I was just wondering this.. I know weight fluctuates daily-- but do you have a weight that is your "red line", or do you keep your goal weight say between 130-135 for example? I just wonder how everyone manages their maintinance weight and what you do if it starts to slowly creep back up on you? or if you have a big water weight day and gain a few/lose a few pounds really quickly.. it stresses me out when I wake up (yesterday I totally binged and gained about 4 lbs ) and weigh more than the day before.. even if its just a little.. sorry I hope that all makes sense! just wondering how you keep your sanity while trying to maintain?

I wish I had a good answer! Weight fluctuations are part of my issue with staying in maintenance rage. There's normal daily, monthly, and seasonal fluctuation... adds up to a lot. As I near my goal weight (again) I am trying to figure out a plan that will work better to allow me slack when I need it and kick my butt when I don't.

So, no help here... but watching for any helpful replies.

I'm thinking it has to be something like 3 pounds in either direction, but only for more than 1 week with weekly weigh-ins. One scale reading isn't enough to know what's going on. But two readings a week apart looks like a trend.

At any rate that's what I'm thinking of for when I reach my goal.

Jay

Danzin, I do. 118 is my "hard stop." That is, if I wake up one morning and the scale says 118 or over, I preplan that day's food (aiming for 1000-1200 calories) and track every bite, repeating this every day until I'm back down under 118. I weigh daily to keep myself honest about what I weigh.

I try to keep enough of a cushion between me and 118 that if I need to travel without my scale, I am not in danger of arriving back home above 118. My goal is never to GET to my hard stop, and when I've hit 115 a couple of times over the past few months, I've aimed for low-calorie days without actually tracking -- just by using meals that I know from experience are low calorie -- for a few days and so far, so good. My biggest fear is allowing that daily creep upward to turn into a regain.

Don't let water weight stress you. I track my weight, and believe me weight FLUCTUATES day to day, even when you're consistently losing. I can't post a photo yet of my fluctuation, but it's up a pound, down a half, up a quarter, down a pound and a half! It really moves around.

You =can't= have gained 4 pounds in one day. It's not possible. You would have had to eat 14000 calories more than you burned, and even then I'm not sure your body can actually process that much. I'm sure you gained something, but the more important question is why did you binge? What can you do to prevent binging next time you're tempted to?

I like that idea of a "hard stop", that way if I get close to that point I can know to be careful and if I get there I know it's time to kick in in to gear! I just do so much better if I have a very specific gameplan, but it's hard to say "I will always weigh 120 lbs..." it just seems unrealistic... Thanks so much for the replies!!

my weight can fluctuate 5 to 6 pounds between days! its always water, UNLESS, as Jay mentuioned, over the course of WEEKS, you see an upward trend.......all this restricting and binging at the drop of a hat is very hard on your body.... are you still eating in a deficit to maintain? In other words, did you allow yourself to gain 3 pounds or so when you UPPED YOUR CALS TO MAINTEJNANCE? you will ABSOLUTELY GAIN A FEW POUNDS in water weight back, once you up your cals to maintenance... if you havent doen this, then your weight is giong to continue to fluctuate wildly,, as you are still technically in a deficit... even if the binges "even it out'?

Mkrojer are you saying that once we up our calories for maintenance we can gain water weight back? Even if we up calories slowly? Not sure I am understanding...

I am still a few of pounds away and want to know what to expect, thanks.

Well to be honest this last month I have had a hard time, I tried going up to 1800 calories a day, but found myself binging almost twice a week... It's been 4 days so I figure the water is all gone, I'm up to 127 from my lowest point of 123... So, not a huge gain but it's gone up about 1 lb. Per week with my out of control eating..so I've been binging and then restricting but my binges are obviously winning. I'm now in a deficit tring to lose those 4 pesky pounds But if I move to "maintenance" one I reach my goal, that I'll gain weight-- so I should aim to lose a little more than I had planned so that I'll be able to maintain at my goal?? Gah-- I wish I had all the answers! Thanks again everyone...

Re weight fluctuations, I've found it helpful to measure my waist and hips when I do my weekly weigh-ins. I keep a tape measure on the back of the bathroom door. So if my weight has increased, but my measurements are the same, I'm OK. But if my weight and measurements have increased, it's time to worry.

I think we each have to find what works best for us. When I reached my goal weight, I continued doing all the things I'd done during the weight loss stage, plus increased food intake slowly until I found my food intake range for maintenance. I have continued doing all the things I did to lose, including keeping a food diary. I allow a maintenance range of 5 lbs, & if I hit the top of that range, I go immediately to diet mode until I've had 3 consecutive days weighing within my weight range. That's only happened twice & my plan worked well both times to keep things in check. Good luck!

Right now!!! Omg, after a few all you can eat days, I'm in serious trouble if I don't get back on track right this very second! Up 10 pounds in 4 days. Talk about severe anxiety attack. What is going one with me???

Hey Lori - you know it's not 10 "real" pounds.

Get right back on track, this very second. If you have any trigger foods, pitch them immediately.

Eating well, taking care of yourself, will reduce your stress/anxiety and make you feel better.

Lori! Four days is too much. I hope it wasn't all junk! I agree with Glory87--get rid of all the triggers. Make a plan for meals & snacks. You'll feel better with more healthy eating.

Jay

I have a weight "ceiling" and if I hit it I count calories. It's 170 pounds for me. Anything below that I don't care. I go between 162 and 166 these days.

Thanks Jay and Glory for your support. Thankfully I was able to get out of my rut and get back 100% POP since Sunday morning and as of today 9 of the 10 pounds are gone! WOW, it's amazing how much the body can hold onto.

I think for me it was a combo of the stress of getting back to work full time, juggling kids and family TOM/PMS AND a bunch of baking I had to do for a church function. WOW, I don't want to go there again any time soon.

Anyway, I'm back under my red line and thankful that I was able to get back on track before I decided it wasn't worth it or some CRAZY thing like that. I feel MUCH better now that I'm grooving to the heathy food again.

Thanks again for your support!