Hi everone! I am new here, my name is Becky and I am currently trying to lose weight by counting calories. I have a fitday journal and I write everything down that passes my lips. I have run into an obstacle and am concerned at what I could be doing wrong. I weight myself on a daily basis to kind of see how my weight fluctuates on a daily basis. On Sunday morning I weighed myself and had dropped another pound making my weight 163.8. That really motivated me and I have eaten very well staying well within (if not under) my calorie range (1400 - 1500 calories). Monday mornign when I got on the scale, I had gained back 3 lbs! I was baffled - I know I ate well, I actually ate under my normal calorie range. I thought - OK, maybe this is a fluke, so I waited and got back on the scale today and it says the same thing, 166.6! I know I ate well yesterday as well.

The only thing that I can think could be the cause of this is that on Saturday, Aunt Flo came to visit. But I would have thought that if I were retaining water, it would have shown it on Sunday, right? Plus, I drink a ton of water everyday, so I would think that 3 lbs is a bit excessive, wouldn't you think?

Anyway - I am looking to see if anyone else has experienced this sort of problem while counting calories and if you know what I should do to lose it all back.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hi Becky and welcome. Please, join us in our chitter chatter thread.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103623

Oh yeah, Beckie, TOM is a HUGE factor for me. It's totally normal to retain water at TOM even if you're drinking lots of water. I actually gained 8 lbs. one month. Don't worry about it. your doing good things just keep off the scale for a week and let your body get back to normal. Keep eating right and exercising and you will see the scale go down.

Beth

TOM (time of the month) can EASILY cause a 3lb gain...one of the hardest things about daily weighing is accepting that the scale is going to fluctuate some. Wait at least a few days after TOM is over to start worrying...my guess is that it will melt off just as quickly as it came on, and that it is just water.

Thanks Ladies! That makes me feel so much better about it.

I just started weighing myself everyday the last month or so... I kinda like watching the flucuations daily.. I noticed that during my TOM, I actually gain about 4/5lbs a couple days before, then back to normal the day it starts.

The problem is is that I gained AFTER it started. THat is why I have been a little freaked out.

I gain the day after starting and it goes away approx 3 days after it ends. We are all different - don't panic!

EXACTLY!! We are all different!! Dont panic over this....maybe you should hide the scale for awhile and check once a week or once a month...I used to only check one every other week, but just started checking daily. If I start freaking I WILL BE HIDING it again!!

Oh, girl....I feel your pain. I have been counting every single calorie everyday since October 31st. I weigh myself every morning, same time, same ritual and record it- but I really only focus on my Weds morning weigh in number. My weekly weight has steadily decreased while there have been days in between that the weight fluctuates....anywhere from 2-4 lbs....especially when I get my "monthly bill". Pick one day a week, the same day- and make that your "weigh in" day. You can weigh yourself as much as you want in between then.....but I think it will be more of a positive reinforcement for you if you give yourself (and your body) a week to see a decrease. Hang in there! As you can see.....it happens to all of us

Weight loss just isn't linear. Good habits don't always equate to the soothing loss on the scale. For you this time, it very well could be water retention due to TOM, but remember the scale weighs fat, muscle, bone, water -- ALL of you. When we talk about weight loss, we are generally interested in losing fat. Well, the scales we use are kind of crappy at telling us WHAT we lost or gained.

So, keep doing what you're doing, and the scale will likely go down soon. CONGRATS on your loss so far!

Really, the whole scale thing is a test of wills, I think!!

Sometimes I feel like someone is reading my mind. I weigh twice a month, but aunt flow came to visit and was wondering just how much of a difference it could cause. Since I only weigh in twice a month I'll probably check again when everything is over.

Funny thing I was 345 no loss no gain last night
343 when I got up this morning
341 after I worked out, but hadn't ate anything. I step on a few times and got the same numbers so I don't think it is the scale.

Thanks to you you guys I don't panic anymore,

dont worry at all - i gain 6 lbs during TOM... even if i drink lots of water and even wen i dont eat salty foods... you'll drop it about a few days after your period ends (if you're anything like me) it'll seem shocking to see like 5lbs drop when your TOM is over, but just know that it was not a "real gain" TOM SUCKS! but dont worry one bit

You guys were right - the scale went down a bit today even though I binged a bit (OK a lot!) yesterday. It was goodie day at work and all self control went out the window. I got on the scale today to see the damage and it wnet down some despite that.

I am going to take your advice Momofsclg - I will make Thursday mornings my acutal weigh in day and not pay too much mind to the scale the rest of the week!