I've wondered the same thing. It doesn't have extra fat or calories, so maybe the water will eventually go away? I wish I understood a little more about what this all means. I'm reading a book right now "The Metabolism Miracle" that has explained a little, but I'm not very far into the book either.

Junie04 - I hope that you have found your motivation once again. You've made amazing progress thus far and I wish you luck in getting the last 7 lbs off.

Thanks for the information on where to find the Diet Cream soda. I'm going to try the "nicer" Wal-Mart in the city and also check at Publix, as they tend to have some items that I can't find elsewhere.

victorialynn2 - I'm sure you're taking excellent care of your Doxie and hope that her recovery is going well...3 pins in the leg sounds painful and I'm sure it was a relief to have them removed. Here's to lots of potty breaks to get the water weight off.

JenB72 - Your diligence HAS to pay off...just stick with it and let us know how weigh-in goes tomorrow.

Candi - sorry you made a drive and did not find the clothes that you anticipated finding. I will continue to say this, I am floored and encouraged by the amount of weight you've lost. My goal is a size 18, so I can't imagine being a 14...sigh...I haven't ridden a roller coaster or any type of "fair" ride in so long. That would be a nice treat. Congrats on your 2 lb loss...maybe I need to come live with you and eat the same things you eat.

momoffour - your doctor sounds like a...a...I'd better not say. They always have so much to say when we need to lose weight, they also need to acknowledge when we're putting forth an effort to be healthier. Don't give in to the rebel inside of you. So...not worth it.

patzi - congrats on your loss.

ConnieInColorado - stay the course and be sure to let us know how your next weigh-in goes.

RaRaF - there is no way you gained 5 lbs. We know this, yet it is a very hard pill to swallow. Good luck with staying motivated and continuing to work the program.

little edie - in the past when I've done other diets, my weigh-ins over the weekend were always less than on Monday morning...I'll never understand that, but don't give up and the scale has to eventually reward us, right?

lostcause - great attitude!

tkdtara84 - congrats on your loss. You've done an awesome job with re-focusing after your husband's vacation.

Thanks for the words of encouragement and advice. I am really trying to put this undeserved gain in perspective. I wasn't hungry at any point and didn't have a real desire to eat off plan...I was just upset. I had my on program dinner and am drinking water. I still plan to get my walk in (even though I've already met my goal of 3 x per week) either by hitting the street with my sister and cousin or by doing the WATP DVD. TOM ended on Sunday so I thought weight gain related to that was gone...maybe it's sodium...it has to be something...there's no way I gained 3.5 lbs and REALLY hope it disappears by my Friday weigh-in. As I read your posts, I must admit that I've also had deli meat several times this week...but could that really attribute to such a large "gain?" I don't know what the cause is. They did not break the weight down in regards to body composition, but maybe they'll do that on Friday as that will be my 4th week OP. I really hope to lose because I will be devastated to be at just -10 for the first month after expecting much more and losing 7 lbs the first week. Sigh...

How do you get the ticker?

Something else to consider when weighing in is how much water you drink beforehand. I drink next to nothing before I weigh in at lunch. One gallon of water is 8.35 pounds. That means a 20 oz. bottle of water weighs 1 pound 5 ounce. Yes, you may get rid of some of that by going to the bathroom, but not all. That may also contribute to a weight gain.

luvs2read79 - You get a ticker by being signed up for this site for at least 20 days (and 3FC means to the minute), and 20 posts.

I'm with you on this one Jen. I usually try not to drink any water before I WI. Of couse, I have my HNS at breakfast and at least 8 ounces to take some meds but that's usually it. But with a body comp WI it makes it a little difficult because your water mass will be low, which means your body fat % is higher.

Here's a link that talks about sodium - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/nu00284
It talks about how your kidney's regulate sodium and sodium attracts & holds water which will increase your blood volume.

It's also important to check the sodium vs. potassium in foods. If there is a huge gap between the two, then it's not good. I can't find the article on that but I will keep looking.

I know having deli meat turkey is SO easy but I've been buying a frozen turkey - they have a full turkey or just the ones with that are the breasts - no dark meat and that's what I usually buy. I either bake it, or stick it in the crock pot (depending on size). Then eat that instead of deli meat turkey.

Hope this helps some of you. And even if the deli turkey / sodium isn't affecting you right now, it could when you get to maintenance.

Good morning, ladies! YAY--I'm back down. Well, almost. I'm still 1lb. up from my lowest WI, but at least I'm not 5 lbs up! I think I got up about 10 times to use the bathroom last night though, and now am exhausted, lol! It really must have been that stupid turkey. Which makes me sad because I have the rest of it all cut up into 4 oz baggies ready to go. Oh well, maybe the kids will eat it. So--I guess it's back to tuna and grilled turkey burgers for me. Guess I'd better go to the store! Have a great day, everyone!

