Okay ladies it's getting to be that TOM and the scale is depressing me! +4lbs. in 2-3 days...is this normal? I know I have been doing everything right getting my exercise in and staying on plan. Does anyone just stay off the scale around this time and then weigh in when its over??
You have no direct control on the scale.... Your body is going to do what your body is going to do. You DO have direct control over your actions. Keep those in check and the scale will follow.
Water retention is totally normal on TOM, and can vary from person to person and month to month.
Just ask yourself this: Did you eat over 10,000 calories of "stuff" in the past few days, to make yourself gain 3lb of fat?
No?
Well, it's water then Be patient. Stay off the scale til TOM passes if it's going to derail you.
One of the advantages of weighing daily is that you start to notice your patterns. Most women have monthly patterns, but it varies for each woman. One approach is to just avoid the scale if it freaks you out, but I don't quite understand this logic. Because lets say you decide to weigh every Monday. Well, that Monday could be affected by higher sodium food. TTOM, ovulation, heavy exercise. A single weigh in is just that - a single weigh in. So, weighing in once a week even with being totally on plan could look like this: 8/1: 200, 8/8: 200, 8/15: 201, 8/22: 199, 8/29: 191. Seem odd? Well, that's how my pattern goes. It didn't mean that the last week was where I saw all my weight loss. It's just that the rest of the month gets screwed around with TTOM, and then ovulation. I whoosh for about 10 days every month and hold steady the rest.
Others see things go up around TTOM, come down for a bit, then go up with ovulation, and then it comes down. Others lose more from TTOM to ovulation and don't lose much from ovulation to TTOM. it varies. If you weigh daily, you really get to know your patterns and get less freaked out by the fluctions because you begin to know your body and how it works.
One of the advantages of weighing daily is that you start to notice your patterns. Most women have monthly patterns, but it varies for each woman. One approach is to just avoid the scale if it freaks you out, but I don't quite understand this logic. Because lets say you decide to weigh every Monday. Well, that Monday could be affected by higher sodium food. TTOM, ovulation, heavy exercise. A single weigh in is just that - a single weigh in. So, weighing in once a week even with being totally on plan could look like this: 8/1: 200, 8/8: 200, 8/15: 201, 8/22: 199, 8/29: 191. Seem odd? Well, that's how my pattern goes. It didn't mean that the last week was where I saw all my weight loss. It's just that the rest of the month gets screwed around with TTOM, and then ovulation. I whoosh for about 10 days every month and hold steady the rest.
Others see things go up around TTOM, come down for a bit, then go up with ovulation, and then it comes down. Others lose more from TTOM to ovulation and don't lose much from ovulation to TTOM. it varies. If you weigh daily, you really get to know your patterns and get less freaked out by the fluctions because you begin to know your body and how it works.
Another daily weigher here for those exact same reasons.
I'm having the same problem. I'm thinking I'll stop using the scale for those 5 or so days because it's pretty much pointless. I'm bloated and my stomach is all funny, but I know I'm on plan and exercising so it's going to be okay! Abluvion is right - we've gotta just keep on doing what we're meant to be doing and everything will sort itself out.
One of the advantages of weighing daily is that you start to notice your patterns. Most women have monthly patterns, but it varies for each woman. One approach is to just avoid the scale if it freaks you out, but I don't quite understand this logic. Because lets say you decide to weigh every Monday. Well, that Monday could be affected by higher sodium food. TTOM, ovulation, heavy exercise. A single weigh in is just that - a single weigh in. So, weighing in once a week even with being totally on plan could look like this: 8/1: 200, 8/8: 200, 8/15: 201, 8/22: 199, 8/29: 191. Seem odd? Well, that's how my pattern goes. It didn't mean that the last week was where I saw all my weight loss. It's just that the rest of the month gets screwed around with TTOM, and then ovulation. I whoosh for about 10 days every month and hold steady the rest.
