I like charts!) Lately, I've been maintaining a deficit during the week and splurging a little bit on the weekends. It all balances out, but I do frequently see weekly fluctuations of up to 7 lbs.
  • RunStart34
    RunStart34 Posts: 157 Member
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    I usually gain 2-3 pounds and 4-5 when eating salty foods during my period. The fact that your only gain 2 after eating salty foods is good. I only weight daily at first when I changed my eating habit and as I started to workout because i wanted to see how my body retain the water and when it let it go. However, I notice that once my period started the second day I lost 2.5 pounds of water... I was so amazed??? That was how much i was retaining. Also, since I was consistent with eating ok and working out i lost another 2 pounds a few days later.
  • JLeigh6002
    JLeigh6002 Posts: 4 Member
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    This is definitely my struggle with staying motivated too. I can kill it (eating healthy and working out) and just not see the constant downward numbers that I think should follow. Some days I just don't get on the scale for the fear I will be more discouraged after than if I was to just wait and weigh another day when I felt more positive out of the gate. This plan of selective weighing has helped me mentally stay in the game more. I'm just over 1 month into logging calories everyday and I have seen 1-2 lb loss each week but it will go up and down within that week. I might have made this up, but I am pretty sure other people do this too #selectiveweigh-ins
  • KelJean22
    KelJean22 Posts: 1 Member
    edited October 2017
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    It sounds like you are doing amazing!! I know that, around that time of the month, it can be extremely frustrating, as the numbers do fluctuate on the scale. Know that you are NOT alone there! It is easy to get disheartened, but just try the best you can to breathe through those moments and refocus on all of the great progress that you have made so far!! Those “period pounds” will come and go, so just remember to stay positive and focus on your goals for the long run :)
  • hydechildcare
    hydechildcare Posts: 145 Member
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    This week is my first real discouraging week in 2 months. I was sick last week and hit my low of 214! Finally feeling better and driving this weekend I had fast food. Now I am sitting around 219, I know I didn't eat that many calories to have gain 5 pounds. At first I was frustrated. Then I look at my diary my sodium and carbs have been high all except yesterday so I know there is some water weight hanging there. So I refuse to record it. I am guess tomorrow or Friday I will wake up to a 5 pound maybe more loss. Now if I am still at 219 next Thursday it means I need to relook at my pass week because I am logging wrong somewhere if he 5 pounds are not gone.

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