Regular weight fluctuation

Hi all, i am a first time poster but have been lurking for a while. Great forum and I hope I can contribute to the community and offer encouragement and support, just as I have been encouraged by you all.

Firstly my background, I may be in the minority here..a middle aged male, I was overweight most of my adult life and reached 17st at my worst ( 5ft 6, small frame ) . Through a complete change in lifestyle, regular exercise and careful ( perhaps at times too careful ) diet I have lost > 8st over a 15 month period and have maintained between 120 - 124 for 4 months or so.

My frustration is trying to understand the fluctuations that occur in my body, I weigh daily and notice that my weight is almost always at the high end of the range on a Sunday morning ( Saturday is my "treat day" - nothing too excessive but I allow myself a curry perhaps and a few beers, or a few glasses of wine , maybe topping out about 2200 calories but I exercise more at weekend and would expect that to compensate )

Anyway, my weight goes up a few pounds on the Sunday, and generally reduces again by the following Thursday. Is this typical for water retention, sodium retention ? I find it frustrating..I don't think I'm overeating on the Saturday but then have to over -compensate through the following week to get back to my lower range.

Is it possible I am simply trying to maintain too low a weight at 120 lbs ?

I must admit that I probably overdid the diet phase and may have entered starvation mode and damaged my metabolism, I averaged 1200-1300 calories a day but always allowed a Saturday "treat day". I am now trying to maintain on about 1400 - 1800 calories per day. I swim, run and do weights.

Any advice is appreciated..the weekend weight gain does frustrate me. I don't think I am doing anything too excessive, maybe eating a few hundred calories more on one day but its a more active day.

kezzo, first of all, congratulations on the terrific weight loss!   it sounds like you are a very active person, so i would suggest that you take time to actually log your activities on here for a few days (minutes of swimming, running, weight lifting, etc.) and find out what your actual calorie requirements are.  my guess is that you are still a little low for maintenance.  i have been maintaining for almost two years, and i often eat more than 2000 calories per day, depending on what kind of activity i do.   and you are much younger, male, and more active, all of which are factors requiring more calories.

Thanks Elin,

I suspect you are correct and I am eating too few calories for maintaining. To be honest my fear is that if I up the calories I will increase weight, I seem to be steady right now ( apart from the weekly fluctuation ). I will certainly log my activities but to give folks an idea of my input / output here is a typical diet

Weekday / Sunday - 1 30g bowl of Special K with 1% milk, 1 medium banana, 1 coffee ,(  1% milk, no sugar ) - estimate about 300 kcal

Lunch - Melon  , chicken or cooked ham with baked potato or salad / veg / rice, low fat yoghurt - estimate about 500 kcals

Dinner - "weight watchers malted bread" toasted with chicken or salmon, low fat yoghurt ( or small ice cream occasionally ) - estimate 600 kcals

snacks - 2 pieces of fruit throughout day - 1 coffee - estimate 140 kcal

Supper - 2 biscuits, decaf coffee - estimate 200 kcal

45 mins swimming / running  4 days - estimate - 400 kcals out

30 mins weights  3 days per week  estimate  - 80 kcals out___

_____________________________________________ __

Saturday "treat day"

1 30g bowl of Special K with 1% milk, 1 medium banana, 1 coffee ,(  1% milk, no sugar ) - estimate about 300 kcals

Lunch - weightwatchers toast with 2 poached eggs, 1 low fat yoghurt, 1 coffee - estimate 600 kcals

snacks - 2 pieces of fruit throughout day - 1 coffee - estimate 140 kcals

Dinner - 1 spiced potato with chickpea starter dish, 1 chicken tikka karahi ( hot, not cooked in ghee or butter ), 2 wholemeal chapati, 1 low fat yoghurt estimate 1300  kcal

Supper - low fat crackers with low fat cheese - estimate 200 kcals

Total estimate in = 2540 kcals.     1 hour swimming / running  estimate out  -540 kcals

Sorry about the long post but hope this helps demonstrate a typical week...food varies slightly day to day but this is typical ( I know theres not enough veg in there and I need to up that.

That means I am on a estimated net 1400 / 1500 kcals per "normal day ( fluctuates slightly as I have a rest day from exercise and maybe one day do both weights and running / swimming ) and net estimate 2000 kcals on a Saturday "treat day".

