So I let myself enjoy the holidays a bit, but I was still very careful to count every calories. Instead of eating 1700-2000 like normal, I allowed myself to go up to 2500 for the week of Christmas while traveling and visiting lots of family and parties. Supposedly, I burn 2600 a day before any exercise, so I thought I was good to go.

Get home, up 7 pounds! WTH!!? It's been like 3 days since I got home and weighed in, back down to proper calorie amounts, but no change. I was hoping I was retaining water or something from excessive salt. Anybody else have any idea how 600 extra calories a day for 7 days (4200 calories) somehow creates 7 pounds of weight!? (24500 calories worth!)

Water weight. Just like you said. Three days isn't enough time for your body to let it go. Be patient and stick to your plan, it'll even itself out.

I agree. I didn't eat more calories than normal but I was eating different things - more carby stuff...and I had a spike too. That's why they call them carbo-HYDRATES lol. Hang in there, it'll be okay.

Lesson learned. Our bodies aren't very good at math, so you have gained 7 pounds and whether it's fat or water it's still there and you've got to get back on track to get it off.

Keep this in mind next Christmas. Was it worth it?

Well, actually, yeah I think it was worth it. If I can drop 90 pounds in a year and then have a nice holiday, so what? I don't believe in completely denying yourself anything. I wasn't binging, just eating foods that are a little more calorie dense, which is difficult to avoid when staying at other people's houses and eating at restaurants on the road. Must be nice in that ivory tower.

Whoa, I really don't think she meant it to come across as though she's in an "ivory tower." The fact is, it really doesn't matter where the weight came from, just that it came. All you can do from here on out is get back on track and work on taking it back off.

If it was worth the 7 pound gain to enjoy the food, then what's the worry?

Good luck!

I took that comment the same way.

Sonata, its totally worth it. I woke up hungover with an empty plate and dried pecan pie on my bed, and vague flashbacks to eating pie and cake. Weight gain over the holiday, definately, but the time I spent enjoying it with family and friends? Priceless. Thats what the other 11 months out of the year are for. Okay 10, if you count Thanksgiving . But take it in stride, maybe stay off the scale for a while, and get back to your routine, stick with routine for a few weeks, then check again. It will all be okay.

<3

All I meant by "was it worth it?" was "was it worth it?" No nefarious other meaning.

And you said it was. So now you know for next holiday season that you might gain back almost 10% of what you lost, but that you are ok with it. That's the type of stuff that is useful to us as we figure this out.

It might take the scale a few weeks to get back down. Mines seems to be a week behind to catch up to my changes in behavior (good or bad.)

For me it's nice to see that I can have some extra treats once in a while, see an uptick on the scale, and not panic and throw in the towel. I think if you can see that and treat the next day as if none of it ever happened, that is a great thing! That's probably one of the biggest things that give people trouble with weight loss, they feel like they've blown it and quit. So for me, it's actually a little bit helpful when I can power through a little gain without freaking out and losing my cool.

Well said. I'd say this is one of the most important things I've learned in the process. I *can* eat off plan and even gain a little and still return to my learned habits and lifestyle and continue to maintain or loose if I choose. Never does going off plan or gaining weight mean I've failed and should return to the habits that lead me to gain weight or keep it on. This is my lifestyle now. I will also say though that I can't always go off plan at every special event or occasion and I do have to pick and choose what is "worth it".

Thank you, ncuneo, for summing that up for me. I was just wondering if anyone had every experienced something similar, such a drastic gain from so little intake. You started right around the weight I am now and I sincerely hope I can get remotely close to where you are. I would be beyond stoked to be sitting at 180 again.

It may take some time for your body to adjust. I also overindulged at Christmas, and for almost a week before and after . I was sure that the five pound gain that I saw on the scale was made of fat. It took over a week before I saw my weight settle back down. I had actually only gained 0.7 of a pound. Give it some time and I bet you will see the scale go back down as well

I think that many, if not all, off-plan foods have very HIGH levels of sodium. Sodium, in high levels, can make our bodies retain many pounds of fluid, which can take several days (low sodium days) to get rid of.

I eat "off-plan" one meal per week or every two weeks. So this way, I don't need to cheat...it's already incorporated into my way of eating. The one thing I DO watch very closely (besides my daily calories) is my SODIUM intake. I try to keep it aroun 1500 mgs/day. I've been losing consistently since day 1, only having 1 week where I gained (1 lb) and that was after incorporating weight training into my workout routine. I don't have much weight fluctuation on a daily basis (always between .2 and .6 variation).

So, you may want to make sure your sodium is low and in check on a regular basis....so that you can see your fat loss on the scale!

I took a diet break for three weeks around Christmas. I ate a LOT. I meant to be more moderate, but I wasn't. There were days I hit over 3000 and even 4000 calories. Lots of carbs, fats, sugar. But I was also more active in my daily life than normal, even though I was not doing a lot of gym exercise.

During that period, I experienced a seven pound gain... but by the end, when I was cleaning up my act and getting back towards a more normal intake, the water came off, I found I'd actually lost .2 pound and a quarter inch off my waistline. Took about a week though.

So I'd say give it a little more time and drink lots of water and see what happens. I was rather SHOCKED that I hadn't gained and that I'd lost a bit off my waist. Enough so that I measured twice to be sure!