If you think she is retaining water, why don't you give her some advice on how to stop retaining water instead of whining about how wrong everyone else is?

I am not sure if we share the definition of whining. I considered what I was doing as ranting in a moment of frustration but otherwise you have a good point.

I highly advise people worry about the things they can easily control. Water retention happens. Can you control it? I don't think most can*. For starters, women will often have water flux due to their own cycle. Some people are more sodium sensative than others but really it's the sodium to potassium ration that matters. Stress plays a big role as well.

If one has a singular event they want to look their best for there are complex ways one can drop their water weight and avoid any bloat but if you were to look at the diet/exercise log of a fitness model prepping for a photo shoot you would soon realize that on a day to day basis the average person has more important things to worry about. Therefore, in my opinion, most people should just focus on developing good dietary and exercise habits and not worry about water flux.

Otherwise following the fundamentals is going to work best. Take care of your body, get enough sleep, get regular exercise etc. All this other stuff is just stuff.

*One thing that does seem to help is a free (or cheat) meal and/or day. My theory is that this has a lot to do with stress (cortisol) but there may be other hormonal factors at work. However there is no guarentee this will work in all or even half the cases so it's not really something I would advocate if it isn't part of someone's plan.

Exactly! Coincidence does not mean causation.

F.

Okay.......
Thank you everyone for your input. I don't believe any of you were "wrong". I think everyone suggests things that may have worked for them at some point. And therefore, everyone's input is valuable to me because I can then try different things and see what works best for MY body. Different things work for different people. And I am so happy and thankful for those of you who responded. I truly appreciate all your suggestions because then I can start the process of trial and error and find my answer. :-) Thank you!

No, not really. We're all pretty much the same.

As much as I'd like to agree, I don't.
We're all different. We all have different medical history, different body types, different lifestyles. That's why different things work for different people. Obviously if I have a medical condition which prevents me from having the same diet as you, then we are NOT the same. I have to eat different things or try other methods. Just like if I have a physical disability which prevents me from having the same exercise regimen as you, then obviously, I have to do something else.
Again, what may work for one person, may not work for the next.

Context matters. We are all humans and the fundamentals of fat loss do not differ from one person to the next because ... we are all human.

I've got no clue why you are discussing medical conditions or disabilities as those do not affect how fat loss and gain work except in extraordinarily rare cases. If you want to find a way where you are right than I'm sure you can define an argument around specific parameters to be so but that is hardly the point of this topic.

This is the context of the discussion. Your body being used to your routine (whatever that means) has almost nothing to do with why you are stuck.

You might think I am a jerk or rude or unsupportive because I am not telling you what you want to hear but if you are stuck and you are in a deficit you are retaining water 999 out of 1000 times. They key words in the prior sentence are "if you are in a deficit" because if you are not in a caloric deficit you will not lose fat.