Going from the article Cajetaguy posted yesterday, what is your "red flag" amount of weight gain? And what do you do to turn it around if you have hit it?
Knowing that we all fluctuate in weight, how much will you allow to see creep on the scale before you say "This isn't just water retention, or a fluctuation, this is the real deal baby."?
And then what steps do you take to get the scale moving in the right direction again.
For me: I KNOW I go up and down 2-3 lbs around my cycle, so if I notice that gain any other time I take it more seriously (unless I know I ate Chinese food or other high sodium food the day before.) However, I think I have gained about 4 lbs in the past couple of months.
I am trying to up my exercise routine, but that doesn't seem to be helping so far, and I have gotten back to drinking a minimum of 64 oz. of water on most days. Unfortunately, my vacation hit in about the third week of this routine and kind of threw me off, so now I feel like I'm starting over.
I know I need to take action though, because I cannot allow the scale to creep up anymore.
Dawn
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4334 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
quote:Originally posted by Tayhudson: I don't think you have to be in maintenance for this to apply.
I understood that. However, I've only ever had one gain that wasn't from either normal, everyday weight fluctuation or from fluid retention (I am hypertensive and extraordinarily sensitive to sodium). But even that one gain was not an "all-at-once" gain but a 1/4 pound here, 1/2 pound there that ENDED UP totalling 3.25 pounds during the several months I was plateauing early this year. So that's why I didn't feel it applied.
quote:Everyone's weight fluctuates, how do you determine if it is a fluctuation or a true gain?
As stated, I am sensitive to sodium and tend to retain fluid easily when I'm eating out or experimenting with something new at home. When I have a weight gain (especially when accompanied by edema in my ankles), and my weight returns to normal within two days or so, I know it's due to sodium/water retention and not a true gain. I have had two gains of 3 pounds each that were water retention--one from my May cruise and one from last November when I tried making my own pasta fagioli and found out that real Parmigiana Reggiano (which I'd just bought for the first time at Whole Foods) has SUBSTANTIALLY more sodium than the parm I usually use!
Posts: 7356 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
I am by no means even close to a goal that I think I could maintain. BUT, I do think about it, and wonder "what if". How am I going to keep this weight and not climb back up the ladder again. So, my plan for now, being 75 pounds away from that goal, is to make sure that I continue to do what I am doing now....jounralling both food and emotions, drink my water, exercise (which I hope to enjoy more) and watching the scale, knowing that it is not the ONLY source of control in my weight life. This is a healthy eating plan for me...it is not a diet, so that I have given myself 5 pounds either way of my goal. Iwant to walk around at 150 and see how that feels...should I start to creep up I plan on going back to some tried and true ideas. But I am thinking that 150 isn't going to be the end all...that would be my top, but I'd like to be 130....but at 52, is that realistic for me to keep? Plans of a person who has a long way to go.
It's never too late to get it right.
Posts: 3473 | Location: Central USA | Registered: March 11, 2004
I'm also still in loss mode but approaching a weight I would like to 'maintain' for a few months. I am thinking that a 2 lb gain showing up 2 weeks in a row (I weigh 1x per week on Fridays) would be a trigger to me that I'm not in maintenance mode but in gaining mode. It's going to be a big experiment so I will just have to make adjustments as I go.
I get myself into gear and buckle down whenever I've had two nutritionist appointments in a row where I've gained anything. I'm tired of being where I am in my weight, and I need to spend more time concentrating on making better decisions about what I'm eating and when. I still have about 55 pounds to lose.
Life is like a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs, but the curves, spirals, loops and corkscrews are what make life interesting.
I haven't reached my goal size/weight yet, so this doesn't really apply to me either. When I get there, I plan to pay more attention to my clothing and measurements than the numbers on my scale.
If I see that my weight is creeping back up, I plan to go back to what I am doing now.... If I have stopped journaling, I will start recording my foods, moods and exercise again and review where I am falling off the wagon. I'll make sure that I am drinking plenty of water. I'll make sure that I am keeping myself satisfied by not only having 3 healthy meals, but having healthy between meal snacks daily. I may try to change my exercise routine and/or up my time and reps.
Since I have been actively pursuing weight loss for just over a year now and not at goal weight, this doesn't really apply to me. I have never gained more than 3.25 pounds since I started my journey on 7/1/03. Even then, with one exception, my gains have been temporary (a few days to a week) water retention gains resulting from eating different either while travelling or trying something new at home that was too high in sodium. The one exception to that is while I was plateauing for several months early this year. That 3.25 pound gain is still a mystery to me, since I was eating healthy and working out as always (in fact, I increased the number of days I was working out).
I think a lot about what life will be like when I get to goal weight and am in maintenance. What will my trigger gain be? I want to pick something low enough that I can't let weight gains get out of control enough to make me feel hopeless (esp. considering how slowly I lose weight) but yet not so low that I am freaking out about it all the time. So I think my trigger would probably be a 5-pound gain.
Posts: 7356 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
I spend a year ignoring hte fact that the scale was creeping up. I have set 128-130 as my upper limit. When I hit it I need to go down 2-3 pounds and be extra careful.
One of the ways I managed to gain 15 pounds in 12 months was to NOT get on the scale. I did not even do a monthy weigh in. I knew that I was gaining and hated seeing the numbers. I can be a queen of denial. I am getting on the scale once a week now. If I am just before my period I might be around 128-130. If I do not go down 2-3 pounds a week later, I am know the weight is real.
