Hello there! I was hoping someone could help me out with this. I had lost about 8-10 pounds over a few months, was very gradual and seemed to take forever. Anyway, I went out of town last week and was kind of off my eating and exercising routine for about 4 or 5 days. I tried to cut back what I was eating, but it's so hard when i'm not at home. I weighed myself this morning and am almost 3 lbs heavier than before I left. Is this normal or is my metabolism just awful?? I seem to work so hard to get it off then I slip up a few days and this happens. I try to count calories so I thought even when you do reach your goal and you try to maintain you're able to eat more than when you're trying to lose, isn't that right? It's just frustrating! :P any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Weight is more than fat.

Weight includes... water retention, hormonal nonsense, the food that is literally right this moment traveling through our systems, but has not been turned into fat or energy to burn.

Being up 3 pounds doesn't really tell you anything. Yes, you probably ate at a higher calorie level, but that likely means you ate more food... and therefore the weight of that food is going through your intestines. Not only that, but indulging in more food can often mean more water retention.

3 pounds is about equal to 10,500 calories. Did you eat over your calories by 10,000? If so, then maybe you gained fat.

If not... which is more likely, then it's water, food and etc just sticking around on your body.

You might also want to read this sticky: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...er-weight.html

what a very helpful post! thanks for sharing it!

I went on vacation earlier this year and didn't count a darn thing, ate what I wanted, ate late, ate early, ate, ate, ate...

But, I was also extremely active. Hiking, swimming, climbing. The only time I sat down was to eat. I only gained three pounds during that time, which I lost within a week of being home. I could only assume it was water weight.

Welcome to 3FC!

This is such a common part of weight loss that everyone starting out asks about it. For that reason, there's a sticky thread explaining more about water weight and the other factors Lovely mentioned: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...er-weight.html