[Crystalx5]

Okay, everyday I eat roughly the same amount of calories 2,000. Some days I will eat 200-500 less than that, but rarely ever go over 2,000. This week, I went over 2,000 once, by about 210 calories (birthday cake ). Here is what my scale has looked like every morning at the exact same time:
Nov 8th-157.4
Nov.9th-157.2
Nov.10th-157.0
Nov.11th-159.0
Nov.12th-158.0
Nov.13th-159.0
Nov.14th-159.4
And now I am officially higher than what I was once I lost all the initial baby weight from my las child 14 MONTHS ago!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still had 30 pounds of weight to lose to get down to my pre-pregnancy size, and now I have well, 36 pounds.
PLEASE HELP ME!
I still nurse twice a day, but for only a couple of minutes (nap time), so I really do not think that has an affect.
I started logging on November 8th, because between the 5-8th, I gained 3 pounds overnight, just like that! From 154- all the way to 157.
What the heck is going on???????
It is so depressing, and the fact that I have not been able to lose an ounce since birth and now have just been gaining, is well becoming unbearable.
Also, my thyroid is fine according to blood tests.

[PUPMOM5]

I'm curious, why are you eating 2000 calories? At your size, isn't that more maintenance level?

[Crystalx5]

Well, when I weighed in the 120's (pre-pregnancy) I would lose weight at 2,000. I am super duper active with 5 kids and I usually work outside of the home (very physical labour) on average 2 days a week (some weeks more). That is why I eat 2,000 calories. Anything less and I STARVE! Literally. But, that has no bearing on the fact that within days I have gained 5 pounds! I have not had 17,500 extra calories in a week.

[carter]

Originally Posted by PUPMOM5

I'm curious, why are you eating 2000 calories? At your size, isn't that more maintenance level?

She mentioned that she's nursing; that requires a lot of calorie investment.

To the OP: Your weight on any given day fluctuates for all kinds of reasons that aren't directly correlated with how many calories you ate the day before. Most of these reasons are out of your control. Fluid retention, for example, can account for daily swings of up to 4 pounds (or more!), and depends upon such factors as the weather, your sodium intake over the last couple of days, your own hydration over the last couple of days, exercise recovery, hormonal cycles, and a host of other factors.

It's fine to weigh everyday, but if you do, you have to be prepared for fluctuations. Even if you are flawlessly on plan and eating at a calorie deficit every single day, you will never see the scale march cooperatively downward day after day after day.

Rather, daily fluctuations can easily mask several weeks' worth of real fat loss. So when evaluating the success of your weight loss efforts, take a longer term view - not "do I weigh less than I did yesterday?" or even "do I weigh less than I did last week?" but "do I weigh less than I did two weeks or a month ago?"

It would be great if we could see weight-loss results immediately, day by day, as a reward for staying on plan yesterday - but unfortunately, your body doesn't work that way. Stick with it and you will see results over time.

[Jacqui_D]

I agree with Carter. Fluctuations upward are not unusual at all. I've had a few weeks in which I've maintained or gone up. It happens. Other weeks I've dropped with a big whoosh for no apparent reason. Weight loss is definitely not a steady trip down the scale, even if we think it should be because we're staying on plan. Stick it out and good luck!

[Arctic Mama]

With nursing I can swing 3-5 pounds in weight, up or down, depending on my own hydration and the frequency of the nursing. Hormones during ovulation and the luteal phase can also cause additional bloating and swings. If you're eating whole foods and not allergic to anything in your diet, sure you're logging correctly, and not at maintenance calories, give it another 2-3 weeks to verify the longer term trend is actual fat and not just water fluctuations. I only lose weight one or two weeks of the month, in terms of scale reporting. The other weeks I bounce or shoot up. It has nothing to do with calories and everything to do with water retention. Nursing exacerbates this. But after four babies and five years of weight loss, I've learned to trust my food logs more than the scale!