question for the ladies...hope you can help

I do know that during your period you obiously carry extra water weight, but I was wondering how MUCH you keep on/add on during your cycle...any averages? and I was wondering if I should weigh myself this weekend and wait until after my period (since I weigh myself every friday night) or keep up my normal weekly weighing schedule.

also, did anyone gain a crazy amount of weight on birth control and found out that it was hard to lose the weight?  I took ortho tri cyclen lo for about 6 months and gained ALOT of weight (127-162lbs.)  I have done CC for about 3.5 weeks now and I did yoga for 2 weeks before that and I have lost 7lbs., only after I started CC, as of last friday's weigh in.  just wondering and HOPING that I'm not the only one that gained that much weight on BC (I also had crazy side effects like crazy mood swings, crying for no reason, INSANE cravings, etc.) Now I'm off of it completely, for almost 3 months now, but only saw a drop when I started CC. Glad it's working, but just wondering what everyone else has to add!

thanks!

I gained a lot of water weight when I was on ortho.  I went on a lower dosage of pro-gestrin and felt a lot better.  I weigh as much as 5 lbs more during and a few days before my period so don't worry.  You probably did gain some weight due to the munchies from ortho.   I got those and the crazazy mood swings.   Adjusting to a new birth control can take several months and finding the right one for you can take even longer.  It took me 2 years before I found one that was just right for me.

I had a deepo injection - a thick paste injected into my leg.  Terrible mistake!  Because it wasn't a pill, I couldn't just stop taking it and it couldn't be removed like one of those inserted capsules!  It was designed to last for a year but don't know if I am just more sensitive to the drug but I found that I didn't return to normal hormone levels for 3 years!  Mood swings & weight gain & no libido at all - almost destroyed my marriage as well as my body.  I can't totally blame the BC because though it had bad sideeffects, I still made the wrong health choices every day!  A bad BC experience is not an excuse!  That was something that I found hard to admit to - I'd been lying to myself and others for ages that that was the reason for my weight gain - but portion control, sugar, fatty foods and absolutely no exercise did the most damage.

I find that I gain as much as 4 pound from morning to night with fluid retention!  So I only ever weigh in the morning - controlled conditions (ie after a pee, before a drink, in my bra undies) once a week.  Do keep to your weighing pattern - just make a note when you record your weight that it was taken during your period.  After a few months you'll see a pattern - fluid retention isn't anything to worry about.  I've found that drinking more than the 8 standard glasses of water a day helps reduce retention - stearing clear of salt as well.  Good luck!

I would say, on average I can gain up to about five pounds due to my cycle (the same occurs when I get sick, drink alcohol, et cetera and heaven help me when I've done all three within a week or so of each other). This varies based upon alcohol consumption, salt intake, water consumption, exercise, et cetera (during your entire cycle not just the few days or a week before your cycle begins again). Typically, my weight tends to even out by day 4 or 5 of my cycle. If it were me, I would weigh myself as scheduled and make a note on my log of whatever day of your cycle you are on. In my experience, I have had fluid retention differences of morning to night as much as 7.5 pounds, but typically my fluid difference on most days is 3 pounds. It is during TTOM that I have bigger differences. I purchased a scale that measures body fat and hydration which helped me better measure where the extra weight gain is coming from (when you are retaining water, your body fat will drop).

The following is my honest opinion, based upon my own experiences and I do not mean to offend. It is unrealistic to say that your weight gain is from birth control, unless it is an amount of ten pounds or less (roughly). If you measured yourself prior to starting on birth control, you would probably notice the changes in your chest/breast measurement. I have been on some form of birth control or another (Pill - and various ones at that, Depo Provera & Nuva Ring) for 16 years. Honestly, I was one of those people that blamed my weight gain (65 pounds over 16 years) on birth control and swore it would be difficult to loose the weight. The fact of the matter is, my weight gain was a result of my lifestyle and food choices - sedentary, no portion control, high sugar and fatty foods. Also, loosing weight is difficult because it requires you to face the issues that have caused you to gain weight - stress and emotional issues, unresolved childhood issues, lack of physical exercise, lack of portion control, basic apathy towards yourself, et cetera. I began my 'journey towards health' one year ago, remained on birth control and have lost 57 pounds to date. If it were true that being on birth control makes loosing weight more difficult, then I probably wouldn't have had the success that I have had during the past year (I 'officially' began my weight loss on July 2, 2007 and joined CC on July 19, 2007 so I could better keep track of calories and nutrition information).

The one thing that will make you the most successful in your weight loss is pure determination. Set your mind to loosing weight, know that it will not come easy and there will be days, weeks and even months were you don't see anything happening. I would highly recommend that you begin taking your body measurements at least once a month. I went through five months straight (which began exactly six months after my weight loss began) where despite all my best efforts, doing the same things I had been doing and even switching up my exercise and zig-zagging my calories where I didn't loose any more than two pounds a month and was very frusterated; however, I continued to measure myself during this time and discovered that my body was redistributing my weight (the breast tissue that I had lost miraculously returned and instead I lost inches in other places). Also, if you make bad choices let it be for the meal that you just consumed (or messed up on), not for the whole day. If I ate poorly for one meal, I committed to eating better the next meal and made sure I had a positive attitude anyway (do not get down on yourself for the poor choice you just made, you cannot take that choice back...instead tell yourself the next meal WILL be better and make sure of it). Each month I focused on doing one thing correctly: increasing water consumption, increasing fiber intake, increasing my exercise, increasing my consumption of vegetables and fruits, decreasing my consumption of alcohol, et cetera. Then I continued to build upon each thing (I'm not sure if that is clear). In other wordes, when I 'graduated' from working on increasing my water consumption to increasing my fiber intake, I still continued to drink my water at the same level that I just graduated from). Also, since my goal is to loose 77 pounds (57 down, 20 to go) I broke my goal down into smaller incriments and rewarded myself for my good work. My rewards were not related to food related and oftentimes free like asking for a massage from my boyfriend, painting my nails, taking an extra long shower to pamper myself, et cetera. Well, I got off topic there, but hope I was a helpful. Take care of yourself and PM me if you need anything else.

Smiles,

Dacia

P.S. I hope I did not offend you - it is not my intention.

please don't weigh yourself until after your period is gone...I wish i took my own advice. I'm about to start my period and i've gainned 3 pounds....I know its water, but it still sucks!

see the problem with the BC is that I WAS excercising and eating healthier, (not as healthy as i am now, but still not completely crappy) and i still saw no move in weight or inches.

my doctor couldnt understand why i had gained so much weight so quickly and why i wasn't chnging at all with the workout program and eating healthier. it was only until i suggested taking myself of BC that i saw (finally) and move in my weight.

granted i still had cravings and wasn't eating the best while on BC, i still think something else was happening other tahn me making bad health choices. but anyways, i'll prolly never go back on BC again, and i've lost 8.5 lbs so far.

and daciakaiser, where did you get that scale that measures both?

I wonder if the reason my scale didn't move for 5 days was because it was the time leading up to TTOM.   

I sure hope that when I weigh myself at the end of this week there is a nice surprise and a drop when TTOM  is over.

I did go up 2lbs in one day- but I thought that was just because I had such a good food/workout the day before.  Maybe it is TTOM.  If it is....... I'm going to jump for joy when the scales go back down.

Here's hoping..............