Help me to understand my post-vacation weight?
purple4sure05
Posts: 287 Member
Hey guys, Ive recently come back from a one-month vacation two weeks ago. For the first 6.5 months of the year I didnt cheat at all on my diet from losing to 28 pounds to months of maintenance, so I decided to just relax on vacation and eat what I wanted. I got on track immediately and hoped to just relax and ride it out and see the extra weight fall off.
My usual weekly fluctuations are between 129.5 and 131.8. When I came back my highest weight right after the long flight back was 134, so based on virtually everyone elses experience on this site, i expected to lose a few pounds of water weight right off the bat. That didnt happen.
Previously every single week in maintenance, my weight would only go up closer to the 132 mark for 2 or 3 days maximum after my one very-high-carb meal each Wednesday.
Now, ive been back two weeks eating the same foods i always do but with less calories (1300) and no high calorie days until im back to normal. I went down to 131.2 for a while but for the last 5 days its climbed and climbed, then steadied at 132.7.
What gives? My weight never increases more than 3 days straight and i weigh everything i eat on a scale. Its all the same foods i ate while losing weight the first time.
Its been two weeks now and i know its just a couple of pounds but i hate feeling like i have to keeping restricting for months just to drop a couple of pounds.
If anyone has insight on what im doing wrong or how many pounds of fat they think i actually gained, id really appreciate it.
My usual weekly fluctuations are between 129.5 and 131.8. When I came back my highest weight right after the long flight back was 134, so based on virtually everyone elses experience on this site, i expected to lose a few pounds of water weight right off the bat. That didnt happen.
Previously every single week in maintenance, my weight would only go up closer to the 132 mark for 2 or 3 days maximum after my one very-high-carb meal each Wednesday.
Now, ive been back two weeks eating the same foods i always do but with less calories (1300) and no high calorie days until im back to normal. I went down to 131.2 for a while but for the last 5 days its climbed and climbed, then steadied at 132.7.
What gives? My weight never increases more than 3 days straight and i weigh everything i eat on a scale. Its all the same foods i ate while losing weight the first time.
Its been two weeks now and i know its just a couple of pounds but i hate feeling like i have to keeping restricting for months just to drop a couple of pounds.
If anyone has insight on what im doing wrong or how many pounds of fat they think i actually gained, id really appreciate it.
3
Replies
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It's not unreasonable that in a month-long vacation of eating what you wanted (and apparently not tracking, so you don't know how many calories over maintenance you were?), you would gain about three and a half pounds of actual body mass (not just water). I'm counting from mid-point of your reported maintenance range to your weight when you returned.
There's not something magic about being on vacation that makes the calories not count.
Go back to a half pound deficit and have a little patience.
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How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.5 -
Patience. ☺2
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It looks to me like you’re doing great! A pound or two actual weight gain while not being in total control of buying, preparing and weighing your own food for a month! You’ve really learned a lot about how to estimate and eat wisely! Now back to cutting calories for a short while. But you caught it quick! So no big deal. Just handle it right now.
I hope your vacation was all kinds of fun!5 -
corinasue1143 wrote: »It looks to me like you’re doing great! A pound or two actual weight gain while not being in total control of buying, preparing and weighing your own food for a month! You’ve really learned a lot about how to estimate and eat wisely! Now back to cutting calories for a short while. But you caught it quick! So no big deal. Just handle it right now.
I hope your vacation was all kinds of fun!
Aw haha, thank you!1 -
How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.
Maybe i wasnt clear in my post since a lot of replies seem to be assuming i didnt expect to gain weight while eating what i wanted. That isnt the case, i fully expected to gain some weight for the sake of enjoying myself. My question was about the aftermath. Im trying to understand why my weight is increasing every day despite low calories, and to figure out if im doing something wrong.0 -
Did you make any medication or supplement changes when you got back home?0
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purple4sure05 wrote: »How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.
Maybe i wasnt clear in my post since a lot of replies seem to be assuming i didnt expect to gain weight while eating what i wanted. That isnt the case, i fully expected to gain some weight for the sake of enjoying myself. My question was about the aftermath. Im trying to understand why my weight is increasing every day despite low calories, and to figure out if im doing something wrong.