Others see things go up around TTOM, come down for a bit, then go up with ovulation, and then it comes down. Others lose more from TTOM to ovulation and don't lose much from ovulation to TTOM. it varies. If you weigh daily, you really get to know your patterns and get less freaked out by the fluctions because you begin to know your body and how it works.
I am another that tried weighing weekly and found it discouraging. Weighing daily I see that I am fluxuating in weight. I tend to work out pretty heavily on the weekends and my "weekly weigh in" was on Mondays. Well, my body tends to hold on to water or something when I do those heavy workouts because Mondays are always my highest.
Therefore weighing every day shows me what my body is actually doing, just like was mentioned above. I do however think that every person has thier own nitch and what works best for one might not work for another. And as far as TTOM, yes, I usually gain a few lbs. Its just a normal lovely thing us ladies get to deal with :-)
So glad I'm not the only one. Thanks for all the feedback I think I'll just hide the scale until this is over and keep on doing what I'm doing. Hopefully afterwards I'll get that big loss at the end even if it is the water weight! Have a great day girls!
One of the advantages of weighing daily is that you start to notice your patterns. Most women have monthly patterns, but it varies for each woman. One approach is to just avoid the scale if it freaks you out, but I don't quite understand this logic. Because lets say you decide to weigh every Monday. Well, that Monday could be affected by higher sodium food. TTOM, ovulation, heavy exercise. A single weigh in is just that - a single weigh in. So, weighing in once a week even with being totally on plan could look like this: 8/1: 200, 8/8: 200, 8/15: 201, 8/22: 199, 8/29: 191. Seem odd? Well, that's how my pattern goes. It didn't mean that the last week was where I saw all my weight loss. It's just that the rest of the month gets screwed around with TTOM, and then ovulation. I whoosh for about 10 days every month and hold steady the rest.
Others see things go up around TTOM, come down for a bit, then go up with ovulation, and then it comes down. Others lose more from TTOM to ovulation and don't lose much from ovulation to TTOM. it varies. If you weigh daily, you really get to know your patterns and get less freaked out by the fluctions because you begin to know your body and how it works.
This is why I weigh daily. I'm not going to say weighing daily is the only right way, but it makes perfect sense to me. When I weigh in and I gain for no apparent reason, I look at what I did today. And I think, 'Oh, well I DID eat a lot of sodium-heavy things... gotta cut back.' So instead of wasting a week with zero progress because I didn't notice the trend until the time was gone, I catch it early!
If you choose to weigh daily, you also have to get into the mentality that a gain is not the end of the world, because your body DOES fluctuate. Remember - up does not mean horrible.
In answer to your question, yes, a gain of that much during TOM is normal. I think once I may have even gained like 8lbs! And then other times I lose. TOM can be pretty crazy.
You can hide the scale, but you really don't have to.
Then I recently read a study that reviewed the results of many different weight loss studies, which found that the people who weighed daily had the most success.
That flies in the face of common wisdom. We've been told by the diet "experts" for years that we shouldn't weigh daily because we'll be "discouraged" by the normal fluctutions.
In a way, I find that argument insults our intelligence. As if we're not intelligent enough or in control of our emotions enough to understand and accept the fluctuations.
I don't mean this insultingly, because our expectations do affect our reality. Before I tried to understand and accept the fluctuations I did react to fluctuations with the expected upset and frustration - but not because the negative reaction was unavoidable, but because I had learned it, just like we all do. I thought the frustration was inevitable, because everyone told me it was.
I learned that it's not. I'm smart enough and emotionally strong enough to understand my body's fluctuations and not be controlled by them.
Don't get me wrong. If you would rather weigh weekly or monthly, there's nothing wrong with that, but no matter how often you weigh, you don't have to let your emotions be controlled by the scale.
I used to avoid the scale during TOM, but what I now do is write down my daily weight on my calendar. By doing that, over a few months I started seeing patterns, and I saw even more food/symptom/emotion patterns in my journals (I found the more I wrote down, the more patterns I could identify and use to help change some of the patterns).
Learning to recognize and understand the patterns has been far more valuable than ignoring the scale would have been.
