well, it's after midnight!!!!! a new day will be dawning soon [and i really need to go to bed!!!!]

and the new thread is all ready for anyone who wants to post!!!!

Jiff: So sorry about the 6lb weight gain since Sunday. If it makes you feel any better I once gained 13 lbs in 3 days (without any kind of bingeing).
Guess that's one of the reasons I am a candidate for WLS!

You are so determined so I am SURE this is a very temporary setback.

Think of how VERY FAR you have come since the beginning of your long journey. You have made so much progress and this is just a BUMP in the road of your successful journey.

I'm sure Meg with help you thru this too.

P.S. What kind of WHEAT did you have? I heard something about Wheat in particular setting some people back.

Keep going Jiffy!!! Thanks for everything -- Pookie

There I am trying to sleep and Pookie the Gym Hamster comes and !

Deep breath, Jiff. WLS or not, screwed up metabolism or not, I think it’s physically impossible to gain 6 pound of FAT in a matter of days. 3500 calories in a pounds. Times 6 = 21000 excess calories. No way have you eaten 21000 excess calories since Monday.

If it’s not fat, what’s going on? Ideas:

Water retention — due to hormones, salt/sodium (sushi makes me gain an instant 2 pounds), meds, phase of the moon, whatever. Have you ever weighed a cup of water? Compulsive person that I am, I have — it’s 7 oz. Obviously carrying a little extra water shows up big on the scales (which is why people love low-carb diets — lose a ton of water, makes the scale go down) Do you feel bloated? My fingers look like cocktail weenies and my rings are tight, so I know I’ve got water issues right now.

Muscle — your trainer is absolutely right — the critical number here is your body composition, not your scale weight. How much of your body is fat and how much is lean body mass (LBM)? The number on the scale is irrelevant so long as you are at a healthy body fat % — it’s not like you walk around with your weight tattooed on your forehead.

The scale can stay the same or go up at the same time that your BF% is going down, and that’s a good thing. It happened to me as I lost the weight — I’d plateau and my trainer would check and I’d been building muscle. And I’m sure you know why we want muscle — it’s metabolically active tissue that burns calories all day and all night. Our own little fat burners, as it were (and muscle shapes up our formerly large bods quite nicely too ).

Food intolerance — you alluded to a wheat/gluten intolerance — perfectly possible. In those cases, your body has an allergic reaction to something you’ve eaten and can show a weight gain. I don't know much about this but I think it's kind of like an inflammatory response?

Normal weight fluctuation -- our weight fluctuates from day to day (and during the day) and small changes just aren't significant. No one's going to weigh the same every day -- it will vary depending on how much water you're retaining (I think something like 70% of our bodies is water?) and what you've eaten (actual poundage of the food in your system). Let's say you weigh 200 pounds and your weight goes up 6 pounds. That's only a 3% variation and from a scientific perspective, not very significant.

Jiff, it’s all a head game! Speaking as one who’s put on close to five pounds in the last two weeks without changing anything I’m doing (I’m pretty sure it’s a new med I’m taking for tendonitis in my toes), I completely understand how this panics you. It freaks me out too because of course all I can think is that I'm doing everything right and gaining the weight back. That’s our nightmare scenario, right?

But it’s not going to happen. Don’t weigh yourself for a few days. Maybe make a list of the things that you know work for you — I’m guessing water, protein, limit carbs, small meals, no pretzels (!) and stick to it. Now more than ever we don’t want to sabotage ourselves. And yes, tomorrow WILL be better.

As for the E word — exercise: yesterday I ran three miles, walked a little more, did 20 minutes on the cross-trainer, and a back workout: lat pull downs, seated cable rows, bent over BB rows, cable pullovers, and assisted pull-ups. Cardio only today — rest day from working out.

Pookie -- I'm so proud of you! And the LWL adore you -- you and anyone else here are welcome any time (we're really not all that scary now, are we? ).

<sigh> you ladies are WONDERFUL and thank you for the sanity check, meg... i've ALWAYS had problems with wheat.. and in one of my [complaining] conversations last night, i mentioned the bread thiing and the lady started up with the wheat intolerance, and described EXACTLY what i've been feeling: bloated belly [nowhere else], gas, and large, fast weight gain.

but it doesn't happen to her if she sticks to truly whole grain foods.

sooooo. here's the plan. no real change in exercise. food for today: chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese [i'll probably manage about 2-3 oz of that]. small salad with mayo free stuff on it [fresh carrots, beets, chick peas, maybe a little onion and a couple of olives] and LF dressing. i might add a couple of tablespoons of brown rice to the chicken, depending on how i feel.

so far i've had a deviled egg, 5 little rounds of whole grain melba toast [love them! nice and crunchy]. about an oz of cheese. a taste of a bagel from panera's [one of the samples] and 32 oz of tea.

snacks: 1/2 c CC with 1 tsp of fruit only apricot preserves, and a container of SF/FF yogurt [peach, i think]. and 1/2 cup of those wonderful IQF peaches and bing cherries.

and my dinner substitute/emergency protein supply that i don't usually eat, but when i need it i'm SOOO grateful for it: a few very thin slices of mexican turkey, buffalo chicken, and eye round with bits of thinly sliced cheese rolled up into them. and about an oz of cheese cut into cubes.

oh. and so far, i've done the 3 mile + walk with la dog.

and i've been taking the route that DOESN'T take me by the pretzels.

and the rest of the plan is to drink something warm if i think i need to eat something.

thank you thank you thank you

Good for you Jif. A woman with a plan!
Bodies are so confusing. How on earth could six pounds just find you like that? Surely your PCP understands fluctuations, food intolerances and fat vs. muscle or water weight? I can't believe that something like this could make a difference in getting plastic surgery. As Barb said to me - just Hang In There!

Meg - how on earth did you get so darn smart? Come stand over here by me and do a brain meld - just like on Star trek or something. I promise it won't hurt!

Chickadee

must all be out sweating and working hard!!!!!!

i have a cold. drat. so the dog and i walked for only about 2 miles, which meant we walked for about 35-40 minutes.

and tonight's supposed to be a weights night. we'll see how i feel later.

what are ya'll doin????

We must, we must
We must develop the bust
The bigger the better, the tighter the sweater
The boys are depending on us.

Anyone besides me old enough to remember that?

Just back from the gym -- chest day for me. Still working on that fake cleavage. Dumbbell press, incline barbell, decline Hammer machine, pec flyes. Ran two miles, walked some more, did a little cross-trainer.

How's about the rest of you?

barb.. hoping and praying that this will help you.... as for the wheat thing. i'm not sure, but MAYBE!!!! of course, maybe since i'm not eating 3 - 4 servings of pretzels on top of everything else..

we'll see!!!