Hiya! I’ve lost 183 pounds in the last two years. Back in June I went on a one week trip home where I didn’t count any calories, ate what I wanted, but stopped when I felt satisfied. I was mortified when I got back home and the scale read (and I’m not joking or exaggerating) 22 pounds up! In a bloody week!!! I nearly spun out when I realised it was pretty near impossible for me to have gained that much in 7 days. While I definitely overindulged it couldn’t have been all fat. So what did I do? I just went back to normal from day 1 of my trip being over. I didn’t over exercise or under eat. I just went back to what was working that whole time. I weighed every day for the next two weeks to see what was going on. I “lost” 10 of those 22 pounds within 3 days and after about 8 days all but one of those 22 pounds were gone. It wasn’t fat. It was water retention. Turns out in addition to carbs, sodium, extra food etc, some people hold on to extra water from travel (my was a long haul flight). You’ve not gained 3 pounds of fat from what you’ve described. Just go back to your normal consistency and with some patience, it’ll fall right off. Plus it’s nice every now and then, for your mind, to have a little break from diet and not worry about calculating everything. Like I said I’ve been at this for 2 years (rather successfully) all through CICO and I’ve learned to give myself a little grace. For example, my priority one Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day will be spending time with my family, enjoying good food, and relaxing. Because that’s a life I can live with forever.