When are fluctuations just gains?

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goatelope
goatelope Posts: 178 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hello,

I do know about fluctuations and I accept that this is a journey where there will be ups and downs.

I’m just a little concerned that I seem not to have lost at all in one week. Since last Sunday my weight briefly dipped from 176 down to 174, but then over the last 4 days I seem to have gained the 2 lbs back.

Just wondering at what point I should think of it as a fluctuation, and when it’s telling me that I am gaining?

I have stuck to my allocated calories, although I had one or two days when I went over - once by 500 (but still under my maintenance), and once by a hundred or so.

Replies

  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Over a longer period of time, I would not be concerned over one week. Do you use a trend weight app? I find that helped me, but even if it said I wasn't losing one or two weeks I continued on and it readjusted.
  • lg013
    lg013 Posts: 215 Member
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    There is one week every month I “gain” 2 - 3 pounds and the next week it’s magically gone. One week is not enough to set off alarms.

    I’d just say make sure you’re measuring and entering food/activity accurately before making adjustments.
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
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    I think I will get one of those. I can see that I haven’t gained back all that I lost, but I started to get a bit worried when I realised I haven’t lost at all in one week.
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
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    Thanks for your advice
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,437 Member
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    Two things:

    At this point, I trust the process. If I track carefully, I know whether I've eaten enough extra (or moved enough less) to be gaining, or not. If not, it'll sort itself out with the passage of time.

    Second, generally (not 100%, but usually), a sudden jump of a pound or two or more, overnight or close to it, is a fluctuation. Regain is more likely to be a slow creep, over a longer time. It takes 3500 calories over maintenance to gain a pound. I would notice if I'd eaten 7000 extra calories (on top of maintenance!), so an overnight jump of 2 pounds probably isn't fat gain.

    We don't, IMO, have a current "true weight". We have a current weight range, and a long term weight trend.

    Over a few days to a couple of weeks, my weight will cycle up and down within a few pounds, which is my current weight range.

    Over several weeks to a few months, that range itself tends to get lower if I'm losing, higher if I'm gaining, or stay around the same if I'm maintaining. For example, during loss, maybe one weight my weight would wander around between 139-140.5 pounds. A couple of weeks later, maybe that range would be 136.5-138 pounds. That's how weight loss works, IME: Not a straight line downward, but like a hillside with little bumps in it.

    (And a weight trending app, like Libra for Android, Happy Scale for iOS, Trendweight, Weightgrapher, etc., uses statistical analysis to help you visualize that pattern among your weight fluctuations.)

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