Really confused!
 

Hello all, hope you're enjoying the start of spring. :)

I'm sorry to bother you with another of my 'omg what is going on?' threads regarding my weight loss.

As some of you know, I weight myself every day and I also measure myself once a week, both in the morning after pee'ing.
Last week I went to a new low of 221lbs, and my measurements were down significantly. This week I've been almost a steady 222 and my measurements have gone UP! I was a 42" waist and now it's a 43.5" and my chest has gone from 45" to 46" and my hips from 47" to 48".

How can this be? I did not think or read that measurements can fluctuate. When I did them a few days ago I made an excuse that maybe I am bloated fue to some food I ate or something but now I can't deny it anymore.

Things I thi nk it could be but I'm not sure:

- water weight -except I've been drinking water like crazy/
- TOM -except I don't get TOM since I'm on Depo Provera so I don't know if that affects me anymore?
- doing bad last week -I only went to the gym twice, walked outside once, and ate out a few times but I kept in my calorie range?
- I went to the gym yesterday after not going for 3 days -Maybe my muscles are swollen, except... I weighed and measured the same BEFORE I went to the gym, which leads me to think it's not that.

Please, any advice or help! I usually lose a pound a week and if not my measurements go down, instead I gained a pound and my measurements went up:?:

[EDIT]: Now I just went to measure again since I forgot to write it down in my log book the first time... and the measurements are back DOWN! What is going on? :( I swear that I am measuring in the same spots too.

I feel like Alice in 'One'derland, except I'm having trouble getting to 'One'derland with all these strange occurence, so maybe I'm just going crazy!

Wow! I would be tempted to ease up on the measuring for a bit, just to avoid freakouts. I'm glad it went back down. Maybe it's "user error" and the tape measurer just wasn't...held? At the right place? I have no idea.

As for the weight - give it another week before you worry too much. I've found in the past that both hard work AND slip-ups can take a little while to show up in weight loss or gain.

You can retain water even when you're drinking lots of it.

Also - I wouldn't call going to the gym twice and walking outside and staying in your calorie range "bad" - that sounds like a reasonable week.

Hmm, I don't know what it could be. Perhaps switch to weighing weekly and measuring monthly so things have a chance to stabilize? I'm an obsessive checker, too, but it gets discouraging when things don't change or change for the worse from one day to the next.

I thought about that, but I am incredibly OCD (which is probably why I freak out every time something doesn't happen as it should lol). With my luck I would probably miss the day that my weight went down on the scale and then frett about it for days, worse than if I just weighed every day.

It is good advice though. :)

I think you've run into the plus-or-minus problem. No measurement is going to be exactly the same every time--maybe the tape measure is a little tighter or a little looser, or your positioning is a little higher on one side, or who knows??

Same goes with scale measurements. Even the scales that measure within 0.2 pound can vary from one moment to the next. They get a little warmer or colder, the spring warms up, who knows??

So don't let it freak you out. Just note the difference over time...

Jay

I would also recommend laying off the measuring and weighing so frequently. For one thing, the body weight can fluctuate as much as 5 lbs throughout the day, with things like how much water you've taken in or sweat out, how often you've used the bathroom, and how heavy your food was (because anything inside you is getting weighed as well!). Weighing at the same time everyday can help avoid seeing some fluctuation, but it wont eliminate all causes. I personally don't count weight loss until I'm weighing less than my normal 177-180 lb range (yep-- I fluctuate that much).

Measuring can be hard to get the results, too. Try measuring an inch above where you normally measure, and an inch below-- it wont be the same! Just a slight misplacement of the tape will skew your numbers. Heck, even breathing deeply will give you bigger measurements! And any seamstress worth her salt will tell you that you can't get accurate measurements by doing it yourself-- you cant see all the way around you to be sure the tape is straight. Month to month measurements would be better. And your body picks where you lose weight from. My bust measurement stays the same no matter how much I gain or lose, and if I were counting weight loss on whether or not my bust measurement were shrinking I would be sorely disappointed.

It is practically impossible to use a measuring tape correctly. I have never been able to get the same measurement twice in one day. I can always trust by the way my pants fit me.

I started losing weight last week (finally got serious and buckled down) and I hit my original 10 lb goal this morning. But it got me wondering... was it really 10 lbs of fat? Or was it water weight... So I decided to try on some pants that I haven't been able to wear in a while....

They still don't fit, but I'm not far from being able to wear them again. I'm guessing maybe another 10 lbs and I'll be in them : )

Long story short, too much can go wrong when you are strictly going by inches based on a tape measure. Find some other medium to test your success that is more accurate and less likely to give you the roller coaster of emotions. Good luck everyone!

Thank you everyone for the responses.

I read every one and will possibly change it so that I only measure every month or so. I know I usually resort to it if my scale doesn't change, but it looks like it failed me this time lol :)

I took my depression and used it to motivate myself at the gym this morning. I did 15 minutes extra cardio, and did 30minutes of very intense, then some weights. I am hoping I can budge down these last pounds with motivation!

How do your pants fit? Are they really and inch an a half tighter? Does your bra really feel that much tighter?
I think its easier to believe that you're just not getting the exact same spot on your body each time.

Just to let everyone know, weighed myself just now and.. YAY! Down to 220. I think I had a mini-heart attack for a second. :) I also almost fell off my scale because it's 9am and I'm half asleep.

Great news! I too freak out every time the scale, measurements, etc. go up. There are so many legitimate reasons for this but I want progress! At a WW meeting a man showed me his weigh-ins over a period of several months. It was full of weeks of ups and no changes. But then the scale would eventually go down.

By the way, I like your reward schedule. That's a great idea! :carrot:

Thanks hsmomof6 :)

I got the reward idea from seeing other people's signatures. It really helps for motivation, to see you get closer and closer to those little things you desire (not need, but just want).

I am really looking forward to getting that new bathing suit! It won't be in time for this year but next year it will be sweeeeeeeeeeeet~