So, I've been calorie counting-ish for the past couple months. But my body is freaky. I will lose 4 lbs, then have two bad days (bad days = 1600-1800 calories instead of my goal of less than 1300) and gain 5 pounds. Ugh.

So I've been staying at a consistent 173.2 for about one week. Then this past week my kids did a VBS right next to a lake that I like to walk. So, hello, I did 5 miles (mostly walking, tiny bit of jogging) EVERY DAY. That's a grand total of 25 miles. First night I ate 4 pieces of french toast and realized I'm going to sabotage myself if I keep that up. So the next 4 days were GREAT calorie-wise and mostly carb wise (about 150 a day). I even went swimming two of the days for a different approach. I kept my calories around a net of 1300, some days were a wee bit under and Monday was over.

So I checked the scale this morning excited to see results. 174.8 That's a freaking gain of 1.6 pounds!! Who does that? I'm pretty frustrated. I'm thinking I need to move up the intensity some?? But sheesh, 25 pounds and nothing? I know people are just going to say "give it a few days" and I will, but I'm not going to lie, I'm frustrated.

Thoughts?

Water retention from an increase in activities is my guess. Keep up the good work and you should see a decrease on the scale.
Good luck

Yup, what Mozzy said! Hang in there and keep doing what you're doing!

I've noticed that every so often my weight loss stalls, but I continue to shrink in size. There is a scientific explanation about fat being reduced but the cells accumulating water to maintain their size. It won't be until they give that up and that the scales move again. If you have already lost a bit of weight beforehand then it might take a while (more than a few days) for the body to give up on trying to maintain a stable weight point and let it all go.

Keep up the fluids it seems to help flush the cells out.

Plateaus suck!

I know others reading my post are probably yawning at my advice because I've stated it so many times. But, my advice is to weigh yourself less, even only once a month, if necessary. I don't weigh at all anymore, but I know that's not feasible for everyone. I was once addicted to the scale, so understand the need to know.

But from what I've seen, you're doing great! My advice is to keep track of your good days as a guide. You know if you're doing what is necessary, and that's all that matters. Your body will have to cooperate sooner or later!

The scale is only one part of the weight loss I personally like to weigh in every day if only because I like to trend my weight loss, and compare when I gain to what I ate/exercised that day, etc (I am trying to learn what foods do me more harm than good, what foods cause me to feel satiated, what foods make me feel even more hungry, etc). I get frustrated at stalls or gains, but I've accepted that they will happen due to water retention, muscle building, hormones, etc. As long as I stay on plan, I know the weight will come off eventually. Unless I'm eating a ton of excess calories, the weight gain that I see is not something that is permanent.

I agree with others that the weight gain is most likely water retention, as you were working a lot of muscles and they need that water to repair themselves! As silly as it sounds, drink more water, as that helps flush out the excess. You are doing great so far!! I have no doubt that you will see a "whoosh" soon and those numbers will reflect all that hard work you put into yourself!!

Thanks ladies! I actually agree about the scale and only looked at it once before I started my week at the lake, and once after. I was really pumped to work hard and see the results. But nothing. Now I'm visiting my sister and I'm terrified since vacation always means weight gain. Not because of the food, just because of the traveling. So I drank a ton of water yesterday, including chugging an entire bottle in less than a minute last night before bed. Feeling incredibly bloated today, but going to keep at it.

Thanks again!

Many people have success with increasing their calories to maintenance for a week or so and then going back on losing calories. Or you could cycle your calories regularly. Although I'm not sure there is anything but anecdotal evidence to prove that this works, it's worth a try. I do think that sometimes our bodies adjust to a consistent calorie level and it helps to "fool it" a bit by cycling. When I was losing (and now that I'm maintaining), I cycle my calories because it just seems more natural: I'm hungrier some days than others and some days I have social events going on where I might consume more calories than on other days. (Also, I figure that "naturally" thin people do not eat the same number of calories every day, so why shouldn't I?).

It's also possible maybe you aren't eating enough? 1300 is a bit low, IMO, when you're being pretty active (which 25 miles is, to me). I find that when I'm active, I lose better when I eat 1400-1500. I think my body holds onto things when I go lower.