My first gain - so what did I do wrong

caddir

I'm devastated.

I went for a (planned) meal on Saturday and I know I didn't stick to my diet, but I did try to estimate honestly what I ate, I didn't have breakfast beforehand and ate very lightly that evening, but I thought I had been very generous with my estimates. (There are no nutritional values for the independent breakfast bar I went to)

I was at the hospital on Wednesday and ate a chicken curry but it seemed to have very little fat and again I thought I had estimated on the top side.

Apparently, to gain a pound I would have to eat 3500 extra calories. To have underestimated by 7000 calories is ludicrous - I don't understand. I thought that today Honestly, I didn't think for a minute that I wouldn't lose that quarter pound that I need to break my stone barrier: to find a gain, let alone so much, is more than disheartening.

I know that I have not drunk as much water - my work this week has been very stressful and I don't always have easy access to a kitchen. I weigh everything when at home (even fruit, etc) but obviously not when I am out.

I did about as much exercise as I usually do. I'm 55 and don't have a hormonal cycle as such, though I have noticed some fluctuations in the past.

Any idea, advice etc.

Ninkyou

Sodium. You're retaining water. It's temporary. Have patience.

Liftng4Lis

Ninkyou wrote: »

Sodium. You're retaining water. It's temporary. Have patience.

This^, it's normal daily fluctuations.

Laurend224

It could be water from increased sodium from your meals out. Weight loss is not linear, you weight is going to bounce around a bit. It's normal.

sijomial

Weight isn't just fat! You could drink a pint of water and immediately gain a pound of weight.

I'm almost 55 and don't have a hormonal cycle either (obviously!!) but can fluctuate by 3.5lbs in a day.

Advice:
1/ If you want to understand about normal daily fluctuations weigh yourself daily for a while.
2/ Relax!

wolfruhn

My weight regularly fluctuates up and down by 2-3 pounds (1kg). It's due to water. So now I weigh in over longer periods, as it's the long term trend that is more accurate. Good luck and stay with it

jstout365

Weight can fluctuate up or down 5 lbs in a single day depending on how much water retention you have. Sodium can be a killer on water retention and when you eat out, you just kind of have to assume that you are getting a sodium bomb wrapped in a tasty meal. Curry is often high in sodium. Just go to any restaurant website that has nutritional values listed and see how many dishes have 2000+ mg of sodium.

Long story short, you are most likely retaining water. You did not eat an extra 7k calories in one meal. Drink your water, avoid high sodium foods for a while, and check your weight in a few days.

rybo

You worry too much

misschoppo

Normal fluctuations as already suggested . Don't panic.

jporter1183

Whenever I have an indian curry, I always retain water and see a gain on the scale due to the sodium. Don't worry about it. There will be weeks where you will gain and weeks where you will lose. As long as the overall trend is downward, don't stress yourself out.

kellicci

Yep eating out always makes me gain water weight, it's the salt for sure. Watch your sodium for a couple days and you'll see it disappear soon enough.

My quick fix is a nice hot bath with epsum salts. I feel like it helps to get some of that extra fluid out of my tissues and balance out the sodium levels because of the minerals in the bath salts.

Roxiegirl2008

Don't worry! I always see an increase after I have eaten out. It is water and will be gone shortly.

caddir

Thank you all very much. I will take your advice.

sjaplo

As others have said - weight loss is not linear, esprcially around xmas

williamwj2014

Don't stress, enjoy life even if it involves going out to eat once a month Like others have said, could be sodium or water weight and will come right off once you get back into the groove of things.

ElsaVonMarmalade

You can prevent this by being a robot instead of a human.

Biology is beautiful and messy Take heart as we are all in the same messy boat with you.

caddir

So don't be a Sheldon, eh? Ah, thank you for restoring my faith. I'm on it!

mom2ava07

Please don't let this get you down. My weight regularly will fluctuate up a pound to a pound and a half and then the next day I will usually be down a couple pounds. For me, it seems to happen on the days I haven't had a bowel movement. tmi I know but for me that seems to cause the fluctuations. It will come back off soon I'm sure.

segacs

Most people don't have a weight but a weight range. For most of us it's somewhere around 3-5 pounds, which can fluctuate up and down within the same day or even hour. It's normal. We're eating food and drinking liquids, which add weight temporarily, and our body digests and processes these and eliminates waste. We can retain water, have excess sodium, have hormonal fluctuations... you name it.

Log and track with an eye towards long-term trends, not short term data points. If it helps, download and use an app like Libra (Android) or Trendweight (iOS), which will smooth out some of those fluctuations and give you a better idea of how your weight is trending over time.

And relax. You didn't gain 2 pounds overnight.

caddir

I took your advice and weighed myself and today's weight is 2.1lb down. That rate proves what you all said

segacs

caddir wrote: »

I took your advice and weighed myself and today's weight is 2.1lb down. That rate proves what you all said

Woohoo!

williams969

caddir wrote: »

I took your advice and weighed myself and today's weight is 2.1lb down. That rate proves what you all said

Way to go! Yep, "roll with the changes" when you eat some delicious takeaway, even if you're still within calorie goal (it's almost ALWAYS sodium laden). Happens to every single one of us. You've got this!

Cortelli

caddir wrote: »

I took your advice and weighed myself and today's weight is 2.1lb down. That rate proves what you all said

Yay! Hopefully this lesson sticks and you can let those crazy scale weight fluctuations roll off your back in the future - they happen all the time, and often for reasons we can't really make sense of. Glad it bounced back so quickly for you (it doesn't always - but again that's why it's so helpful to break away from the slavery to scale weight).

aaliceinw

Great post and very useful information. It makes sense why I bloat Ed so much after eating out today,

jporter1183

caddir wrote: »

I took your advice and weighed myself and today's weight is 2.1lb down. That rate proves what you all said

That's awesome! See, no need to worry just keep that in mind for whenever you eat something like that which is high in sodium.

lisaw19855

I had a curry on Thursday, it was within my calories but had a lot of sodium in it. Yesterday I weighed in and was at my lowest so far but knew that today I'd be up as I worked out yesterday too, and I was indeed up almost a lb.