I hate that time of the month! Every month, several days before (sometimes even a week before) I get a weight gain of anywhere from 1-5 pounds!!

Now, I know this, but when that morning comes that I get on the scale and I know I've been staying on course and I see the scale go UP!!! Ahhhhhhh!!! I just can't help that discouraged feeling. I think What if this isn't my period and I really did gain a little...maybe I shouldn't have eaten this or I should have workouted out more the other day....

It just such a downer, ya know?? It makes me want to give up every month, and often I cheat or slack off on working out because I feel like its not working. This is the hardest week of the month!!!

Well, don't!

I know that sounds like lack of sympathy from someone who's - finally - in menopause and not missing Flo one tiny, little bit! but unless you suddenly ate a ton of food, it's not fat, so don't worry about it.
Of course it's always disappointing when the scales go up but outside of over-eating it's beyond our control, so ignore it. Definitely don't use it to cheat because you only cheat yourself. You've lost 16lbs, which is fantastic! You do not want that to roll back.

Be strong! and have a

I agree The weight you gain during your time of the month isn't really weight. Your body is retaining water, and the water will drop off afterwards. If you use it as an excuse to cheat, you'll gain real weight (fat) that will take hard work to take off. If you are regular and know when that time comes, try to avoid the scale

Congratulations on your loss so far!

Ya..I feel that way too. It's soooo discouraging to see the scale go up after you know you've done your best to eat right and exercise...and somehow (at least for me) KNOWING it's not fat and it's water gain doesn't seem to help that much.

I've decided to skip my TOM weigh ins...just skip that week. This way what I don't know...won't hurt!

The week before my TOM is my week of pain for sure. I get ridiculously bloated which is not only painful on the scale, but it's physically uncomfortable. I want to eat EVERYthing, and I desperately crave greasy fast food. Every other week of the month, I'm thrilled to stay on plan. I'm actually tremendously relieved to start because my unpleasant symptoms (and water weight) dissipate a day or two after starting.

I'm a maintainer and also a daily weigher. I never got obsessive about weighing daily, I understand fluctuations are normal. I've almost approached the whole thing as a scientific experiment. Weighing daily is just recording data. In scientific data, the trendline is what is important, not the individual numbers unless there's an outlier. I also record the variables that might affect the trendline or cause an outlier. Cheat days, binges (hate recording these), illnesses, vacations, TOM, etc etc. The trendline of my weight graph is pretty interesting. It's more or less a straight line, but there are perfectly spaced little "mounds" on the line where I was on my TOM. It happens the same way every month. So yes, it is kind of annoying, but it's also interesting to my science-nerd brain.

Just be comforted in the knowledge that it's not "real" weight. And if you're anything like me, you'll have a very satisfying drop in weight a day or two after you start.

Hang in there! We've all been there. I'm already used to seeing a slight gain right before TOM because I weighed in weekly for 2-3 months. I stuck through my plan and it always went away. I got used to my body's cycle so it doesn't phase me as much as before.

You have to get used to the fluctuation of our weight on the scale if you are weighing in more than once a month. I like to do it just because it keeps me accountable when I don't avoid the scale. Some people prefer less weigh-ins.

I am totally with you on the TOM weigh in! But, I think I may have an advantage, which may be cheating a little. I have started my journey today, and weighed in today. It is high because of my TOM! So, I hope to see a nice drop on the scale in about a week!

I can see I'm not alone! Skipping weight in's on that week might be a good idea from here on out. Even knowing its water weight, I still get that little let down when I see those unrewarding numbers.
Tracking my weight, like mkendrick said, might be helpful in the long run, so I can really see that increase every month at the same time. maybe then I will feel more ready for it? I really don't keep track of my wieght other than on here. I have stayed on target so far. Although the scale only started reading higher yesterday. That means, no matter how hard I try, I will likely not see any weight loss (and more liekly a little more weight gain) for the next week or so.
I guess the numbers dropping is such a motivator, and now I have to stick with it without the motivation until TOM is over.
Posting on this message board really really helps!!

I don't weigh myself that week.

I'm right there with you, literally. I'm about to start my period and more than the bloating, what kills me is the cravings. I want to eat everything in sight and it takes everything I have not to do just that.

My scale hasn't gone down either, I gained 2lbs of water weight/bloat/angry uterus but whatever I call it, it still feels bad.

If you don't want to skip your weigh-in that week then track the data for a few months and work out how much it normally goes up that week. Then you will have a specific figure that you can subtract from each TOM weigh-in, so if it always seems to go up 3lbs then next month when you weigh in you will subtract 3lbs rather than think that "some of it" is water weight. There are also a selection of herbal water relief remedies such as dandelion, which may make the problem go away if you really can't stand it.

I usually bloat up 5-7lbs, although this time around I've had to wait 3 years for TOM so dandelion has been my friend for special occasions. So long as you are still taking in adequate water there's nothing wrong with traditional remedies to help you stop retaining it imho, you won't dehydrate, you'll just have less water packed into places where it's no real use to your body anyway.

It totally sucks seeing that "gain" on the scale, but the more you tell yourself that it's water weight, just because of TOM, and the more you just keep sticking to your plan no matter what the scale says, the easier it gets. If you're consistently keeping on your plan and the general trend of your weight is going downward, then a few days of TOM bloating really don't matter. DO NOT give up. What you're doing IS working, and it's definitely not worth gaining back the weight just because our bodies are extra rude once a month.

If you're feeling super bloated, OTC medicine like Midol or Pamprin, or herbal remedies like what RoseRodent mentioned are definitely something you might want to look into. Also, I find that if I up my water intake, past what I typically drink, that helps too.