How have i put on 4 lbs???

andrexpuppy

My usual weigh day is Friday (and yes I know I should not have weighed my myself today) but I did weight myself this morning and I've put on 4 lbs!!! What in earth????? I've been to the gym every day, done a mix of Cardio and weights and went to a kettlercisr class tues evening. Mother's Day I probably had 2000 cals rather than 1200. I have around 5 stone to lose and have lost 20lbs since mid jan. I am shocked and disheartened :-(

DemoraFairy

Don't worry, the 4lbs is water weight, not fat. Weight fluctuates, for some people by up to 5lbs a day. It'll be gone in a few days. I weigh everyday so that I know exactly where I am with fluctuations, if you weigh once a week and weigh on a day that you're fluctuating, you won't know that you were 4lbs lighter the day before and the day after.

callsitlikeiseeit

Weight fluctuations are normal and without an open diary, it's hard to give much more advice than that...

do you weigh all your food on a scale?

999tigger

You can fluctuate 1-4lbs a day naturally or it could just be fluid retention. Did you eat 14,000 calories over your target? Of not then its going to be a combination of the above.

Get used to it and dont waste any energy being shocked or disheartened.
Uoi might also want to start using other measures of progress, such as a tapemeasure or performance records at the gym.

andrexpuppy

I weigh a lot if things yes. I don't drink as much water as I did so am hoping this may help if I start increasing that a bit.
Should I be weighing every day then?

callsitlikeiseeit

you need to weigh all your food all the time. if you are not, you are likely eating more than you think you are.

weigh yourself once a week. weight fluctuates. its normal.

noobletmcnugget

Have you eaten an excess of 14,000 calories this week? No. So don't worry, it's definitely just water weight.

paulaviki

Don't worry if you are eating right and exercising you haven't gained 4lb of fat.

I weighed 187.8 sunday, 192.4 Monday and today I'm 188.4. Your weight can fluctuate day to day by several pounds due to water retention and hormonal changes. If overall the trend is downwards you are losing.

DemoraFairy

andrexpuppy wrote: »

I weigh a lot if things yes. I don't drink as much water as I did so am hoping this may help if I start increasing that a bit.
Should I be weighing every day then?

Drinking more water will help, but won't reduce fluctuations entirely.

You can weigh every day if you want, for some people that's how they deal with it, others prefer to weigh less often. I'll never understand weighing less often myself, but some hate weighing every day. Weighing every day can teach you that fluctuations happen and you can learn to ignore them, but for some people they still find it too stressful. Try both and find out what's best for you.

999tigger

You weigh at the freqyency that suits you and your personality. There is no right and wrong and both have pros and cons.

andrexpuppy

Thanks I've started to measure yesterday too. I had 2000 calories total on Mother's Day whereas I usually stick to 1200. Shouldn't have caused a weight gain anyway. Didn't realise you can fluctuate that much. I need to try to not focus on weighing myself as have been doing it for years.

nxiety

Like many others have said, fluctuations happen. Knowing they happen doesn't stop it from sucking when you see it on the scale either, just have to force yourself to understand there's no realistic way you ate that many calories and that it's just water weight.

andrexpuppy

DemoraFairy wrote: »

andrexpuppy wrote: »

I weigh a lot if things yes. I don't drink as much water as I did so am hoping this may help if I start increasing that a bit.
Should I be weighing every day then?

Drinking more water will help, but won't reduce fluctuations entirely.

You can weigh every day if you want, for some people that's how they deal with it, others prefer to weigh less often. I'll never understand weighing less often myself, but some hate weighing every day. Weighing every day can teach you that fluctuations happen and you can learn to ignore them, but for some people they still find it too stressful. Try both and find out what's best for you.

Thanks think I will try daily and see if it suits me

Boogage

You've been working your muscles so they're holding onto water for repairs. It'll settle.

sarahlawrencemallender

I put weight on when I started going to the gym, fat turns to muscle and muscle weighs more than fat so I'm not worrying about my weight. Am getting toned and feel healthier!

gouldyftw

Daily weight fluctuations are normal... I've attached a screenshot from Withings Health Mate which I am currently using to track my weight. Each of the blue dots is an actual daily measurement with the thin line connecting them, and you can see the fluctuations in these measurements.

The thick blue line is the trend of my weight over time accounting for fluctuations. You can see that I've lost a fair amount over the last few days, but the 'trend line' is not falling as steeply as the actual measurements to account for potential fluctuations.

You can also see that the trend line also never reaches my highest weight measurement. There is a bit of a gap before that as I went skiing (burns 2,000-3,000 calories a day!) and couldn't weigh myself everyday. Judging from the way the weight has fallen off since coming home, I was carrying a lot of water weight and probably happened to come home on an upwards fluctuation!

neogramps

Try and weigh yourself consistently - I weigh myself in the mornings, after I've been to the bathroom and before any food or water.

Even doing this, my weight can go up and down 1-4lbs depending on what I did the day before (salty foods make me retain more water). If I weight myself later in the day I can be up to 7lbs heavier than the morning.

In addition to weighing yourself; take regular photos straight on and side on; the photos are a lot better indication of your success than a number on a scale.

brianpperkins

sarahlawrencemallender wrote: »

I put weight on when I started going to the gym, fat turns to muscle and muscle weighs more than fat so I'm not worrying about my weight. Am getting toned and feel healthier!

Fat does not turn into muscle and appreciable muscle mass is not built while eating at a deficit.

Liftng4Lis

Normal fluctuations.