Weight gain vs. bouncing around

Some of you know I've had a little bit of a battle stopping the losing. Think I've pretty much got it now, but I have a question: how do you tell when the scale is up due to gain or due to bouncing around?

As an example: today I weigh almost a pound more than yesterday. Looking at my behavior (exercise and eating) over the last week or so, I've actually been low on calories especially given the amount of exercise I've gotten. So my guess is that it's water and just a normal bounce.

I'd actually be happier a few pounds heavier, but I've decided not to "try" to regain in case I have a bounce back. Yet I find myself concerned about one pound. I know us new maintainers can be a little paranoid about regain, and I see the vets bouncing around in the daily weigh-ins.

But still, I'm curious: at what point do you decide it's not bouncing around but an actual gain?

I know I am not a vet, but for me a *gain* would be anything over my goal weight of 155. Anything between 155 and 150 is acceptable to me, if I go over 155 I am going to get right back to the original plan. 

Same here.  My acceptable range is 145-150 so if I see something higher than 150, then I'm going back to the basics of WL.  I guess really, my acceptable range is anything less than 150 because I doubt I'll struggle with losing TOO much weight so the low end number is useless to me.

At this point, I'm not losing any weight, but I'm still losing inches (awesome!).  The other day I "gained" two pounds, but was pretty sure it was bloat due to my swollen belly and fingers.  Sure enough, the next day those two pounds vanished.  But I'll admit that when 147 flashed on the scale, I had these panic feelings of OMG I GAINED AND I'M GONNA FAIL!  But I had to call in my rational mind to calm me down.  Turns out I'm fine.

This maintenance things is a mind warp.  I've always failed at it, so those feeling of anticipation around failure are stress-inducing.  We just gotta create a new mindset around it and that's the really hard part.

I know I'm being a freakazoid, especially as I wouldn't mind being a little heavier...I'm just afraid of gaining it ALL back.

Strangely, though I stalled a lot during my losing stage, I never did have days where I was significantly up from before. Just not down. So this is a new one on me.

Well this is the bane of my life.  I do a Monday weigh in on another board but i weigh every day.  my weight is rarely the same two days in a row. This week i got into the 120's a new low, i said when i posted my weight would play with me within 3 lbs(yes it used to really freak me out****il it decided to settle on that low point.  It could play for a week, it could be 10days, then it settles there for a minute gets lower and the cycle starts again.  I used to think "Oh i must have had too much sodium" etc. but when i get a new low on the scale I'm so freaking happy that i really am extra vigilant, so s much as I've tracked it i can't find a reason, except that that's how my body works. But i totally agree with you, once you see a lower number there is an out of balance response when it goes up a ll even when you expect it.

Oh you're a vet - you're as snarky as me, and you've have two weight loss surgeries!!!

 Ha, being from Jersey I was born with a snarky spoon in my mouth instead of a silver one! It just comes natural, you would probably love most of what I type and then delete b/c I know I would get my ass fried if I actually posted what I was thinking LOL 

Don't remind me on the two surgeries, I was trying to talk someone out of the band just today. I had to trot out the pictures of my kids and the story of how the band almost made them motherless to really get my point across. IT SUCKS! 

Weight does fluctuate on a day to day basis, so even though I weigh daily, I take my weight for the week on Sunday. I mark the weight on a calendar, so that I can notice trends. If I go above 110 lbs, it is time to dial some things back. I look at the weight on a week to week basis, not always day to day, since that can vary several times throughout the week.


gail

I'm still in the losing stage.. but I started graphing my weight on a chart on the fridge... in color for extra interest! Lol..

I put a line across it in red at last months low weight (I seem to alway**** a low weight then bounce up a couple and hold till the next cycle) That red line has progressively went down and down from month to month.. when it stops going that direction or reverses.. I know things have changed. This helps me look past my daily fluctuations.. 

I have a range that I am comfortable in, anything between 103-107 is fine, anything higher or lower deserves immediate attention.  I have to make room for water weight and also for some small regain and loss that balances out over a months time.  This is a bit of a moving target.