It doesn't look like it is "increasing every day" it looks like you are having normal weight fluctuations. It was abnormally low on that one day (131.2), so it's been correcting. That is why it jumped back up for a handful of days. The 132 area seems to be about where you are at right now. Keep on with your process and you should continue to trend down overall back to your normal range. I don't see anything in the data that looks like a statistically significant deviation from what one would expect given your trend history.11 -
It looks like you gained 1-2 lbs in your month's vaca. That’s not bad at all. Just cut back a couple hundred cals per day and you can drop it in 4-6 weeks.3
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purple4sure05 wrote: »How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.
Maybe i wasnt clear in my post since a lot of replies seem to be assuming i didnt expect to gain weight while eating what i wanted. That isnt the case, i fully expected to gain some weight for the sake of enjoying myself. My question was about the aftermath. Im trying to understand why my weight is increasing every day despite low calories, and to figure out if im doing something wrong.
It doesn't look like it is "increasing every day" it looks like you are having normal weight fluctuations. It was abnormally low on that one day (131.2), so it's been correcting. That is why it jumped back up for a handful of days. The 132 area seems to be about where you are at right now. Keep on with your process and you should continue to trend down overall back to your normal range. I don't see anything in the data that looks like a statistically significant deviation from what one would expect given your trend history.
Thats why i mentioned that those spikes in my weight only happen in maintence after i have a high calorie high carb meal like pasta with garlic bread. When i was losing weight before it looked like this:
So when im eating the same things every day and the same macros it doesnt fluctuate at all like it has been now.0 -
purple4sure05 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.
Maybe i wasnt clear in my post since a lot of replies seem to be assuming i didnt expect to gain weight while eating what i wanted. That isnt the case, i fully expected to gain some weight for the sake of enjoying myself. My question was about the aftermath. Im trying to understand why my weight is increasing every day despite low calories, and to figure out if im doing something wrong.
It doesn't look like it is "increasing every day" it looks like you are having normal weight fluctuations. It was abnormally low on that one day (131.2), so it's been correcting. That is why it jumped back up for a handful of days. The 132 area seems to be about where you are at right now. Keep on with your process and you should continue to trend down overall back to your normal range. I don't see anything in the data that looks like a statistically significant deviation from what one would expect given your trend history.
Thats why i mentioned that those spikes in my weight only happen in maintence after i have a high calorie high carb meal like pasta with garlic bread. When i was losing weight before it looked like this:
So when im eating the same things every day and the same macros it doesnt fluctuate at all like it has been now.
Your post-vacation is the one that looks normal. The one you posted during your losing phase is the odd looking one. Weight fluctuates for reasons beyond food.
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purple4sure05 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.
Maybe i wasnt clear in my post since a lot of replies seem to be assuming i didnt expect to gain weight while eating what i wanted. That isnt the case, i fully expected to gain some weight for the sake of enjoying myself. My question was about the aftermath. Im trying to understand why my weight is increasing every day despite low calories, and to figure out if im doing something wrong.
It doesn't look like it is "increasing every day" it looks like you are having normal weight fluctuations. It was abnormally low on that one day (131.2), so it's been correcting. That is why it jumped back up for a handful of days. The 132 area seems to be about where you are at right now. Keep on with your process and you should continue to trend down overall back to your normal range. I don't see anything in the data that looks like a statistically significant deviation from what one would expect given your trend history.
Thats why i mentioned that those spikes in my weight only happen in maintence after i have a high calorie high carb meal like pasta with garlic bread. When i was losing weight before it looked like this:
So when im eating the same things every day and the same macros it doesnt fluctuate at all like it has been now.
Your post-vacation is the one that looks normal. The one you posted during your losing phase is the odd looking one. Weight fluctuates for reasons beyond food.
That may be the case for most people (that their weight fluctuates in a range of a few pounds) but i was just pointing out that my weight while losing looked exactly like that for 3 months straight, so the current trend post-vacation is far from the norm for me personally. Just trying to determine if theres something i should be doing differently.0 -
purple4sure05 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.
