Does TOM affect your WL? (for 100+ers)

  • Does that time of the month for you affect your weight loss for the week? I've been doing so well for these first three weeks, but this past week (during my TOM), the scale has barely budged.

    Be honest, I can take it
  • You're going to hear a variety of answers. Some people are affected in a big way, others see no difference. I usually see a 1-2 pound gain.
  • Yes my period affects my weight loss. For some reason I almost always start my period on or the day after a weigh in, and what I notice is I'll either have lost less than it seemed like I was going to (I weigh myself way too often) or I'll have a small gain. The good news is that unless I let this discourage me I lose that weight plus some the next week.

    Kilmeny
  • Absolutely! Water retention = additional weight. I usually have a small gain to no loss before my TOM, but then see a big drop at the back end (6 pounds in the space of 2 days for me this last week, in fact).
  • Strangely enough I had a 4lb loss last Thursday with my period *just* quitting the day before, but was up a pound this Thursday with it long over. I haven't paid attention to it til now(had no period 2 months running, then that one ), but I will to see if I have a trend. Sorry, that was no help.
  • It definitely affects me... last week while on TOM I was up .5 lbs... one week later and I'm down 3 lbs...

    Don't let it discourage you... just keep doing what you're supposed to be doing...
  • I remember when I first started (my journey) I gained 14 pounds one week when I got my period (I eat like crazy before too). After it was over I shed 12 of it within a couple of days. Now I gain 2 or 3 from water retention and 1 from not being able to resist the PMS cravings.
  • It certainly does affect me, as well. I may not "gain", per se, but my loss seems to stall, completely, for about a week...then I'll show a bigger drop. I also have this same stall in loss around the time I ovulate. That is why I now weigh everyday. For me, it helps to see these patterns month to month. I know it's temporary and that there is a reason for it and it keeps me from bingeing.
  • This has been my nightmare since I started my period at age 9 or 10. I've always had very severe mood swings, cramping, water gain, craving, and binging about 5-7 days before, and 3 -4 days into my period.

    I really didn't think there was anything I could do about it, so I would lose weight really well for three weeks, and undo all of the progress that fourth week. If I didn't diet for even one of those three weeks, I would often gain weight that month.

    I have explained this pattern to doctor after doctor, most of my adult life, and none had any suggestions for me, until finally I had an appointment with a woman doctor heading the local weight management clininc. She told me that progesterone is often responsible for hormonal cravings and I could switch to a birth control like yasmin, or shorten or eliminate the placebo week of pills. I did this for the first time this past month and WOOHOO, no extreme weight fluctuations (for me that means no more than 2 pounds unexpectedly gained or lost overnight), and no weight gain week!
  • It does have an effect - I tend to gain a bit. I have basically a 4 week cycle in terms of losing weight - week 1 I have a big loss, week 2 a small loss, week 3 I stay the same and week 4 I gain.
  • I also have a small gain right at the beginning but always drop a couple of pounds quickly once I'm done. I actually kind of look forward to it.

    It's also the only time that I really feel like I fight the need to eat everything in the kitchen.
  • I haven't noticed a difference. I'm always afraid I'll gain, but I never have.
  • I have noticed that when my TOM comes the scale doesn't move, but once its over, I lose like 5lbs...
  • yes, and in the beginning it made me crazy.

    Usually I have a 2-3lbs loss overnight, during TOM there is no change. During my TOM i might see some loss, but if I have stayed on plan I won't see the results till it is over. I will drop the water I was retaining as well as another pound or 2.

    Also I used to have REALLY bad cramps, I was irregular and it seemed like it lasted 8 days. Since I've been exercising (changing my diet didn't really make a difference) the cramps have gotten better, I am more regular and length of days seems to have shortened.
  • My system is so out of whack that my cycle is always a big surprise. So I've never really noticed before, but I have been swollen like a balloon the last two days with the scale flying up and guess what showed up today.