Weight gain -- scale fluctuations are frustrating & disapointing!

Rannoch3908
Rannoch3908 Posts: 177 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So after losing 17 pounds in 30 days I was on a roll - feeling good - highly motivated every morning to get after it each day in terms of eating right, moving more, drinking water, etc. Got down to 299 - woo hoo. I almost cried when I saw that number!

In the last week and a half though the scale has been going the wrong way. 300 to 301 to 302 to 303 today.

- I have been eating the exact same way each day as I did when I was losing.
- Staying under my calories each day (MFP says 1950 - I eat 1850)
- Been drinking more water (80 ounces per day)
- Been eating healthy un-processed foods - meal prepping and logging carefully.
- Still moving more each day (walks, biking - no work outs).

I know I need to go buy a tape measure and start measuring my neck and waist and track that way too but the scale was moving so fast in the right direction. And now it's stopped and not just stopped - moving the wrong way. What gives!!!!!

It makes you want to give up - to not work as hard - and I know that is a cop out but it's disheartening. I am not giving up (like I have in past) but I need to see some results. I have such a long way to go and I can't get past this one number on the scale. It makes me want to starve myself or take days completely off of eating just to see a result.

Moving on - moving forward - hoping maybe next Friday I will be back at 299 or lower. This 300lbs+ club is for the birds - I don't want to be a member anymore!

Replies

  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    Well, the original weight loss was mostly water weight.

    It just takes time and patience to see results. And weight loss is never linear. It will fluctuate up and down for your entire journey
  • Dante_80
    Dante_80 Posts: 479 Member
    Rannoch3908 wrote: »
    It makes you want to give up - to not work as hard - and I know that is a cop out but it's disheartening. I am not giving up (like I have in past) but I need to see some results.

    Think of it this way. The laws of thermodynamics are immutable. There are no buts or ifs, no contradictions, no room for misunderstanding. As long as you are doing the correct thing, correctly, you are going to have results. There is no way around this, whatever your crappy scale may say on a random day.

    Stay the course.

  • gewel321
    gewel321 Posts: 718 Member
    I'm going to give you the advice that helped me. My fat brain would tell me that it isn't working as soon as that number went up a little. I got a weight tracking app. Happy Scale is what I use since I am apple. I put my weight in every single day. It shows a trend line. That line is in the green then the daily up and down doesn't matter much cause it isn't real.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 978 Member
    Now that you've lost the water weight, if you're adamant you're doing the same thing every day, perhaps stay off the scales for a month. Keep doing what you were doing and then look at your weight in 4 weeks. From that vs today's weight, you can work out whether you're losing at your expected rate or whether you need to adjust your calories a little.

    Alternatively, as gewel321 suggests, download a weight tracking app and enter your weight daily. Libra is the one generally recommended on here for Android users. Look at the trend line, not the ups and downs in between. Your weight WILL go up and down. Everyone's does.
  • speyerj
    speyerj Posts: 1,369 Member
    Just about everyone with a lot of weight to lose experiences the same phenomenon: Week 1 and 2 you see amazing losses. You are so excited! You start projecting that rate of loss into the future and get so motivated! It's both a blessing and a curse. Here's why - that rate of loss will likely never be repeated. And that can be really discouraging. But it's completely normal and expected.

    That initial weight loss is mostly water - our body burns through its glycogen stores and the water that is stored with it. After that store is gone, you start burning fat (which is what you really want it to do!) While you replace your glycogen stores every day, since you are eating less, you are storing less, so there is less water to release as your body burns it. So the following weeks your rate of loss slows down.

    Even if you eat at a consistent deficit, the rate of loss will not be consistent day to day or even week to week. Some days you might even gain weight, especially if you ended up eating a lot of salt or carbohydrates the day before. And if you didn't get enough sleep, you are under stress or you are sore or injured you might gain weight too. But the weight is water retention. And it is temporary. And just because you gained water doesn't mean you didn't also lose fat. Over time (6 to 8 weeks) your weight loss will be roughly equivalent to your total calorie deficit/3500. If it's way off, then you might be over estimating your burn or underestimating your calorie intake. But both of those things can be tweaked.