Maybe i wasnt clear in my post since a lot of replies seem to be assuming i didnt expect to gain weight while eating what i wanted. That isnt the case, i fully expected to gain some weight for the sake of enjoying myself. My question was about the aftermath. Im trying to understand why my weight is increasing every day despite low calories, and to figure out if im doing something wrong.
It doesn't look like it is "increasing every day" it looks like you are having normal weight fluctuations. It was abnormally low on that one day (131.2), so it's been correcting. That is why it jumped back up for a handful of days. The 132 area seems to be about where you are at right now. Keep on with your process and you should continue to trend down overall back to your normal range. I don't see anything in the data that looks like a statistically significant deviation from what one would expect given your trend history.
Thats why i mentioned that those spikes in my weight only happen in maintence after i have a high calorie high carb meal like pasta with garlic bread. When i was losing weight before it looked like this:
So when im eating the same things every day and the same macros it doesnt fluctuate at all like it has been now.
Your post-vacation is the one that looks normal. The one you posted during your losing phase is the odd looking one. Weight fluctuates for reasons beyond food.
That may be the case for most people (that their weight fluctuates in a range of a few pounds) but i was just pointing out that my weight while losing looked exactly like that for 3 months straight, so the current trend post-vacation is far from the norm for me personally. Just trying to determine if theres something i should be doing differently.
Isn't the straight-ish line from your losing weight period a trend line? The actual data points (circled dots) don't form a straight line. Obviously looking at a short period in which your weight is fluctuating is going exhibit fluctuation even in the trend line, compared to a longer period in which your overall trend was down, even though there were clear fluctuations (and re-gains) if you just look at the data point during you period of losing weight.3 -
purple4sure05 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.
Maybe i wasnt clear in my post since a lot of replies seem to be assuming i didnt expect to gain weight while eating what i wanted. That isnt the case, i fully expected to gain some weight for the sake of enjoying myself. My question was about the aftermath. Im trying to understand why my weight is increasing every day despite low calories, and to figure out if im doing something wrong.
It doesn't look like it is "increasing every day" it looks like you are having normal weight fluctuations. It was abnormally low on that one day (131.2), so it's been correcting. That is why it jumped back up for a handful of days. The 132 area seems to be about where you are at right now. Keep on with your process and you should continue to trend down overall back to your normal range. I don't see anything in the data that looks like a statistically significant deviation from what one would expect given your trend history.
Thats why i mentioned that those spikes in my weight only happen in maintence after i have a high calorie high carb meal like pasta with garlic bread. When i was losing weight before it looked like this:
So when im eating the same things every day and the same macros it doesnt fluctuate at all like it has been now.
Your post-vacation is the one that looks normal. The one you posted during your losing phase is the odd looking one. Weight fluctuates for reasons beyond food.
That may be the case for most people (that their weight fluctuates in a range of a few pounds) but i was just pointing out that my weight while losing looked exactly like that for 3 months straight, so the current trend post-vacation is far from the norm for me personally. Just trying to determine if theres something i should be doing differently.
I would suggest accepting that for now this is your new normal. Outside of a medical problem or extreme bloat/edema weight fluctuations are not something to try and correct. Trying to force them could just stress you which might result in even more fluctuations.
Speaking of stress I took a peek at your diary to see if there was something obvious that might explain your fluctuations. Is there some reason why you are currently creating such a large deficit? I would not be doing that at your weight. It won't lead anywhere good.3 -
purple4sure05 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »purple4sure05 wrote: »How long were you on vacation for? It looks like a couple of weeks from the trend lines. If you were just eating "what you wanted", unfortunately it is entirely possible you gained a pound or two of fat at that time, as all it would have taken was 250-500 calories above maintenance per day. ETA: I see that it was one month. So in that case, it's absolutely possible you gained at least a couple of pounds of actual body fat, possibly more.
You are likely losing some fat as you are restricting again now, you are just in the high end of a water weight fluctuation. As you said, you maintained in a 2 pound range, so you are probably just about a pound over where you were now. A couple of more weeks of restricting and you will probably be back in your normal range.
