Help! Unexpected spike in weight!

[ChloChlomd]

Hi everyone,

Here is my story 🙂

I recently lost 27kg over the course of 12 months and hit my goal weight of 60kg 6 weeks ago. Since then I have been slowly increasing my calories each week to bring me up from 1200 to something more sustainable. I’m currently at 1800 Cals and my weight was staying the same, and a week ago it was actually trending down to 59kg. 

Then suddenly on Tuesday morning I weighed in and I was up a kilo. Then the next day I was up another 500grams, then on Thursday I was up another kilo. So I had gained 2.3kg in a couple of days which is nuts. My weight now has slowly started trending down again but I have not seen a massive drop I was expecting. It’s also gone down and then bounced up a little again. So it’s really all over the place!! 

2 things happened last week that could be contributing. 1. I started a new workout program and did heavy deadlifts for the first time in ages and was very sore for the rest of the week and I felt physically bloated and huge. 2. I’m starting my period this week so last week I was 1 week out from my period. I know both of these things can cause water retention so I’m hoping for a drop maybe next week as soon as my body gets used to the workouts and my period finishes. What’s confusing me though is I have never before experienced massive spikes in weight due to my period or new workout programs so I guess I’m just wondering, is there a first time for everything and it’s not weird I’m experiencing this all of a sudden now? Or is it to do with me adding calories in again? I’m still burning way more than I am eating and active everyday so I find it hard to believe it’s fat. 

If anyone has any similar experiences or advice it would be great to hear about it 🙂 

Thanks!! 

[Radek36m]

Your initial reaction is right. This is normal. Nothing to get worried about. You aren't relapsing or anything. Keep doing what you are doing. If you notice that the weight is not coming off or it is trending upwards, then cut back on calories again. From what you are describing, it sounds like the extra calories are confusing your body. If you can get a BMI, that will give you a little more information. Maybe those extra calories were turned into muscle almost immediately. Muscle is denser and heavier than fat. That could be it. Unless you go through a full, thorough medical screening, you won't get any answer that is 100% accurate. Stress less. Eat better. Move more. 

[morningReign]

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Then suddenly on Tuesday morning I weighed in and I was up a kilo. Then the next day I was up another 500grams, then on Thursday I was up another kilo. So I had gained 2.3kg in a couple of days which is nuts. My weight now has slowly started trending down again but I have not seen a massive drop I was expecting. It’s also gone down and then bounced up a little again. So it’s really all over the place!! 

...

If anyone has any similar experiences or advice it would be great to hear about it 🙂 

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Hello,

I have,... once it was after I had some very lovely Pad Thai. The calorie deficit said I should have lost weight, but for the next several days I was carrying a kg or 2 extra,... kind of disturbing really.

But, calories are what they are; maintaining a calorie deficit, it does eventually show up in the scale. In the Pad Thai case it was in one morning a few days later when I dropped almost all my "missing" weight loss in one weighing.

I think the Fitbit food app does do a good job of continually adjusting calories to lose, maintain, or gain weight. It likely will not keep ones weight within a 2 kg range.

I find it's less stressful to focus on what I'm doing (eating, exercising, tracking calories) than the things I have less control of, like how long it takes my food to digest, or any single scale weight.

I try to pay more attention to my smoothed weight (the blue line from Fitbit charts), but I do admit the odd jump up does distress.😱