I've been working out a week, resting a week in rotation. The week I workout I stall or even gain, the week I rest the lbs MELT off easy 2.5 lbs a week. I know it is caused because on my work out week I take in 2 liters a day and rest week is more like 16oz a day. I also know I need to workout to tone but its a mental struggle to not take that week off (or even longer) when I know that's when I lose.

Anyone else dealing with something like this?

I can understand your frustration....however, as you know, it's just water weight and in the long run, building more muscle will reap some wonderful benefits....you'll be more toned and more muscle means an increased metabolism. Cardio is good for the heart, which is so much more important than the number on the scale. Maybe you could work out and weigh less often? Just an idea. You can definitely lose weight without exercise, but your body will be different at the end.

Normally we need time to let our bodies adjust to working out and by rotating a week on and a week off your body is not getting used to working out. I find that my body holds on to more water when I work out hard during the week regardless of how much water I'm drinking. I'm curious about your reasoning for working out every other week rather than just consistently working out.

I'm an obsessive weigh-er. I weigh daily to keep myself in check. Loss on scale tells me "good job, keep at it". Gain tells me "you've worked hard for all that loss don't screw it up! Work harder".

On my workout week I do about 3 hrs a day. When I first started I just needed a break so I took a few days off an after a workout week in which i gained and I was excited to see a lost while I rested. So I figured a week of rest and losing and a week of working out and toning would be great.

Why are you working out three hours a day? That's really not necessary and might be the reason you are having issues! What kinds of exercise are you doing?

Biggest loser on kinect, elliptical, a toning exercise routine, lift weights. Burning about 600-900 cals a day (HRM)

I would scale it back. Resistance training in most cases should only be done every other day so your muscles can recover. You could do resistance/weight-bearing exercises for 30-60 min 3x a week and then 30-60 min of cardio 3x a week and you would be doing plenty. This would also be easier for you to maintain.

At first I did start to slow down but I've been exercising 6 days a week about 45 mins a day and I'm losing consistently. The big thing is that I'm in smaller size clothing than when I was this weight when I got married.
Married 12 years ago size 10-12
Now size 8 and shrinking
Because of exercise I look better at 33 than I did at 21.

It's hard mentally to not think rest = lose when that just happens to be the way it goes

I have to agree with this. You run the risk of injury by doing so much even if you rest the next week.

I totally understand the rest = not losing mentality and I still struggle with it too. You are doing great with your progress!

I can understand that it's difficult to get past the losing versus not losing when you work out but in the long run I think you're doing yourself a disservice. Stick more to rotating your workouts on a daily basis but consistently working out. Muscle burns more calories than fat and you want to keep your muscle mass while losing weight.

You're doing a great job and I think if you consistently work out 3x a week and rotate the actual activities you won't be burnt out and you'll see the losses after being consistent for a while.

You got this!

It is just water retention due to muscle repair. Working out is healthy and tones you. You replace fat with muscle. You need to stop obsessing about the scale so much. That is not only unhealthy, you are setting yourself up for failure because you get frustrated for absolutely NO REASON.

Once upon a time, I got down to 109lbs. Now, at 129lbs, and 10 years of weightlifting, I look soooo much better - fit, healthy, strong, "toned". And because of my training, I get to eat 2000 calories a day just to simply maintain it.

One of the hardest parts of this journey is getting to the point where the # on the scale becomes arbitrary and then you have to switch your focus.

3 hours a day? Wow! I do 5 hours a WEEK and I'm training for a powerlifting competition. Quality, not quantity!

The more I work out and the stronger I get, the less I am losing (and it's not like I'm anywhere near thin, so it's frustrating to no end). My clothes are fitting so much better but I'm not getting the scale rewards. I know it's not all about the scale but it still matters to me.