*sigh*

I think I need someone to start an intervention for me an my "scale-addiction"!! I also think I might need to take a page out of some of ya'lls books and get rid of that stupid thing... Anyway, my question...and I think I already know the answer, I just need some reassurance!!...if I have gained 3 lbs since yesterday, is there anything it could be excep****er weight?? I've been trying very hard to be careful lately with watching what I'm eating, but sheesh! It is sooo frustrating! Also, does anybody ever take a diuretic to help with water retention? Thanks! Larena PS - Believe me...I already know that most people don't advocate weighing yourself as regularly as I do...I guess it just makes me feel like the lbs. won't be able to sneak up on me!! Crazy, I know...

Larena, you have to eat 3500 extra calories to gain a pound of fat. So 3# in one day is not "real" weight. I find that if I'm retaining water, I actually do better if I drink MORE water, it flushes me out very well. (If, for example, I've had a lot of high-sodium food, that makes me bloat up and is relieved when I drink lots of water.) I also weigh every single morning---I have the same fear as you do, that the pounds will jump back on me if I don't! Hugs, Connie -147#

I also weigh every day. I don't want the pounds to sneak up on me either. That's how I got obese in the first place, ignoring the scale. The secret for me is to not fixate too much on it. If I'm up a pound, I really watch what I'm eating. I'm still trying to get to goal, so I really am watching what I eat most days. I've upped my exercise (from nothing to a lot) in hopes that the wt loss can be jump started again. But 3 pounds in one day is not fat. It's fluid. I agree with the other poster, drink more. I can always tell if I'm a little low on fluids, cuz I gain wt.

hi Larena ... I don't understand all that crap either ... I posted a 10 pound loss in one week, and the very next day that was posted, I was up 3.5 pounds ... and I didn't eat much (if anything) ... the time of day was a little different (first weigh was 8am, next day was 11am) ... so go figure. I do only weigh when I go to the doc/nut/therapist (all in the same place, so its the same scale) ... cause I know I would get kind of anxious and addicted too. Good luck ... and no, its really not crazy. Karyn

Hi Larena, I have had overnight gains like that. And I have also had overnight losses like that, 3 or 4 or 5 pounds. The last few times the scale has moved for me, it's been a jump like that in the time of a day or two. Very erratic! I have just gotten used to it, and try to keep my shoulder to the wheel and press on. I didn't take my scale out back and shoot it, but I got rid of it yeeeeears ago. I don't stick my head in the sand - I weigh at the doc's office, and if I have no appointments, I weigh once a week on my PCP's scale. But the daily weighing made me crazy (like I just weighed once a day! ha! I got on that thing every time I went by it!). Good luck & take care! Kathy

Well er um it is "kind of" possible. Lets see if I can help make sense of this. It takes 3500 calories (on average) to gain OR lose 1 pound of fat. So if you have a deficit of 3500 calories, you lose a pound of fat. Now this is not calculated in ONE day, but over the course of 7 to 8 days. You wouldn't not WANT to eat 3500 calories less than you burn in ONE day So if you eat 800 calories (for example) and your body is shown to have burned 2800 (for example again)...then you have a deficit of 2000 calories that day. If tomorrow you were to have another 2000 calories deficit, then you add those together (all week long) and that's your calories 'burned' for the week. SOOO if over the course of the week you have a total deficit of 10,000 calories, you've burned up 3 pounds of fat. It's not healthy long term to lose more than 4 to 7 pounds (of fat) in a week...more than that is either water or muscle. Which is why we can 'afford' to lose rapidly the first 3 months when we're losing a lot of water weight, but after that it's really better if you average about 4 pounds or so a week.... Here's a good example. My calories burned just to exist and do my sit-down job, with little to no exercise is about 2500. So for me to lose weight - I need to regularly eat less than that. I don't want to lose too much too fast, because as low as my weight is, I'd burn muscle. SOOO, my calories over the last week are as follows (and this is just an example rounded off numbers): 1600; 1800; 2100; 1500; 1700; 1600; and 2100 = 12400 consumed for the week. Total calories 'burned' for the week = 2500 X 7 = 17500 Burned for the week. Now we take the amount burned and subtract the consumed 17500 - 12400 = 5100 Which means I have a 'deficit' of 5100. Now remember it takes 3500 to lose a pound. So I should (unless I'm retaining water) lose about 1.5 pounds for last week. (5100 divided by 3500 = 1.45 And that is IF I actually used that many calories that week - maybe I was sick and laid in bed all week - less calories burned. Or maybe I cleaned house like crazy and burned up more calories. At my stage, I am very happy to lose 1 or 2 pounds a week. This is healthy for my body, heart, organs, etc. I hope this made sense. (((HUGS))), Toots

Tooter: how do you know how many calories you expend in a day? I can figure out how many I burn doing exercise, but what about just existing? Is there a website or calculator or something that can tell me? Thanks, Lily

This is the calculation for women: I worked this worksheet out from a website (that I cannot name at the moment) for my Jan. Support group. Hope this helps. Dawna Step 1: determine you basal metabolic rate a. change your weight to kilograms: wt (in pounds)_______ divided by 2.2= _______ kg b. change your height to centimeters: height (in inches) X 2.54= ___________ cm c. multiply your weight in kg by 9.6: wt (in kg) ______ X 9.6= ___________ d. multiply your height in cm by 1.8: ht (in cm) _______ X 1.8= __________ e. multiply your age in years by 4.7: age ______ X 4.7= ___________ f. BMR= 655 plus (c) _____ plus (d) _____ minus (e) _____ Example: a 32 year old person with a height of 5 feet 4 inches and weight of 185 pounds BMR would be: a. 185 (weight in pounds)/ 2.2 = 84 kg b. 64 (ht in inches) X 2.54 = 162.5 c. 84 X 9.6 = 806 d. 162.5 X 1.8 = 291 e. 32 X 4.7 = 150 f. BMR = 655 + 806 + 291 - 150 = 1602 calories Step 2: To determine your total daily calorie need to maintain your weight multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor: Sedentary BMR X 1.2 Little to no exercise Lightly active BMR X 1.375 light exercise 1-3 days/wk Moderately active BMR X 1.55 mod exercise 3-5 days/wk Very active BMR X 1.725 hard exercise 6-7 days/wk Extra active BMR X 1.9 very hard daily exercise Example continued: BMR 1602 X 1.2 (sedentary)= 1922 (your BMR) _______ X (your activity rate) ____________ = _________________ This is how many calories you require to MAINTAIN your weight.

Can you post the one for men? This is great information. Doesn't help me though - supposedly I should need 2681 daily calories and I get 1500 and I'm not losing. I don't know what I'm doing wrong unless it's true . . some people just can't lose 100% of their excess weight.

There's something I really don't understand about this. I figured out all this & it says something like 1800 calories. I am lucky to get in 1200 a day and have probably never made it too 1800 since my surgery, but I still haven't lost a pound in months. Why is that? I imagine it has something to do with a messed up metabolism caused by yoyo dieting all these years. Dixie