I had been doing really good - I lost 10 lbs since June 1st - great loss :-) And then this past weekend I went to a family reunion -and while I ate pretty good all weekend (not OP, but I made good choices besides Mc D's, and didn't over eat), I also had a few beers (okay a few more than a few) - but I was active all weekend - on my feet, playing in the lake, playing games, skiing & tubing etc.

So how in the heck did I gain 7 lbs in a matter of 4 DAYS !!! Sure, I didn't drink enough water and every muscle in my body is sore - but 7 lbs !!

This is something I noticed last time I did LAWL -if I went off plan for even a few days I gained weight back almost immediatly.

I'm a little "lost" and starting to doubt all of this.

snow--I can almost guarantee you did not gain 7 pounds. Between the water weight, muscle water weight, and sodium stored in your body MOST will drop in a day or 2. This has been my experience and from reading this forum for over a year it's the experience of many post binge. Don't doubt yourself or the program because both are great! Hang in there--hang with us--you will be pleasantly surprised once you've been OP a couple days. Keep us posted--I hope I get to say "I told you so!" LOL.

Snow.........that is the story of my life lately. I keep losing and then gaining it back over the weekend......with a little extra. It's junk. But, when I am OP, that doens't happen.......so be strong, and don't give up.......it will go away. This happens to Kristen too........one day of play means a week or two of work. Stay strong

Snow - Lee Ann is right...you certainly didn't take in enough calories to gain 7 pounds in 4 days. That would be 24,500 calories - impossible!!! Don't give up, though. I can speak from experience. I stopped going to the center one year ago because I had one too many days of going in for WI and ending up with a gain. I cried (literally) at the COD, left frustrated and never went back. I felt sorry for myself, ate and ate and ate, and managed to gain about 30 pounds in one year...yikes!!! Makes me wonder if I would be at goal if I would have skipped WI that day, ya know?
Anyway, hang in there. It's just a temporary gain from water weight and will certainly be gone as quickly as it came. It's actually surprising how much water weight you can get from certain foods/drinks. Like if I have chinese and WI the next day I could see a 3 pound gain. Needless to say, I make sure I eat light on the days before my WI...like we've said over and over again...weight loss is so much a mental challenge.

I was posting at the same time as Nicole...but take her advice too

I'm glad this is up. I had a weekend of cheats. Too many starches here--some chocolate there...pasta late at night during a business meeting and even had hotdogs yesterday. With all of that I had put back on 3 and am already down 1. I seriously contemplated doing a to since I weigh in tomorrow but I heard those are too harsh on the metabolism to do them often. Anyway I'm sure we'll get back OP and feel better soon. I know to keep up with this program I'm going to have to get a cookbook or something because I am soooo sick of the same foods already. That makes cheating a little easier for me. ACK!

do you gain much from your menstrual period too? I had mine last week and seen a 5lb gain but its starting to go down, it was very discouraging.....I didnt go into my weigh in last week.......but is this normal..

No, I normally don't gain at TOM - weird compared to a lot on here that say they do. When I lost weight before I'd actually drop a bunch of weight (2-4 lbs) right before - the scale could hold the same right up until then and then I would drop. I wouldn't gain any back during or after either.
But then again my TOM comes & goes with out much notice from me - no pain, etc. :-) I won't complain.

oohh..i just wanted to post on here quick and ask: did you get too much sun while you were at the lake? i found that on memorial day weekend, i gained like 4lbs and it wasn't because of a few drinks i had, it was because i had gotten sunburnt and my body was retaining tons of water from being burnt. could that be a possibility for you, maybe?
idk, i was just gonna throw that out there for ya since it happened to me about a month ago.

Getting a lot of sun and heat will make you retain water, as will sore muscles. Muscles need water to repair themselves. Remember poor Felicia after getting too much sun a few weeks ago? She was a up a few lbs for a few days after that.