    The important take away is keep at it! Even though it's going to take months and months and maybe even years and years, if you stick with it, the weight will come off. It might not happen as quickly as you would like, but it will come.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    I predict a whoosh. Stay the course.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
    Patience and consistency. Stay the course and all will be well.
  • phoenixrb35
    phoenixrb35 Posts: 23 Member
    Rannoch3908 wrote: »
    So after losing 17 pounds in 30 days I was on a roll - feeling good - highly motivated every morning to get after it each day in terms of eating right, moving more, drinking water, etc. Got down to 299 - woo hoo. I almost cried when I saw that number!

    In the last week and a half though the scale has been going the wrong way. 300 to 301 to 302 to 303 today.

    - I have been eating the exact same way each day as I did when I was losing.
    - Staying under my calories each day (MFP says 1950 - I eat 1850)
    - Been drinking more water (80 ounces per day)
    - Been eating healthy un-processed foods - meal prepping and logging carefully.
    - Still moving more each day (walks, biking - no work outs).

    I know I need to go buy a tape measure and start measuring my neck and waist and track that way too but the scale was moving so fast in the right direction. And now it's stopped and not just stopped - moving the wrong way. What gives!!!!!

    It makes you want to give up - to not work as hard - and I know that is a cop out but it's disheartening. I am not giving up (like I have in past) but I need to see some results. I have such a long way to go and I can't get past this one number on the scale. It makes me want to starve myself or take days completely off of eating just to see a result.

    Moving on - moving forward - hoping maybe next Friday I will be back at 299 or lower. This 300lbs+ club is for the birds - I don't want to be a member anymore!

    Congratulations on your weight loss! Keep doing what you're doing, and you will keep seeing results even if the scale acts funny, which it can sometimes because a new physical routine my cause swelling in parts of your body or a food, sport beverage, etc. that you're trying may be causing water retention in spite of your tracking every single calorie and ensuring that they remain within your calorie limit. And please know that I've experience all these things and so decided to check my weight on a good day or two every week but to consistently check my weight each week to ensure I am within the weight range at which I thrive physically.
  • globalc00
    globalc00 Posts: 103 Member
    As many people have said, weight loss is not linear. This new regime of eating healthy and moving more should be a lifetime change. So whether you hit your target weight in 2 month or 2 years, you will get there as long as you stick to it. Just make sure your goals are realistic and the effort you put in aligns with your goals.

    If the scale bothers you that much, then just do weekly weigh in or bi weekly or even monthly in your case. There is more than 1 way to tell if your losing weight. If your regimen is sound, you will see a difference in the mirror after a few month. Your clothes will also let you know you lost weight. People that you occasionally see will also let you know you have lost weight.

    Just don't give up!
  • charmmeth
    charmmeth Posts: 936 Member
    edited October 2020
    Rannoch3908 wrote: »
    So after losing 17 pounds in 30 days I was on a roll - feeling good - highly motivated every morning to get after it each day in terms of eating right, moving more, drinking water, etc. Got down to 299 - woo hoo. I almost cried when I saw that number!

    In the last week and a half though the scale has been going the wrong way. 300 to 301 to 302 to 303 today.

    ...

    It makes you want to give up - to not work as hard - and I know that is a cop out but it's disheartening. I am not giving up (like I have in past) but I need to see some results. I have such a long way to go and I can't get past this one number on the scale. It makes me want to starve myself or take days completely off of eating just to see a result.

    Moving on - moving forward - hoping maybe next Friday I will be back at 299 or lower. This 300lbs+ club is for the birds - I don't want to be a member anymore!

    The responses to your thread on setting goals might help you to think about this query too. This kind of rebound is frustrating, but it is completely normal. Ths is where having a tracking graph is helpful as it will show the trend as well as your daily (or whatever) weigh-in. I am sharing mine: if you look at the purple month you can see a dip followed by a plateau which felt endless at the time but in context it is clear that it was nonetheless part of a steady downward trend. I have less to lose than you, so my swings are less, but this is what happens: you go down a few pounds, bounce back, go down a bit, bounce back, go down again... As others have advised you might find it helpful to track your rolling average or your monthly average. It helps to see that something is happening even when your regular weigh-ins suggest that it isn't.

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  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    edited October 2020
    Your initial weight loss was probably mostly water as others have said. The average person can expect to lose 1 lb a week. Smaller people are lucky to lose 1/2 lb a week. This is reality. If you have 100 lbs more to lose you may be able to lose 2 lbs a week but have to log your calories accurately. You can’t expect to sustain a loss of 1 lb every other day. That’s not reality.

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