I bought this book, a food journal, and it says I should weigh myself every day. So I've been doing that and I've been doing great. Lost 3 lbs. in 5 days, then today I gained a pound. I didn't do anything different. I didn't go over my calories and I exercised. I just don't know how to keep from getting discouraged when I gain when I didn't cheat or anything. How frustrating!

Have you been working out? Muscle weighs more than fat so you could be gaining muscle. When is your TOM? you can get water weight from that. It is normal to fluctuate a pound within the week. Just don't get discouraged! Keep up with being on program and you'll see results! I weigh myself everyday and if I weighed higher one day, it only encouraged me to work out more that day.

Everyone is different. It's normal for your weight to fluctuate day to day. I know for me personally, I can't weigh myself everyday. I'd rather do it once a week (same time/day/clothes), that way, it's a bigger loss. And I don't get discouraged everyday. I'd be the same way if some days I was up. But some people only stay on plan when weighing everyday. If doing it everyday is going to make you sad/frustrated/fall off plan, I'd suggest doing it less frequently.

Not to disagree with Samantha, but you're not going to gain muscle quickly enough that you lose 3 lbs then gain 1 lb in the course of a week.

Its possible that your losses/gain is due to water weight - have you been eating foods that are high in sodium and/or not drinking enough water?

And it is frustrating, but try and look at the big picture I weigh myself every day and I have to admit I do get pissed when the scale goes up a bit, but as long as I'm at a loss by the end of the week/month, I'm okay. It might be helpful to only "count" your weigh-in once a week, as opposed to every day.

Yeah, I've been working out using weights, but only for 5 days total now. I've been drinking nothing but water, but I probably haven't been drinking as much as I should.

I really like the idea of weighing myself everyday, but only counting it once a week like on a Sunday or something. Thanks for the idea!

I get frustrated really easily though...and in the past when I gain that's when I give up. I don't want to do that this time. I was doing Weight Watchers a few years ago and got down to 168 and stayed the same 2 weeks in a row and gave up and have gained over 30 lbs back!! Can't do that again.

By the way...what is TOM?

I'm pretty sure TOM is time of month? lol..period. It took me a while to figure that one out.

Ohhhh!! That totally makes sense now lol. Thanks for the explanation. I'm sure it would've taken me a while to figure it out too. I kept seeing people say something about it and I'm like uh.....?

lol yeah. It makes a huge difference!

Sunshine, I'm in Houston as well--what area are you in? I'm in Alvin....

your weight fluctuates from day to day, usually due to water retention. Nothing to stress about unless you ate an entire cake by yourself of something

Hide the Scale sister!!! It's really tough to think that all your hard work is paying lil dividends. I only weigh in once a week if that. Set backs discourage me too. But then they also make me go harder. Because this time I refuse to quit. It's been too many starts and stops for me. I know exactly how you are feeling

I'm pretty close to Pearland like 5 minutes. Alvin is pretty close I think.

oh neat--I've never had a 3FC'r so close to me, lol! I love going to Whole Foods or the big HEB in Silverlake and picking some new food product to play with each week. Once it was no-pudge brownie mix, once it was fat free refried beans, etc. Don't get stuck in a food rut

Ohh awesome! I didn't know Silverlake had a Whole Foods? I usually stick to HEB or Wal-Mart lol. I only go down to that area occasionally with my sister to shop.

Water is *heavy*. Something as simple as drinking a cup of water can throw off your weight by over a pound.

What's important is the over-arching, long-term trend. Small fluctuations are meaningless if the big picture is a steady downward slope.