It's important to remember that TOM weight gain is only water weight (unless you're also overeating). So if you're sticking to your food and exercise plan, you can lose fat, even though it may or may not show on the scale until your body releases the water.
My TOPS (taking off pounds sensibly) group has a contest every month, in which everyone who has weighed in every week for the month, and has not had a single gain, share a prize of $10. Rarely do more than two people win - meaning that 28 out of 30 members have at least one gain during the month.
We call it the apple tree contest, because at the start of the month everyone has a paper apple with their name on it, pinned to a paper tree. If you have a gain (or miss a meeting) your apple falls off the tree.
In the 15 months I've been a member, I haven't won the apple tree contest yet. I haven't had a single month without a gain - and the gain is almost always TOM gain (for me, the weight starts to come on about a week before the period and woosh, disappears by the time my period is over).
So if you lose an average of 1 lb a week your weight might look like
week 1: lose 1 lbs
week 2: lose 1 lbs
week 3: gain 4 lbs
week 4: lose 6 lbs
(for an average of 1 lb per week)
You would have lost fat during your TOM gain, but the water gain would have disguised it
Last edited by kaplods; 12-28-2011 at 10:05 PM.
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