[4star]

Everyone seems to find that they retain water with their TOM but I just experienced a ton of bloating for several days around ovulation. I really thought I had started to stall. Is it common to retain water during ovulation as well?

[berryblondeboys]

Several of this have noted this on another thread. I think I retain more at ovulation than at TTOM.

[4star]

Oh ok. So I probably need to expect to see this trend while tracking.

[ncuneo]

Yep, I lose weight just before TOM and always gain 1-3 lbs during ovulation. Totally normal.

[GlamourGirl827]

I "stall" about a week (or even like 10 days) before TOM. Even though I know its TOM, it still gets me discouraged every month! Go figure. Then I see my month's biggest loss about a week to 2 weeks after TOM....
Then I do see a stall around ovulation, maybe a slight gain. Then I might get a small loss after, but usually it just rolls right into the weight gain before TOM.
Its such a looooong stretch from ovulation to TOM. Its the hardest part of the month to not give up!

[Initiative]

I start having symptoms about a week before and they last up to a week after my period... I experience a lot of bloat... <_<;; I usually have spouts of eating more too, and then after it's over i drop even more weight than i had water because I ate so much I feel sustained and can maintain on much smaller amounts for days. O_O Hope you feel better!

[Emme]

Yes, I always am up a few pounds during ovulation (and sometimes during TOM). What a pain in the butt, right?!

[kaplods]

This is why I think a food & symptom journal really is key. You find your own personal patterns. I used to think that I gained weight around TOM because of the foods I was craving and eating. Instead, I discovered that the weight gain actually precedes the cravings. If I stay on plan, all of the weight gain is gone (however if I go nuts with the cravings, I'm in for "real" weight gain).

In discussing it in other threads it seems that while we (women at least) all have monthly patterns, it isn't the same monthly pattern. Just as with food plans, and how we each gain and lose weight best, there is no one-size-fits-all pattern or remedy.

[berryblondeboys]

Kaplods It's really true! And patterns change too!

My pattern now is that I will slowly lose slowly lose the first half of the menstrual cycle (up to ovulation). I might gain a little with ovulation - sometimes yes, sometimes no, but immediately following ovulation I usually get a big WOOSH! This past month it was 5 pounds in 5 days! (I didn't gain during ovulation build-up, but obviously I was holding water if I then wooshed it away so quickly).

I'm pretty sure TTOM is tomorrow and no gain yet, but we'll see... I usually see a gain on day two.