ETA: When people say "don't worry about what you eat on vacation", they are usually referring to 3 days to a week vacation. But for a month long vacation, that is going to definitely add some legitimate pounds to the scale. It is clearly correctable, as you are seeing now, but it is going to take some work and more than a couple of weeks to correct a month of vacation eating.
Maybe i wasnt clear in my post since a lot of replies seem to be assuming i didnt expect to gain weight while eating what i wanted. That isnt the case, i fully expected to gain some weight for the sake of enjoying myself. My question was about the aftermath. Im trying to understand why my weight is increasing every day despite low calories, and to figure out if im doing something wrong.
It doesn't look like it is "increasing every day" it looks like you are having normal weight fluctuations. It was abnormally low on that one day (131.2), so it's been correcting. That is why it jumped back up for a handful of days. The 132 area seems to be about where you are at right now. Keep on with your process and you should continue to trend down overall back to your normal range. I don't see anything in the data that looks like a statistically significant deviation from what one would expect given your trend history.
Thats why i mentioned that those spikes in my weight only happen in maintence after i have a high calorie high carb meal like pasta with garlic bread. When i was losing weight before it looked like this:
So when im eating the same things every day and the same macros it doesnt fluctuate at all like it has been now.
Your post-vacation is the one that looks normal. The one you posted during your losing phase is the odd looking one. Weight fluctuates for reasons beyond food.
That may be the case for most people (that their weight fluctuates in a range of a few pounds) but i was just pointing out that my weight while losing looked exactly like that for 3 months straight, so the current trend post-vacation is far from the norm for me personally. Just trying to determine if theres something i should be doing differently.
I would suggest accepting that for now this is your new normal. Outside of a medical problem or extreme bloat/edema weight fluctuations are not something to try and correct. Trying to force them could just stress you which might result in even more fluctuations.
Speaking of stress I took a peek at your diary to see if there was something obvious that might explain your fluctuations. Is there some reason why you are currently creating such a large deficit? I would not be doing that at your weight. It won't lead anywhere good.
Im just eating 1300 calories a day for a few weeks to help get back on track quicker. My TDEE is only about 1900 gross, not net. When i was eating 1500 per day I lost only a pound and a half in a month, and that was while weighing and logging everything, with no restaurant meals or guesses, so no major margin of error.1 -
Fat loss/gain happens over time. I think you are letting yourself get too caught up in the daily data instead of giving the process time to work. It looks like normal fluctuations to me. Give it 6-8 weeks with a small deficit and re-examine the data at that time. You’ll have a much better idea of the trend line at that time.4
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Stress can raise cortisol levels as well which may lead to your weight fluctuating even more. Just take a deep breath, continue at your deficit and everything will right itself in time.2
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Give yourself time yet, its still early days. Keep eating at deficit and your weight will settle back down. Goodness I'm still trying to shed post vacay weight and I was only away for two weeks. You did well to only gain a few pounds.0
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I could easily gain 10 pounds if I were on a month long vacation so 2 pounds of true weight gain is a blip for an entire month of vacation eating. It’s easier to gain fast than to lose fast so be patient, it will come off.0
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I'm in exactly the same boat. Vacation In July and I counted calories but had a couple of big days over my ten day vacation. Came back about 6 pounds heavier and still can't get it off. I had to remind myself that it took me almost a year to lose the last 20 pounds before so I guess it's gonna be a long haul to lose the 6 pounds. It sure makes me want to avoid overeating next vacation.3
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cheryldumais wrote: »I'm in exactly the same boat. Vacation In July and I counted calories but had a couple of big days over my ten day vacation. Came back about 6 pounds heavier and still can't get it off. I had to remind myself that it took me almost a year to lose the last 20 pounds before so I guess it's gonna be a long haul to lose the 6 pounds. It sure makes me want to avoid overeating next vacation.
Its so rough! I feel your pain. Its been almost 3 weeks now since i got back and nothing has improved. Its annoying that I lost 30 pounds in 3 months and now I cant lose 2 pounds in a month doing the exact same things I did before?!2
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