Since I've started doing low carb at the end of May I've lost over 40 pounds so it's clearly working for me. However, my weight loss seems to be a roller coaster of sorts. I'll maybe lose for 5 days in a row and then I'll "bounce" for 3 or 4 days gaining 1 to 2 pounds a day - then I start dropping again, hit a new low for a few days and then the bouncing around will start again.

I've ridden out a few of these roller coaster trips so I know it's just temporary but I was just wondering if this happens to a lot of people when they're dieting or am I just weirdly blessed?

I think it's normal. I get a few patterns. One is that my weight will hover around the same number for 7-10 days (my scales measure to 0.2lb), and then suddenly drop a pound or so. Another is that when I get a larger drop, it will usually bounce up a bit the day after, but the overall direction is still downwards.

Totally happens to me. It's related to my cycle... my biggest stall and gain is around ovulation (8-14 days with a whoosh afterward - I have dropped 4-5 lbs in the last 7 days). Then I stall again during TOM (4-5 days).

I think that is normal. It seems that no one really loses exactly the same amount every day/week. Ups and downs... just like everything else in life! Lol!

That sounds like the same pattern I'm in. I lose 4-5, gain 2-3. I weigh everyday but the gains don't bother me. You're still losing over time and that's what matters. I figure as long as I still have a net loss for the week I'm happy.

Good for you for recognizing your pattern and not being thrown off by it! A lot of people would be freaked out at the little gains and go off-plan. But you see that if you stick with it you get a nice woosh. That's commendable behavior!

@ martini, I did freak the first time it happened, lol but once I looked back at the chart I've made and I figured it out, it's not so bad. There's no way I could only weigh once a month. I can't even manage every other day weighing every day isn't for everyone. For some people it makes them crazy or depressed, but I think it keeps me on track. It's kind of like getting a present every morning. Some days I get fancy jewelry or a new bike. And then other days I get socks or coal lmao

It's definitely normal. Here is a graph of my weight loss so far, you can see that is jumps around be it's mostly on a downward trend.

agree that it's COMPLETELY normal to go up and down. You have to look at something like Madame Zombie's chart and just watch the overall trend vs. the day to day number.

Here's my weight log graph too:



It's quite fun seeing all the variation, it would be unrealistic and boring if I just lost at exactly the same speed all the time. Once I had a few weeks to get used to the pattern, I stopped fretting whenever the scale didn't do what I wanted it to do, and just got used to waiting it out. I know I'm sticking faithfully to my diet, and there's no particular reason why it should suddenly stop working. I certainly don't intend to skip weighing myself or record only the drops in weight, that would be giving the scale too much power and would mess me up about it.

Since everyone else is doing it...here's my weight loss chart too. I weighed in daily starting on 5/3/11 when I was 192 pounds. You can see where it's gone up and down and leveled off sometimes. It would be great if it just went down, but unfortunately that's not how it works