So for a while now I've been battling against all the holiday junk food. I've been working out longer and harder on my workout days and trying so hard to stay away from the junk.

Had two Christmas celebrations this past weekend, and indulged a little too much on the desserts...but not nearly enough for a FIVE POUND GAIN from Saturday to today. Yeah...Saturday I checked in on the scale in the morning - to remind myself of WHY I didn't need to overdo it - and weighed 140. This morning - 145.

I know I ate a couple of pieces of fudge too many, but I know, know, KNOW that it wasn't 5 pounds worth of fudge. Especially since I've been working out so much more - I'm talking heart rate monitor counted calories burned of 2,400 to 2,700 a week for the past couple of weeks, and staying at my current maintenance intake of 1,800-1,900 calories a day (other than this weekend's minor indulgences).

I haven't seen 145 since I was losing weight more than a year ago. So now I'm struggling with what to do. I mean....do I immediately go back into "loss" mode or keep on plugging along as I have been (without the extra snacks) and write the larger number off to sodium intake hangover and one week pre-TOM retention (which hasn't gone this high before).

I've reworked my menu plan for lunch and dinner five times this morning...staying at about 1,650 for "reign it in" mode and then up to 1,850 for "see what happens" mode. Ready to scream!!!

I would say, don't change anything on the basis of one scale reading. A jump like that is most likely to be water retention.

My suggestion is, weigh again in a week, being careful to get enough water and continuing to track your intake, and see what the scale says then.

Jay

Thanks, Jay...I don't know why I'm so freaked out over this!

I know a lot of my problem has been that I've just been actually hungry more recently. I started doing more running, and on those days I'm just ravenous! And at work, we've had Tons and TONS of candy and goodies around and it's been hard to stay out of it.

So for me it's back to carefully logging everything, cutting out unaccounted snacks and getting back on track. We'll see in a week....

OP, I'm right with you. I had a little sweet and salty food last night after like 2 weeks of eating clean and saw a 2.5 lb jump this morning.

My bet is that your 5 lbs is water weight, just like my 2.5 - but you're right that it can be scary.

Ugh. I hate when that happens.

I'd give it 2-3 days, then if it doesn't go down again, go into loss mode. The exact same thing happened to me 2 months ago. My weight pretty much NEVER fluctuates (at least no more than 1-2 lbs), not even during TOM, so I was freaked out to see it go up 4.4 lbs after a long weekend of not such crappy eating. I lost 3 lbs the next 2 days, then it took me like a week to lose the remaining 1.4, which was probably the actual gain. The first 3 were just water, apparently.

Whatever approach you try, do take a deep breath and know you'll be fine!

Like everybody said...it's water weight! Drink lots of water, get in some good cardio (nothing OCD, just a good sweat session), keep your sodium instake low, and the extra lbs will be gone in 1-2 days tops!!!

Mine has been fluctuating a LOT recently. For a long time I'd hover around 138-140, with little jumps to 142 right before my TOM. Then the past few weeks, even before I started eating all crazy, I was hovering at 141-143 with TOM spikes to 143 and 144.

Know what else is crazy...I can weigh myself literally first thing in the morning, after a bathroom break, and then weigh myself again after my morning workout and I'm generally 2 pounds lighter. So what's my "real" weight...the first thing weight or post-workout weight?

It doesn't matter! Neither one is your "real" weight. Just choose one and stay with that. Since you've been using first thing, keep on using it.

I guarantee that when you next go to the doctor and weigh in, your weight will not be the same as either of those.

MindiV, if you have increased your exercise, then you may need to increase your food intake to support that. You're a maintainer, right? So eat more of the good foods you usually eat, while you're running more. That will help you not feel so hungry for the sugary foods.

Jay

Yeah, I'm a maintainer, Jay. I just feel so STUFFED on 1,800 or so calories now. It's like I force myself to meet that goal even when I don't feel like eating that much.

I need to get into my head that I don't HAVE to eat that much, just because I CAN. There are some days when I need that much (maybe the running days) and others when I just don't. Need to get out of the regimented "I must meet my calorie goal or DIE" mindset....

Yeah, I agree! That mindset is not helpful. You shouldn't have to "make" yourself eat--unless your weight is dropping below your lower limit.

It's OK to have higher and lower days, as you know! Some tracking programs allow you keep a weekly average running.

Jay

I body holds water real quick, I gained 8 lbs of water one time, it took only 3 days to come off. I have a few natural tricks I use to get rid of it fast. My pants were so tight, I felt like a water balloon!

I also track my carbs & their various side effects. I have found my weight does vary depending on where my calories are coming from. I also spike or hold onto weight more when I ovulate than with TOM. Even though I used 3500=1# as I was losing, this does not hold for me anymore. It is much lower. Whenever I eat higher cal/carb, & these levels aren't supposed to be high for the average woman, I spike up. I wish it weren't so, but it is.

fruitlady
Would love to know what "tricks" you use to get rid of the water weight

tita- Over the past 2 days I gained 9.5lbs of water, the worst ever! This is what I do- Eat all whole food, no starches( potato, beans, corn, string beans, rice, bread) lots of fruit works good for me & 2 or 3 yogurts a day. Citrus fruits are best. As soon as I eat any thing processed my body holds water again. Make sure your eating plenty of fiber, it helps carry out all the junk in your body. Take a bath and soak in water up to your neck or go swimming, the pressure from the water squeezes the water out of your cells. Believe me, it works, you'll have to run to the bathroom as soon as you get out. Also keep your sodium intake down for a couple days, 600mg. Exercise everyday, make sure your working hard enough to sweat, you'll sweat out some of the water your body is holding & make sure your eating enough calories from natural food, I don't go over 1300 cal. Eat most of your carbs before 3pm. Alot of lean protein also works, it speeds up the metabolism, you get an extra boost if you exercise within an hour of eating at least 20grams of lean protein. It sounds like alot, but I can lose up to 3lbs a day in water if I do it. Alot of this I do everyday to maintain my weight anyway, I'm just extra careful when I'm holding so much water weight. Hope this helps!