"Temporary" Food Weight?

jess1992uga

Hi everyone-
I know I know...meal timing doesn't matter...there is no magic time not to eat past, blah, blah, blah...but HERE is my experience. Due to a hectic schedule (ie 3 jobs and being in grad school) and trying to incorporate 3 days of exercise...my meal timing has gotten...well..horrid. Due to some medications I am on, I can't actually end up eating till around 1 pm (B-fast), then don't eat again till 6/7pm (lunch), dinner is usually around 10/11 pm, then due to some blood sugar reasons have to fit in snacks. Well for the past week or so this has left me eating at 2 AM. I wake up feeling disgusting, but past two days have also woken up ravenous. I was hopeful maybe it wouldn't show on scale...but I was wrong.
Since the 2 AM eating started last week (actually the first day after it happened) my weight spiked 1.4 lbs....and its remained there steadily for the past week (even this morning despite eating slightly earlier last night). I was wondering if "temporary" weight can stick around for a whole week..or if I really gained?
My intake hasn't changed...I have just been trying to "normalize" my eating so been getting the portions designated by a meal plan I am on and been a little more relaxed around using food scale (ie haven't been measuring breads and tearing them to the gram size). So now I am wondering if that is causing actual gain....or if this can still be a "temporary" gain due to eating late and once I get back to eating earlier weight will go back down? It's just a week seems longer than "temporary"

Francl27

Weight loss isn't linear and you will gain water weight frequently. You can't gain fat unless you're eating over your TDEE.

vamaena

I'm going to say it's just temporary. Try giving your body time to adjust to the new eating routine. I switched mine around in the summer and gained a bit but it bounced back within 2-3 weeks (once my body adapted to the new routine)

jess1992uga

It's still here. Giving it till Mon then may be dropping some of my plan. The weird thing is its all in my gut. Noticeably distended. Wonder if this means its food weight? Any ideas to make bloat go away. I look pregnant. Lol. Call it my food baby.

VeryKatie

I think it's the weight of the actual food. It's not fully digested.

asdowe13

Pregnant!

ATT949

If you're eating few calories than you take in you will tend to gain weight. However, just 'cause you've gained weight doesn't mean that you've eaten more calories than you've expended.
In that your eating times changed but your calorie level didn't, I'd guess that your times when you have a bowel movement have changed and that's being recorded in your weight.
My weight fluctuates because of the amount of salad I eat. I eat almost 2 pounds of salad on weekdays but generally not on the weekend. As a result, my weight drops over the weekend since I'm not replacing all of the water + vegetable matter that I get from salad.

hiswaywardgirl

If you're eating approximately the same amount of calories, you should be fine. Are you still checking your weight at the same time as before? Since you threw off your schedule, it may be best to check it closer to when you eat breakfast at 1pm (if you're not already doing that).

Stress can make you gain weight or have digestive issues, as well. Try to de-stress! Seriously. To minimize bloating, you can also avoid sodium and limit yourself to whole foods that your body can easily digest, like fish, chicken, fruits, and veggies. Raw veggies can cause bloating, but cooking them helps.