Undoing hard work with slacking=very little loss, very little gain. A new yo-yo pattern

I've noticed that when I overeat a few days or a week, my body doesn't seem to "register" it except with water/salt weight.  Then, when I get back on track, it seems like BAM, suddenly some fat shows up. 

It seems if I really slack off for 7-10 days, I'm still experiencing my lowest weight.   Then when I work my tail off for two weeks after that, it's like the weight's coming on.

It's kind of a mind game.  I'll feel like I'm "getting away" with overeating and not exercising while I'm doing it.   Then I'll feel like diet/exercise isn't working while I'm doing it.

Maybe this is a new, insidious form of yo yo dieting, but the gains and losses aren't so steep.  I only fluctuate a few pounds.  It has taken 2-3 months to lose 2 pounds though, so I'm not getting the maximum benefit of my more dedicated efforts.  I'm undoing the 1500-1600 cal weeks with the 2500-3500 days. 

Anyone have this pattern?  Anyone broken it?

First I want to say congrats on taking the step towards weight loss and being here on CC has been great !! It sounds to me like your not eating enough when you are on track..I dont know what kind of exercise you do or how often but 1500-1600 seems very low with exercise..Can you tell us your stats? Is this what CC site is reccommending as intake? You may be gaining because your eating too low and your body is hoarding. On the days your eating upwards of 2500-3500 you say you dont lose or gain..my recommmendation would be to up your intake to somewhere in the middle but I could get more accurate if I knew your stats..maybe 2000- 2500 a day  closer to 2500 when when your exercising and closer to 2000 when you dont. Maybe if you eat somewhere in the middle you would be less likey to yo-yo and start shedding some more pounds. I tend to yo-yo as well and I find it harder when I restrict to low..so eating more balanced seems to help.

5'7" female  176 pounds moderately active, age 46.  CC says 1650.  I seem to lean toward a higher average like 1900-2100.  Work out with weights 3x week and HIIT 3x week on weeks when I'm not slacking.  Am general active around the house.

I put in your stats using cc's burn meter tool..It says light activity which basically is your everyday activities..walking around, laundry , housework or whatever job you have if its not all that physical..it says You burn 2020calories during a typical day. Remember that this estimate is based on your body weight, height, age, gender, and your average level of activity. That is the amount you burn every day just with your day to day light activities..now depending on your exercise each day you have to add that in..so lets say a typical workout you burn an additional 500 calories..you would then eat no less than 2020 calories that day to give you a deficit of 500..500x 7 days is 1 pound lost. If you want to aim for 2 pounds a week you need a deficit of 7000 calories per week which would be 1000 a day..I always have my activity level set at light activity and add my workouts in as I do them..it is easier to gauge. So my overall response to you would be if you are not exercising at all then eat no less than 1520 calories a day if you do exercise , depending on your workout of course eat no less than 2020 a day and you should see the weight starting to come off again and you should put an end to your yo-yo ing because you will be eating a satisfactory amount of food..remember to utilize the tools here at cc because as you lose you have to adjust your intake again to accommodate your new weight until you desire to go on maintenance. Best of luck to you..I hope this helped you a bit :0)

Argh - ME TOO!  I've been gaining/losing the same 5 pounds since January, it seems!  People tell me to up calories, but I'm so scared of gaining that I don't.  I guess it's counterproductive to continue the binge/diet cycle rather than just meet myself in the middle, but I just have this weird mental block...   

yep. I do the same thing. well, slightly different results though. I eat really well during the week and see a few pounds lost then screw it all up on Fri Sat and Sun and gain it all back. Been on that cycle for..oh...a year. And I'm still 30 pounds over my goal weight. It's awesome. Maybe we should start a 'stay on the freakin wagon already' group.

Okay.  I'm still 30 pounds over goal also.  I'm tired of my goal date being like 9 months into the future and then 3months later, my goal date is still 9 months into the future.  I still say I'm better off than when I was losing 15, gaining 20 in 2-3 month periods.  At least it's not this all or nothing life anymore.  When I cracked down last time, I cut my calories AND stepped up exercise.  It would have been better to maintain calories and step up exercise.  Body yo-yo'ed by going on exercise strike and then overeating.  Are we learning?

yeah. I don't know. IS it progress? I mean, yeah, I'm an ex yo-yo dieter too and I'm definitely happy that I"m not drastically cutting calories anymore to lose ten pounds in a week and gain it all back and more. I am happy that I've at least maintained that 15 pound loss. BUT STILL. I'm STILL overweight and I am still working at it. Or so I think. HAVE I learned anything? I do well in the week and ruin it on weekends. I feel like I've definitely just taken yo-yo dieting to a different form. So let's stop that. Stop that! Stop that, I say!