When I first started weighing to identify patterns, I weighed many times during the day. Before and after going to the bathroom, Before and after meals, Before and after getting dressed. I only wrote down the morning naked weight, but I wrote it down every day on my calendar.
I discovered some really interesting patterns. For example, I'd always known that I gained weight with TOM/PMS, and even though I always believed that most of the weight was water weight, I also knew that some of it was over-eating in response to hunger and craving spikes. What I didn't realize was that the weight appeared about 2 days before the hunger and diet difficulties did.
I also learned that I could reduce the amount of water weight and could prevent any of it from becoming permanent as well as reduce the cravings by eating lower-carb than usual during what I now call my "red alert days."
I actually highlight in yellow "that week" on the calendar to remind me that I have to be even more aware of my calorie and carb intake that week, and I need to be pushing the fluids and watching my sodium intake more than usual.
Not every woman's fluctuations are the same. We've had this discussion on w3FC several times, and different women have different pattern of gain. By weighing daily (but staying calm about it) for several months, you will see patterns emerge, and those patterns can give you ideas for ways to change the pattern (if you want to).
I wouldn't need to push the fluids and eat lower than my usual carb level "that week" every month, because it's "just water weight," but I feel better mentally and physically when I do. In fact, I learned that my cramps are much less severe if I do avoid the salt, drink the extra water and eat lower carb/GI (especially avoiding sugar and processed carbs).
I think what you stand to learn outweighs the temporary stress of seeing an occasional upward fluctuation (it really only has to upset you, if you let it).
However, I do think that understanding fluctuations is worth a shot. Othe
Just wanted to add that weighing daily is not the ONLY way to go. I just don't understand the logic of thinking that weighing weekly or monthly will hide fluctations. By weighing yourself less, yes, you are more likely to see a downward trend or an upward trend if you have been following the program well or if you have not, but you can't know details. One week or month might be a big loss and the next week or month a small loss even though you are doing everything the same. A single weighing on the scale is a snapshot of what's going on in your body that particular second. In my opinion, the more snapshots/weights you take, the more accurate of a picture you'll see of what's going on with your body. your graph will make more sense and will show your patterns. The fewer snapshots, the fewer trends will be caught.
Now, it's true, some people get really obsessed with the scale and it really discourages them. Then, get rid of the scale. If it's hurting you and not helping you, then stop using it. There are many other ways to judge progress.
Last edited by berryblondeboys; 08-03-2011 at 02:27 PM.
Thanks I normally weigh daily so I know exactly how I am doing. But TOM threw me off course. I think I'll keep weighing in daily it sounds like the best thing to do and also keeps me going. that .1 down even makes me smile.
I agree with all the daily weighing posts. I like to start the day with a reminder (good or bad depending on the scale's reading lol) of what I'm working toward.
Daily weigher here. Part of facing this head-on is weighing everyday. When I don't, I avoid. I avoided my scale to 270+lbs. So now I check it out, and don't let it discourage me, I just use it for accountability. I agree with Kaplods, I think it is cool to see a trend. In fact, I looked forward to weighing in today because it is day two of TOM and that is the start of the downward trend for me. Thank goodness I only retain about 2lbs during this time, but a lot of women retain 10lbs.
Now, I agree that if you get on a scale daily, see a slight increase and it leads to going off plan, you shouldn't weigh daily. Part of this process is finding out what works for us as individuals. And yes, I have changed since I started my journey July 2010. When I started out, I weighed weekly, and then changed to twice a week, to now daily.
I'm actually the opposite and once TOM is upon me, I stop weighing, and I'm a daily weigher too.
Even though, I know fully well that I didn't gain 5 lbs overnight . . . the number on the scale still depresses me! I know it's because of TOM but I can't help feeling awful and I have ended up sabotaging my plan. I'm already not feeling my best and having cravings so I just think "oh screw it!"
So, for me, I have learned to continue to eat well and exercise, and weigh in a day or 2 after my period when I'm back to my normal weight.
Is this NORMAL??
Be patient. Stay off the scale til TOM passes if it's going to derail you.
