Workout a week, take a week off!

Not a good plan! Where in the world did you get that idea?

*deep breath*

Weight loss and maintaining is done in the kitchen!

Fitness is done working out!

Since this is mostly women.

I strength and power train 3 times a week. Lifting, strength! Box jumps, medicine ball toss for power/explosive training.

I add in dynamic stability! This is a lot of Swiss Ball stuff, along with things like t-push ups, plank pull downs, reverse lunge, weighted pull downs, walking lunges, with one bar bell, hold it over my head, with one arm and then switch to the other arm!

On non lifting/power days, I walk/jog,hit the super ditch, run up the hill, do 5 push ups, run down the hill, do 5 push ups, rinse and repeat. Or, just head out and do a walk/jog 5k.

I do not do all of this every day. My goal is to do some thing on purpose 5 days a week, and I do take 2 days off. The body needs exercise, but also needs a break!

Three hours a day is really a lot of time to exercise, maybe if you cut that you would be able to exercise every week.

But whatever works for you is what you should do.

I exercise daily & have for years but my intensity has gone down over the years. Still, if I don't get something in and the walking, I do start gaining inches & eventually lose strength & get depressed. But it doesn't affect my scale weight much.

Unless you eat more during the weeks you don't exercise, it's scientifically impossible that you'd lose more fat in those weeks. (You probably know this already.) In your shoes I'd chalk up the pattern you're seeing on the scale to "whatever" and carry on with the exercise. I also agree with those who've said that 3 hours per day is not very sustainable, even if you only do it every other week. 45 minutes per day, 4 times per week is all you need. It's easy to fit into most schedules and pretty painless.

JMHO Freelance

I would suggest doing a little bit of exercise every day or every other day, rather than this week on, week off regimen. You could be losing weight the weeks you aren't exercising because you are losing the muscle mass you have built up during your week of exercise; remember, muscle weighs more than fat! It's important to be consistent in your workout routine. I would change to around 45 minutes to 1 hour of exercise each day. Maybe you could alternate 1 day of cardio and 1 day of strength training to give your muscles a rest, and take 1 or 2 days off each week.

Going to the gym made my weight a lot more volatile. I put on 2lbs in two days from water and then lost 3lbs in two days when the water came off.

I'm just gonna live with it because I like how I feel after a workout.