I think I should be eating slightly more to maintain but worry my metabolism is "broke"

oops, sorry, forgot to factor in the beer / wine on a Sat ...lets estimate worst case 500 Kcals ( wine or low carb beer ) which means Total estimate in = 3040 kcals.     1 hour swimming / running  estimate out  -540 kcals, net 2500 kcals on treat day

Keeza,

i actually wonder if you are getting enough calories.  Were you always a lightweight?  124 pounds for a man at 5'6" is a small frame.  do you have much muscle tone?  Are you a long distance runner's physique?  I ask because I trained a while back and was married to a long distance runner who was the same height and only weighed 116 pounds!!!  He had to actually gain weight to get into the military and now lifts weights and build his weight training to keep the mass.  I only ask again because I am worried that your metabolism is not broken, but you are starving yourself.  With your metabolism being naturally fast it is fine in my book to "treat" yourself now and then, because your body would be burning it off as fuel anyway.  It's definitely not just going to sit there!  Are you comfortable at the weight you are now?  are you still trying to lose?  or gain?

Thanks for the reply mv3. I wasn't always a lightweight..in fact I was obese for most of my adult life. I do have some muscle tone now since I get about 3 workouts in each week lifting medium weights. But having shed the 8 stone or so I have absolutely no intention of putting the pounds back on.

My goal is to maintain at 120 - 125 or so..I could be happy at 125 as long as I didn't creep up from that.  I suspect you are right about starving myself, I see some signs - feeling cold, occasionally light headed that suggest I am not getting enough calories in. My worry though is that ( barring the weekly fluctuation ) I'm maintaining at my current weight on that calorie intake, so logically I think I will start to creep up if I up the calories...I don't want to let that happen.

Ref my weight fluctuation here I am again on a Saturday , this time at the low end of my range 119 1/4, my heaviest last week was 123 ( Monday ).

The week went like this Sa 119.5, Sun 122.5, M 123, T 122.5, W 122, Th 120.5, F 121.25, Sa 119.25  ( so my usual weight fluctuaion over a week but no overall gain )...I bet I am up at least 2 pounds ,  maybe 3 tomorrow...same pattern every week.

I, too, wonder about your goal to maintain 120-125. Let me first tell you about myself. I am a 71 year old man who used to be 5 foot 8 inches but have shrunk to 5-7. In March of 2007, I was 224 pounds after a total knee replacement which occurred in October 2006. While undergoing PT at the Veterans Hospital, I learned of a weight reduction program called MOVE. I joined that program which turned out to be a multi-disiplinary approach. I attended four 2-hour classes and then met once a week for an hour which included weigh-in.

Staff at the VA hospital highly recommended no more than 1 to 1.5 pounds loss per week. We were given weekly food logs and tracked our calories. Exercise was "heavily" stressed. Almost all our weekly meetings also involve some form of exercise for us older guys. Our dietician and nurse stated that my goal should be in the 155-160 range which gives me a BMI of less than 25. Since November of 2007 I have been maintaining a weight of less than 160 and more recently have been in the 152-155 range. My daily exercise includes a 3 mile walk.

I use Calories-Count to log my all foods, calories, exercise and weight. Once I developed my own database of foods it was quite easy to track data and this provided objective evidence of what works for me.  In the VA MOVE program the most successful people are those that log their calorie intake and do some form of regular exercise. To make sure I am maintaining my weight in a healthy manner, I have consulted with the dietician twice.

I do hope this has been helpful and finds you feeling fit.

I, too, wonder about your goal to maintain 120-125. Let me first tell you about myself. I am a 71 year old man who used to be 5 foot 8 inches but have shrunk to 5-7. In March of 2007, I was 224 pounds after a total knee replacement which occurred in October 2006. While undergoing PT at the Veterans Hospital, I learned of a weight reduction program called MOVE. I joined that program which turned out to be a multi-disiplinary approach. I attended four 2-hour classes and then met once a week for an hour which included weigh-in.

Staff at the VA hospital highly recommended no more than 1 to 1.5 pounds loss per week. We were given weekly food logs and tracked our calories. Exercise was "heavily" stressed. Almost all our weekly meetings also involve some form of exercise for us older guys. Our dietician and nurse stated that my goal should be in the 155-160 range which gives me a BMI of less than 25. Since November of 2007 I have been maintaining a weight of less than 160 and more recently have been in the 152-155 range. My daily exercise includes a 3 mile walk.

I use Calories-Count to log my all foods, calories, exercise and weight. Once I developed my own database of foods it was quite easy to track data and this provided objective evidence of what works for me.  In the VA MOVE program the most successful people are those that log their calorie intake and do some form of regular exercise. To make sure I am maintaining my weight in a healthy manner, I have consulted with the dietician twice.

I do hope this has been helpful and finds you feeling fit.