Sudden gain?

As others have said, two pounds is potentially nothing. I know it feels huge and it sucks when you've been working so hard. But most people, when they reach goal, have a range for personal acceptable weight. And it's usually more than a pound or two because our bodies are sensitive to changes. TOM, extra salt, less sleep, extra stress, extra carbs, or a harder than normal workout can all lead to added water weight. You might be carrying some extra water weight.

cmriverside wrote: »

It's two pounds. Well within the daily fluctuation range.

Keep logging food, stay in calories. Could be anything - your "over" days adding up, salt, sleep, you don't mention exercise, stress, hormonal changes, weather...

If it continues you may have logging problems.

Exactly this. You've only been up in weight for a week. Your body needs a little time to get back into a routine. That being said, you said you took some vacation days where you didn't log. That's ok but you may have also eaten more than you think. I'm not saying that the whole two pounds is fat. I would be surprised if at least a portion want water weight from extra carbs. But let's say for the sake of argument that you vacationed for three days and that for all three days you are 300 calories over maintenance, that would equal just about a pound of actual weight put on if the rest of the week you were at maintenance. Again, this may or may not have happened but your body needs a little time to balance the check book.

My suggestion would be to make sure that your logging is as flawless as possible (weighing solid with a digital scale and logging everything) as well as getting a weight trending app. I use Libra on Android and I think the one that most people use on Apple is called Happy Scale. If you can weigh everyday without it causing added stress, I would recommend doing that for at least a month so that you can see not only how the time of the month effects you, but also so that you can have a better idea of what's a normal fluctuation for your body. It really is eye opening to see and it makes it easier to be patient when your body decides to hold some water weight. And reference the chart every now and again just to remind yourself. I had a there and a half week span where my body was losing and gaining the same two pounds. It's hard to keep going in times like that but we all have to remember that it's not time to think about it being an actual plateu until you've passed that 6 week mark.

Also, maybe take measurements. Notice how your body is changing in other ways than on the scale. Maybe you lose half an inch here or there. Maybe your pants for better. Maybe you have more energy. Maybe your endurance is increasing and your workouts are getting easier. Maybe you aren't noticing any of that but you take comfort in knowing that you are eating an extra serving of vegetables a day so you're getting more vitamins and minerals from your food.

Good luck!

I think it’s reasonable to keep your wits about you. And it’s true that the two pounds may well be nothing more than normal fluctuation. OTOH, it’s very easy to get yourself into a bit of a mental trap where you start attributing all ‘incidental’ gains to normal fluctuation. Which means you should always be reflecting on what the number means.

For example, you indicate you had a vacation where you didn’t ‘stick’ with your diet and at the end of which you ‘flushed’ your system. I’m not even sure what this last part means, although there some interesting visuals. Did you actually try to analyze how much you didn’t ‘stick to your diet’? It’s perfectly reasonable to say “hey, this was a vacation, I didn’t want to be dealing with tracking/measuring” but you would need to accept that you have less control over your weight in that case, particularly if alcoholic beverages were involved.

As a rule of thumb, I don’t consider any weight until 48-72 hours after return from a trip to be reflective of my overall weight management. Too many variables.

hjma wrote: »

You don’t think that the lack of change over a week is concerning? I do exercise mildly, but stick to my calories regardless.

No, if I eat more over a weekend, I can gain 6 lbs of water weight and it can stick around for about 10 days or so. It's just water weight from eating more. Relax. And no, you don't have a super slow metabolism. You just may not be logging correctly. You don't need to do flushes or detoxes - they don't help anything, obviously, since you didn't lose weight after doing it.

hjma wrote: »

You don’t think that the lack of change over a week is concerning? I do exercise mildly, but stick to my calories regardless.

Losing weight isn't a linear function...it looks like this...for everyone...

hjma wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

hjma wrote: »

I have a super slow metabolism, so often if I have a week where things aren’t moving along, I help my body out (if you get me). Unfortunately, it’s been a weekly thing lately. Even after that there was still the same weight.
I often track on my cheat days, but this time I did not. So maybe it’s a legit weight gain, which majorly sucks. I follow the rules 6 out of 7 days and it’s going at snail’s pace.

how are you measuring that you have a slow metabolism?

Well, not measuring necessarily, but I know my body routine. A year ago it was an almost daily thing to “flush”. This past month it’s gone 3,4,5 days. Once I hit the 4,5 day mark I take steps to help.

That has nothing to do with the speed of your metabolism.

It is very common for a week to go by without a loss. It is common to gain water weight after a trip. It is common to gain fat weight after going off plan for a few or several days. It is not normal to be constantly "flushing" your system, whatever that means, and using laxatives on a regular basis without medical direction. It makes no sense to be concerned about the weight of your bodily waste. It is common to not have results if you don't weigh your food on a digital food scale. It is common to not have results when you think you already know your body, your metabolism, etc etc. There are many misconceptions and misunderstandings in each of your posts. Most have been mentioned by others.

I suggest you read the sticky posts at the top of each forum, read similar other threads already going on the forum, reeducate yourself, and get a MENTAL reset.

Two pounds is probably just normal daily fluctuation. Considering that, it can be helpful to weigh yourself every day and average it for the week.