HI

I started counting calories at the beginning of the year. I went to your FQ's sticky and found that I [at 167]had to start my calorie range at 1600.

I'm at a loss and don't know where to turn.

See my siggy below


QUESTION-If you lost at 1600 and stayed there 3 weeks[average .5-1-lb] and than on the last week of Jan two days before W-I you went down to 1300 and gained it all back. Has that happened to anyone,and if it did, which way did you precede??? Did you go down to a lower range or did you go back to the higher one.?????


hope you can help me,Thanks in advance

That's a really hard question to answer without some more info, such as, was it your TOM? Had you had any high sodium meals that would have caused water retention? If the higher cal count was working, why did you reduce it?

my question is the same as ronni, why would you change something that was working for you? It seems that you were having success at 1600 calories per day.

hey maryann,

well i weighed myself on sunday morning and weighed 194.4
this morning i weighed 186.6... so im no stranger to a jumping scale

i suspect that your 1.5 lb upswing has less to do with your calories and more to do with another environmental factor. but boy isnt it frustrating to see the scale move in the wrong direction! but if youve recently reduced your calories and weirdly see a gain then you might be surprised in a week and a half when the scale shows a 3 lb loss.

Hi Ladies

Sorry, I should of explained my situation better.


I used to be on the old core plan where you didn't count points unless you had foods that weren't on the list.,but since WW changed its program I went back to calorie counting.

I went to your calorie counting sticky and found that I had to be at the 1600 calorie range.Stayed on that for 3 weeks and

1st wk-1.5==========3rd wk-n/c

2nd wk-0.5========= 4th wk-+1.5


But on the forth week I saw that on two day before W-I day[Mon] my count was down to 1300.Didn't think it would matter,but I was wrong.


Along with counting calories I exercise 30 min,every day, on the treadmill & stationary bike. I also drink over 64 oz so I think I on a healthy WOE.

RONNI-Don't have TOM hanging around anymore,and I do watch my sodium intake as I do have a problem with it.

BARGO-Didn't think it would matter,but now I'm not sure.

PARTY-So you think its not the calories but environmental.I can't think of anything that would have made the scale jump like that. That's the reason I came to your gals for help. Hope you right, I would love to have the scale move down 3 notches. Now do I go back to 1600 cal this week,and see what happens???????

Hi, Beach Bum Sometimes our bodies just don't do what we expect them to, so since TOM and sodium aren't an issue, I'd just go back to what was working and be patient. I weigh every day and am surprised how the number fluctuates, but keeps on a falling trend when comparing week to week. I do have an issue with lactose intolerance and if I unknowingly eat something dairy, my weight will go waaaayyy up due to abdominal issues for a few days, then suddenly it's gone and I'm usually lighter than before. That was just another idea that popped into my head.

Keep up the good work and it WILL come off!

If you're only weighing once a week, you can't really rely on that number to say if you're losing or gaining. Comparing this Monday to last Monday, or this Friday to last Friday, I've either lost a pound or gained half a pound. One day a week doesn't tell you anything, unless you're in the beginning stages and losing so much that you'll see a loss on every day compared to the same day the week before. At your weight, I'm guessing you're not that far above goal, so once a week isn't a reliable way to tell. Personally, I wouldn't worry about one week, even if it was up every day from the week before, because weight fluctuates all the time, every day by several pounds, for most anybody who eats.

If 1600 was working, I'd stick to that. If your workout plan is working, stick to that. When it stops working for more than a month, then I'd think about changing something. If you want a more reliable way to track changes on the scale, weigh daily, first thing in the morning before you eat, at the same time every day, like 7 every morning, not 7 one morning and 10 on Saturdays. Write those weights down, then every 5 or 7 days add those daily weights, and divide the total by the number of days to get the average. Track that average, and it will show you whether you are losing or gaining week to week.

Thanks Ladies

I'm going to stay on 1600 cal per day for a couple of weeks and see what happens.If it doesn't work I'm going to shift my calories like Ohmanda posted earlier today.