Hi everyone - would love some feedback on this. Starting weight 278, got on the scales last Sat morning, new low of 244.5. Great! I had a large family function the next day (Sunday), and as a treat to myself, decided that I was going to allow myself to eat "non-diet" foods if I wished. I was fully prepared that Monday morning, the scale might show a slight weight gain, but I was comfortable with that. So I go to the function, and eat a few things I shouldn't have, like pasta salad, some cheese and crackers, chips and dip... a big slice of cake (gulp). No alcohol though, just ice water! When I got home I tallied up everything I ate and the calorie count was about 3000. Probably a little less to be truthful, but I like to err on the side of caution. Fast forward to Monday morning, get on the scales and they say 249.5!!! What??!!! How in the **** did I gain 5lbs! Bearing in mind it takes 3500 calories to gain 1 lb, there is no way I ate 17500 calories! Thinking it could be water retention, I ate very lightly on Monday, just salad and fruit, and now Tues morning get on the scales again they say 249. So it's not just water retention. I've re-gained a large chunk of weight.

Arghhhh! It took nearly 2 weeks to lose 5lbs and yet I can gain it all back in one day? How is this possible? I was prepared to see a 0.5 -1 lb gain on the scales, but not 5lbs!!! So that 2 weeks was for nothing. I feel like a big freak! Maybe I should just give up and offer my body to scientists. I'd make all the medical journals with headlines like "Woman's Metabolism Baffles Scientists." I'll be the first recorded person alive who can live off air and water. Look what happens when you give her a slice of cheese - she inflates like a balloon!

I am off now to go lie down and cry.

Ugh, it is SOO infuriating, isn't it?
My body is known for doing this! If I have a splurge day, if I am ovulating, if it's TOM, I will jump 5 pounds like it's nothing.

Because I know this it is precisely why I do not weigh daily, only weekly, and once my loss slows down when I get into onderland I may only check bi-weekly.
My suggestion is to keep at it and check back in a week. Give your body time to adjust back.

Key is not to be too hard on yourself and just keep at it. Stuff like this is what would derail me in the past... when I would jump up like that I would say all this work isn't worth it and off to eat I went.
Hang in there!! Don't let the curse of the scale get to you. I totally feel your pain!

Sometimes it takes more than a couple days for water and extra waste to leave your system.
I have a Spike day every weekend (either Sat or Sun) as part of my plan and I am always higher the next day by 3-5 pounds. It usually takes until at least Thursday or Friday to break even, and then the next couple days I see my loss for the week if I am going to have one.
You did not gain 5 pounds by eating 3000 calories.

It's NOT possible that you gained 5 pounds of fat by eating 3,000 calories in a day. My guess is that your previous weight of 244 was artificially low, possibly because you had just peed a lot and were retaining less water than usual, and perhaps your stomach was also empty of food.

F.

This is what I was thinking too.

Given that there is no possible way that you ate enough to put on 5 pounds of fat, there are 2 options: 1. your body is holding onto water, salt, etc and you are artificially heavy; 2. The 244 number was an unusually low dip and your body has corrected to your 'real' weight.

Either way, keep at it. The important thing is that the trend be a downward one across time. Daily or weekly blips are unimportant in the long run.

The bigger you are the larger variences you can see on the scale due to water flux. For me I can gain or lose 6-8 lbs over a weekend depending on what I ate/drank.

Bottom line - don't stress about it.

You don't even have to be bigger to see this - some people just gain-lose water weight a lot more than others. That 5 lbs isn't 5 lbs of fat - just get back on track and you'll see it gone soon!