Over the past 2-3 weeks I have painstakingly lost 4 pounds. I was annoyed to begin with because most ladies lose a lot of weight their first weeks and I lost 2 the first week and 2 the second week. Well, yesterday I weighed my usual 186 and today I weigh 190! Naked, no food in my stomach, after toilet. SOB! I'm not near my period so it's not that. I guess I just want to hear stories of when this has happened to you, what caused it and whatnot.

I know every body is different but I pray that I don't have to spend the next two weeks RE-losing the weight I lost in the past two weeks. ARGH. I'm so frustrated!

These things happen. I weigh more if I eat/drink more before bed rather than earlier in the day. Also, I gain lots of water weight when I'm exercising- I've measured my calves and have gained as much as 2" in water from exercise on each calf.

I do sympathize and the advice just to hang in there, which is all I can offer, is really frustrating to hear.

The only question I can ask from my experience is, are you calorie counting, and, if so, how many? Going too low can really affect weight loss.

I find it best to only weigh weekly (usually) because the highs and lows of natural body rhythms were just too much for me mentally.

There will be more experienced chicks along shortly....

I'm going through this right now too. I gained 2 lbs. overnight the other day. I KNOW it is water weight and a 'natural fluctuation' but it is very frustrating. I drank a ton of water yesterday hoping it would help but no, it didn't.

From experience, I know I'm likely to have a sudden and just as seemingly 'out of nowhere' big loss at some point. I know that but it's still hard mentally to see the numbers go up no matter if it's 'real' or not.

Moments like this are when I KNOW I'm committed to changing my body because otherwise I'd give up and think "What's the point?". The point is that it's dumb for me to expect a straight, lineal downward path.

There are ALWAYS going to be obstacles. Overcoming them is what makes losing the weight such an accomplishment. Something will always come along to test our resolve whether it's the unexplained upward movement on the scale, and injury or a life crisis. There will always be SOMETHING. The way we prove to ourselves we can do it is to persevere through whatever comes and adjust as needed to keep on track. Easily said but hard to do.

Write down everything you eat in a food journal, and I am sure you will find where you have steered off the path. Good luck!

I agree with food journaling. You bite it - you write it.

It's so incredibly easy to go over ones calorie budget without even realizing it. But once you start tracking your calories really closely, recording every, bite, lick, taste and crumb - well, it's REAL eye opening.

If you don't know exactly what you're consuming, there's no way to know for sure what to change up and adjust. Why guess with something so important? It's not worth all the work and aggravation. You bite it, you write it.

Most people lose a dramatic amount of weight their first week or two because they suddenly increase how much water they're drinking, and dramatically decrease the amount of sodium. Have you done those two things?

Maybe you ate a lot of salt the day or so before?

Thanks ladies. I just needed to hear your encouragement to stick with this! I calorie count so I do keep a food journal, the only thing I've done differently is I did have something salty for lunch the day before I weighed. I guess that fresco style chicken soft taco really did me in. That's what I get for not being prepared with my own food.

THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME THIS MORNING. I'm in the exact same boat as you, I have had to FIGHT to get a couple of pounds off, and now it appears to be all back.

So this is what I've gathered from reading the boards and from talking to lots of people:

Rule #1: Don't Panic.

I also looked in the mirror and unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, a little fat roll is gone from beneath my ribs.

So, Rule #2: Don't always trust the scale.

Everybody's weight fluctuates daily, sometimes as much as five pounds throughout the course of the day. I know you mentioned that you're not near your period and you already went potty (teehee potty) but I thought I weighed myself after I peed, and then later this morning I had to pee again. I weighed myself again afterwards. Guess what? I went down a pound. It could be water retention from high sodium or exercise. It could be something else, completely unrelated, that nobody's figured out yet. The scale can be a fickle little thing, take what she says with a grain of salt. (Or maybe less salt.)

Finally, of course, is the Golden Rule: Stay On Plan. Which I know you already know anyway, but every time I hit a roadbump I like to have a little reminder, myself.

There it is! The sodium! I had a similar freakout last weekend over a handful of doritos that made me gain 7 lbs overnight! It took a few days to come back off but it finally did plus a couple pounds. Don't get discouraged, just keep trucking! Oh and drink your water!! If you're retaining, drinking more will signal your body to flush it out .

Diddo, they said.
But I mean if you're losing weight, then you're losing weight. The scale can only tell you so much.

try cutting down on carbs in your diet dont follow the pyramid (dead people lay down there). food wont always do need to do some exercise as well. if you didnt sweat for fifteen minutes a day during exercise dont concider it a workout. (if your lazy.......)

Sorry... But hahahahahha.. on the pyramid..