Today when I met with my weight loss/maintenance counselor, I asked why it appeared that my weight increases at the end of a month though it's no where near my TOM. I've noticed this aggravating pattern of going up like I can't control my weight and then my weight goes back down without explanation. I'm not eating differently or anything. My weight loss counselor said that this type of weight gain happens to most women at/towards the end of a month. It's something about our cycles. Most women tend to go up in weight at the end of a month.
Since I think there are a lot of women reading this web site, I'm curious. For those of you who watch your weight on a scale, do you see it go up towards the end of the month and then a week or so later, see it go back down just as inexplicably? Just curious if what my counselor says is true.

Do you mean the end of a calendar month? As in, today is the 30th of the month?

If so, I've never heard of that!

I notice my weight holding or going up near my TOM, but today I'm down from last week.... Sounds kind of strange to me

I've noticed monthly patterns for me, but they were always based on my cycle.


25 days exactly from age 10 until I went on bc in my mid 20's, a lot of fluctuation during the month.

28 days exactly but much relieved, only severely symptomatic during "placebo" week of pills.

and now only during placebo weeks three to four times a year (because I stack my bc, only using the placebo week to have a period three to four times a year - sort of a poorwoman's Seasonique)


I suppose there could be a correlation with a lunar month (say full-moon), some people claim there is, but I don't think there's a lot of evidence for that. I have heard that many women's cycles do sync up with full-moons, but mine certainly don't. However, there would be no logical reason for any correlation to a callendar month, because you would your body know it's "the end of the month," especially since different cultures measure time differently. The end of our month, could be the middle of someone else's.

As for a lunar month - it would still be more likely (I think) that it would be in response to your individual cycle, and since not every woman has the same 28 day cycle, they wouldn't fall in the same place of that cycle at the same time of the month.

From what I can tell, I am one of the rare ones who sees no difference due to TOM. Well, at least while I was having a TOM. But that's another thread. My weight loss threw me into early menopause. But anyway, when I was menstruating, my weight was not affected at all due to changes in my cycle.

Interesting.

I'm a complete space cadet about stuff like this (I never know what day it is), so while I definitely have times when my weight is up for reasons I can't explain, I couldn't say for sure whether or not those times happen at the end of the month. If I know my eating has been on plan, I try not to freak out about them ("try" being the operative word here).

I can say that my weight has been inexplicably high the past couple of days and it is the end of the month. Really high, over my redline high, and I have not been eating anywhere near enough to explain it. In fact, at my current calorie level, I should still be losing weight.

But I am heading into TOM in another week. It's a little early for me to be seeing weight gain because of TOM, but it's not impossible. And I have this head injury I'm recovering from. And my trainer had me lifting heavy this week, so I was pretty sore (although most of the weight showed up after the soreness started to dissipate). And I've added a couple of new foods to my diet (healthy foods, but still stuff I wasn't eating before). And it was quite a bit warmer than usual the last few days.

So it's hard to say whether the gain I'm seeing is because it's the end of the month or because of any of the other above reasons.

More interesting.

Inexplicably my weight was down this morning, Sept 1, even though by all counts it should have been up (not great on eating over the weekend, slept poorly and for not long enough, had a couple of glasses of wine on Sat night, heading into TOM). Could it be that my body knows when it is the first of the month, even if my brain isn't paying attention?

I can't see what it could possibly have to do with the calendar month. I have 5 months of daily weights and see no correlation. She must have meant month as in menstrual cycle. Even then, it doesn't make sense as a blanket statement. I certainly don't gain any weight while premenstrual; my only cycle-related gains are at or during my period, and a blip after ovulation. The premenstrual phase is when I see my most consistent losses.

Hmmm... these last two months, completely unrelated to my TOM ... I've felt HUGE the last week of the month -- July 25 - Aug. 1st was SUCH a fat week for me, and last week, i felt huge too (still do) despite not changing my eating habits or exercising any less. I swear, even more clothes feel a bit tighter. And I'm not due for my TOM for another 2 weeks or so.

Looking over my records, I don't see any pattern of gaining at the end of the month. I usually gain right before my TOM and lose after the first day of it, but that has nothing to do with the calendar month.

I see no reason why your body would respond to an arbitrary, human-created thing such as a calendar! I so think that your menstrual cycle can influence it, but it seems to vary a lot given the individual.

Thanks for sharing, All. I thought her idea was a little strange, and since I knew that many 3FC's are women, I thought I'd check. For those who are wondering, no, she was not referring to your TOM weight gain. She WAS indicating that the last few days of the month (calendar days), women see an increase in weight. Seems like some here see that and others don't. Interestingly, when I look back over the past almost 2 years, I do see an increase in my weight at the end of every month that has nothing to do with my TOM. Interesting (and frustrating sometimes to watch what our bodies do, isn't it?

Is there any relation to payday? Maybe when people are broke, they eat higher calorie foods, and that's her connection? Just tossing it out there.

Maybe you could ask your counselor why she thinks this is? Since I saw an unexplained gain and loss at the end of this month, I'd be curious to hear her theory for why this might happen. It does seem arbitrary (and I'm not having any budget issues nor was my eating off plan last week, so being broke or eating higher calorie foods doesn't explain it for me).