SOS - omg - major whine ahead

As everyone, my money is on the sodium.. for me, when I gain pounds after a lot of salt, it takes DAYS for it to come off.. sometimes a week. I use Wellbutrin in winter at times, it's not one that should cause weight gain, in fact the opposite is more likely as it helps with compulsive behaviours, like eating.. but that salt will cause a bump for sure, and my scale always picks up fluid shifts as fat shifts! Try to not stress it too much, you know logically it's not a real gain.. just keep repeating that while you are chugging water and keeping your feet elevated!

Wellbutrin is associated with weight loss, not weight gain (I take it specifically to offset the weight gain side effect of my Lexapro).

If it lasts much longer, I'd talk to your doctor. Sounds like you are retaining fluids.

Interesting. I dont like the wellbutrin for other reasons, but i dont think it's causing this. Actually 2-3 weeks after I started it, I dropped 5 lbs over night it seemed. This is just a freak thing I hope. Or payback for loading my body with sodium haha.

Sucks sucks sucks.

And even though in your head you know it's most likely fluid, that doesn't help much.

It isn't likely to be the Wellbutrin because 1) you haven't been on it all that long and 2) Wellbutrin's mechanism is actually the opposite. It's a mild psychostimulant (it's a substituted amphetamine) and in clinical trials, people who took it demonstrated mild to moderate weight loss.

So, stay on the Wellbutrin. And keep drinking fluids. If you are feeling low in electrolytes, try some G2 or Smar****er. Those won't have the sodium...

and hide the scale. The battery in mine died. and I haven't replaced it yet. and it's been the best thing that has happened.

 Alison,

I know how you feel.  I have been there.  Just take a deep breath and remind yourself:

1.  I have had amazing progress and that will continue until I decide its tops.
2.  Others have gone through this, it is just temporary.
3.  BIA scales are notoriously inaccurate in body fat percentage.  Don't believe it.

What brought on the 9 lbs?  Who knows.  My body and my weight loss would go kerflewey for a while every time I changed its chemistry, particularly when meds changed.  That combined with the sodium probably just threw your chemistry for a little spin.

I also know that panic about 200.  When my weight went up briefly during my transition I had a major freak out.  I reached out to the entire world to help me cope.  It seemed to me as if 195 was the gateway to 200, was the gateway to 250, etc.  

Its not, you have soo many tools.  You will not gain back endlessly because you know how to manage it now.  You have the diet skills, you have the exercise skills, you have the knowledge, you have the mental skills, and lastly you have the sleeve.

Girl, you got this!

Someone told me this morning that I have to learn to trust my body again.  I think thats true for all of us.  As we lose and get to goal or beyond we become scared of our weight.  We become terrified of becoming the people we were before, the invisible, the hurt, the pitied.  We don't acknowledge that we have the power to prevent that and to manage it.  More than learning to trust our bodies, we have to learn to trust ourselves again.

One last thing, you know me I gotta get all technical, have you checkled the calibration and the batteries in your scale?  Sometimes as the batteries start losing voltage the readings can go all wonky.  One day I lost 10 lbs by just changing to a fresh set of AA's.  Also put a dumbell in the center of your scale and make sure it reads close to the dumbbells weight.  The load cells might be failing as well.

Feel better and have heart.

 Rob, 
This note is really a good one for me. I'm getting close to goal and you hit the nail on the head about how I'm feeling and thinking. I'm really afraid to go back to where I was. 

Thanks for all your wonderful words of wisdom and comfort. Jem

Dear Rob -

Can I hate you for being so darn practical?????

Trust - that's such a loaded concept. I dont trust my head or my body. I do trust my ability to make the right choices so for today - that's all I got. Hopefully everything will catch up and I can be on the same page wth my mind, body, and soul.

I'm totally going with the scale being the problem and not me. I mean, who ever made that scale sucks. I dont know what it's reading through the bottom of my feet, but I havent eaten enough in the last MONTH to even gain 2% body fat.

I say your scale needs to be reset or is broken. You are doing an amaaaaazing job Allison. Lets do a girls day or night out soon :-) Wish you the best my friend, call me or message me anytime. Love ya girl. Gabby Z.

 Big hugs sweet girl! Take time to breathe! There is nothing that you could do to gain this weight. Track every morsel of food because that will reinforce that it is not about the food. Continue with your hydration to flush your body.  If its the broth, you will see it cone off in the next few days. If it doesn't come off, I would assume its the drugs.

The most important thing is to continue your activity because it's good for your head.  Love yourself which I know is hard when tipping the scale.  We put so much truth into the scale which is really hurting you today. Treat yourself with kid gloves. Take the pizza guy off speed dial. Call friends instead. I think you still have my number from Vegas.  

Restore trust in yourself and your process. Keep coming to talk about how you're doing. This could happen to any of us.  You are not alone.  Draw strength from your legion of fans!  ❤

Okay Lee - you're on speed dial now. Pizza Hut is going to be disappointed.


You are soo sweet - thank you for your support. I guess I should get used to retaining fluids and swelling since I see a lot of that coming up in my future. All I know is that there will certainly be a ban on scales in my house come November.