Pity party about crazy numbers. You’re invited.

DanniB423
DanniB423 Posts: 777 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know everyone is different. I don’t expect my experience to be exactly like anyone else but I wanted to just put this out there. Like most people I sometimes stumble on logging. Sometimes a small difference and sometimes I derail completely. Over Christmas I totally derailed for 2 weeks. The scale was up 20 pounds. It took me 2 solid weeks to get 12 off. Last week I struggled and I am up 7! In one week. I feel like this is a lot. I know it isn’t “true weight.” But I’m going to whine and say it feels like when I have an “off” week I pay for it more on the scale than others that I talk to about it. Any insight? I know,I really must be special. ;)

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    Those are some really big weight swings. I've never experienced that so I don't know what to tell you...

    Are you doing binges of several thousand calories? Because I can come close to double my daily calories for two days a week and not gain - BUT I know the numbers I'm using are as accurate as is possible and I log my bingey days. If I didn't I could go seriously off the rails and eat 5000 calories instead of "just" 3500.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
    Well I'm pretty sure you didn't put on 20 lbs over 2 weeks of rabble rousing - that would be a heckuva lot of extra calories. The water weight sucks - could depend on a lot of things - including your TOM and all that fun stuff about being a woman.

    Stressing about it, not getting enough sleep, not drinking enough water, eating a lot of sodium can all add water weight too.
  • Marilyn0924
    Marilyn0924 Posts: 797 Member
    Could also be some water weight, especially if the off week included a lot of high sodium foods and perhaps throw into the mix some hormonal stuff that happens such as ToM, ovulation etc.
    Hang in there OP!
  • DanniB423
    DanniB423 Posts: 777 Member
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    PS. Just to be clear, you are weighing yourself under consistent conditions, right? Same time of day, same clothes (or lack thereof), same scale?

    Yes. Same scale. Same birthday suit. Always make sure it’s calibrated.
  • DanniB423
    DanniB423 Posts: 777 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Those are some really big weight swings. I've never experienced that so I don't know what to tell you...

    Are you doing binges of several thousand calories? Because I can come close to double my daily calories for two days a week and not gain - BUT I know the numbers I'm using are as accurate as is possible and I log my bingey days. If I didn't I could go seriously off the rails and eat 5000 calories instead of "just" 3500.

    I mean I definitely have times where I am over by many calories. 2100 is maintenance for me. If 3500 over maintenance is 1 lb... this amount doesn’t make sense. A lot of it is water, I guess. I just need to get ahold of things. And get better about logging my off days so I have a reference point.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    I've gained 18lb in a week before
    I was on a vlcd that pretty much contained zero carbs and 380 cals to a week of eating around 3000 calls a day of carbs with extra salt
    I got rid of 13 in a week after going back on it and the rest was off a week later

    Just a side note I DO NOT advise anyone should follow a vlcd unless under advisement by a doctor and even then think long and hard about it

    My gp insisted I needed to be on it, I lost 8 stone.......... and my health, by the time I had finished treatment to get me well again I had regained
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,233 Member
    Well honestly with such large swings

    a) you really need to get a hold of your logging even on off days. You don't have to perfectly log your restaurant meal from the picture you took, but if it is indeed or twice or three times a week being a few hundred calories off won't make your numbers meaningless. Not logging at all a couple of 5000 Cal days would be another story.

    b) use a trending weight application and backfill your data. See if a large part of your swing is hormonal based on TOM. Weightgrapher.com may make it easier for you to compare today to a previous similar point of your cycle.

    Also make sure your scale is on an unyielding piece of floor. Carpet for example would suck for consistency...
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited January 2018
    The only time I've seen swings of 7 Lbs in a week is when 1) low or lower carb and then having a week of higher carbs; 2) eating out a lot with far more sodium than normal; 3) airline travel

    I don't low carb, but I know people who do and whenever they have a carb heavy week they pile on the water...1 gram of carbohydrate will hold 3 grams of water.

    Sodium will make you hold onto water...if I have a period of days with really high sodium, I get very bloated with water and it shows on the scale and the mirror...especially true if I haven't been drinking as much water or exercising.

    Airline bloat is a thing...

    My daily fluctuations are typically 0-3 Lbs...if it's more than three pounds it's usually because I've been extra carby, been eating a lot of sodium, or have traveled.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,068 Member
    When I have massive swings it's almost always water weight. I've seen the scale jump 6 pounds from one day to the next, and I promise you, it was just water weight from eating super high in salt foods. Calories wise I may have been a little over maintenance, but not by much.

    If I'm not good about controlling salt after that, it can take several days or even a week for that one meal to completely "go away."

    I would hazard a guess that a LOT of what you are seeing is water. Some is probably actual weight, but probably less than half.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    DanniB423 wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Those are some really big weight swings. I've never experienced that so I don't know what to tell you...

    Are you doing binges of several thousand calories? Because I can come close to double my daily calories for two days a week and not gain - BUT I know the numbers I'm using are as accurate as is possible and I log my bingey days. If I didn't I could go seriously off the rails and eat 5000 calories instead of "just" 3500.

    I mean I definitely have times where I am over by many calories. 2100 is maintenance for me. If 3500 over maintenance is 1 lb... this amount doesn’t make sense. A lot of it is water, I guess. I just need to get ahold of things. And get better about logging my off days so I have a reference point.

    I can eat maybe 2000 over maintenance in a day if I'm really trying (and drinking a lot of calories), but even if I managed that every day for a week (which I could not) it'd only be four pounds of fat. Water weight fluctuations vary a lot more from person to person, and it sounds like you're just something of an outlier. Yay?!?
  • DanniB423
    DanniB423 Posts: 777 Member
    Thank you everyone!!

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