My largest size was a 24 in pants and usually a 4/5x in tops. I still can't buy tops at "normal" stores because their 2x's are like a 0 in the REAL plus size stores. I know I was around 16 when I wore a size 14 pant for the last time. That's 21 years of plus size clothing and even at that young age I was already wearing 2x tops and couldn't shop with all my friends.

Your time will come! Just be patient and make the program work for you. One thing my center tells me - don't get hung up on a size, focus on your goal weight. If you focus on a size then you might be disappointed when you try on clothes because everything is made so different. Just like me this weekend, bought a 2x top at Catherines but there was no way the 2x at Fashion Bug fit me and even the 3x was a little uncomfortable so I went with the 4x. Felt like I was back at square 1 but knew better because I know I've lost inches and weight - it's just the way their clothes are made.

As for living with me!? Well, I have two rotten yorkies and my mom is living with me now. We might be a little crowded. But I'm here if you need me. Feel free to email me outside of here, if you want [email protected]

Hang in there!

I am also pretty consistent with what I eat/drink beore WI. I have my normal breakfast plus HNS (and I take my vitamins, etc. with that), and then I go WI first thing. What you drink before can make a huge difference (which is probably why some centers don't want you to go after a workout), so if you're not very consistent with what you're drinking and eating, then that can cause discrepancies.

I don't think this is a really big deal unless it messes with your head. Fat loss will always show up eventually, and next time there may be a huge drop. However, if a gain shows up and I've been doing perfectly, it makes me want to throw in the towel. That's when it could be dangerous.

I also weigh at home every morning after bathroom before getting dressed, and that is very consistent, so at least if my center WI doesn't show up quite right, I know I'm still losing weight. I only did this periodically last time. This time it's helping me stay focused, but I know that being so hyper-focused on the scale number can be bad for some.

WI this morning. I'm up a pound :-(

I don't know if I've ever been so happy to lose half a pound. I was shocked. I explained to my counselor what happened with the turkey fiasco and we agree that is the most likely reason why I stalled. So, I'm going to give it a few days of more closely watching what I'm eating, reading labels, and see what happens.

Guess that goes to prove you can be close to your goal and still have a lot to learn.

I am no expert, but if you are staying on plan it is not possible to gain that much (3.5 or 5 pounds) in a few days. It has to be something you ate that contained a lot of sodium. Deli meat definitely has a lot of sodium. I made the mistake once of getting the turkey that was not low in sodium and my scale reflected it the next morning. It took a few days for the water weight to come off. I don't eat it anymore!

Also, I have heard that working out makes you retain water.

Good point about the not drinking the water right before a weigh in, JenB72. I try not to drink anything for a full hour before I weigh in.

Thanks LuvstoRead. I have gotten my motivation back but not at 100%. I think I will be having a long talk with my consultant this week! (I only weigh in once a week). You can get a tickler after you have a certain number of posts. I think it's 20.

tkdtara84, you made excellent points in your post. I second that!

I know how u feel luvs2read79 weighed Mon was up two lbs yesterday back down 2 and today back up 2 have not cheated in anyway. I am purty much doing the same as u 4 hns per day cooking food from mrc recipe book for breakfast and dinner weighing everything and exercising. I just changed from the mrc balance to the 2 meal plan on monday and just started working out on thursday. They say me being new to the work out that the muscle swelling after the routine will cause temporary weight increase. This will always happen after workouts, it's part of the recovery. Depending on how often or how new you are to the particular exercise, the longer the recovery will take. So I am hoping when I weigh in friday I am back down.

Well, the reason I mentioned how much water weighs and drinking it before weighing in is because that is actually a tactic used on "The Biggest Loser" if you're trying to lose a weigh in for "game play" purposes. The worst case of this was a guy named Neil in Season 4. He wanted to throw the weigh in so he and his partner would be the bottom two and his partner would be voted out (Neil had enough votes to stay over the other guy). As it turned out, he drank enough water before the weigh in to show a 17 pound gain! Now, these people work out 6-8 hours a day and follow their diets pretty closely. That's when it came out about "water loading." Crazy, but it can happen.

Nothing...

RE: Ticker

I have under 20 posts and I was able to do my ticker. I just got on the User CP and followed the links. It took me awhile to figure out how to get it onto my "signature" (I'm pretty low-tech!!) but I really didn't have any big problems.

Jen, I remembered reading before that you don't drink much before you go for your WI and I was actually thinking about that as I went in on Tuesday! My center doesn't open until 9:00, which makes it difficult to not work out until later. I'll have to figure something out though. Gotta Break This Plateau.

You know, I would also think that it wouldnt' matter if you went in after working out, as long as you're consistent with the amount of exercise and the amount of water. If you vary your water, you wouldn't be able to tell what's water weight and what's not, but if you're conisistent, I would think your losses would show up. When I did the program before, I would often go after working out, but I reliably drank exactly two bottles of water, so it was always the same. Are you pretty consistent in what you drink? All that to say, I wouldn't let this put a damper on working out. It's good for you not only for weight loss but other things as well. Your losses will eventually show up no matter what. It's just hard to keep your head in the game until they do.