Hello there!
I have been registered here for what seems like forever but never posted. This seems to be the place I stumble back to when I need inspiration or have a question. I've never actually had to ask a question before because I've always been able to find the answer with a search. This time, well, I guess I don't know what to search for. Here it is...
I KNOW there are many factors that can contribute to weight fluctuations. But what I've noticed is, I believe, a pattern. The most recent occurrence was over Thanksgiving. I weighed myself the day before I drove 8 hours to spend a 5 day Thanksgiving break with my family. It was a typical Thanksgiving dinner - full blown overindulgence. As for the rest of my stay, we ate out at least once a day and had lots of leftovers. I didn't restrict anything and lived in stretchy waist pants.
When I came home, I waited two days to weigh myself because I was afraid of the damage I'd done. Plus I only weigh 2x per week, so I didn't want to throw off my schedule. Turns out I shouldn't have been worried. I'd lost .02 pounds. I'm not complaining, I just thought it odd.
Since I've been back, I haven't returned to my eating plan. But I've not been eating like I was while I was on my trip either. I went ahead with my second weigh in as scheduled, and I've gained 8 pounds!!!!
Now I'm confused. I can't think of anything that would cause such a swing. It's not PMS, and even if it was, the most I've ever varied by is 4 pounds. Big binges, like this Thanksgiving break, usually hit me much faster than this. Hence my hesitance to weigh in immediately after I got home.
The issue isn't the weight gain, not exactly. It's the pattern. When I travel, even though I don't restrict my eating at all, I always (ALWAYS) come home weighing roughly the same give or take a pound or two as when I left. Typically a few days later, I don't gain, but I'll still be stuck at the weight I came home with even when I immediately go back to plan. And regaining that weight loss momentum seems to take a couple of weeks before the weight is dropping consistently again.
What's the heck is going on? I go on vacation and maintain sometimes even lose regardless of how I eat???? Yet when I'm at home, I can't maintain even if I sort of try? Does this happen to anyone else? Anyone have any idea what's happening?
Help, please.
~M