Can't figure out why a certain meal causes short-term weight gain
mburgess458
Posts: 480 Member
I know that answer must be water retention, but I can't figure out why a meal that I have every week or so always results in a 2-2.5 lb weight gain (for a few days). It doesn't seem to be high in salt/sodium. Here are the ingredients:
wegmans pork sausage (plain breakfast sausage, not at all spicy)
canned tomatoes (no salt added)
small jar of tomato sauce (entire jar has 650 mg sodium and this makes 4 meals so only 162.5 mg sodium per meal)
onion
olive oil
cannellini beans (no salt added)
1-1.5 serving of gluten free pasta (depending on my appetite, corn and rice flour, box says 0 mg sodium)
fresh basil
fennel seeds
paprika
a LOT of broccoli (I eat broccoli at other times so I don't think it's the problem, but this is more than I usually eat at one time so maybe?)
So it isn't a carb heavy meal. Shouldn't have tons of sodium either. Any thoughts on why it causes a short-term weight gain?
(Please note - I am NOT freaking out over it. The weight quickly goes away, I'm not worried about it in the least. It doesn't bother me, I'm not thinking about cutting this meal out of the rotation. Just curious if anyone has any theories on why it's happening or if you have any similar experiences.)
wegmans pork sausage (plain breakfast sausage, not at all spicy)
canned tomatoes (no salt added)
small jar of tomato sauce (entire jar has 650 mg sodium and this makes 4 meals so only 162.5 mg sodium per meal)
onion
olive oil
cannellini beans (no salt added)
1-1.5 serving of gluten free pasta (depending on my appetite, corn and rice flour, box says 0 mg sodium)
fresh basil
fennel seeds
paprika
a LOT of broccoli (I eat broccoli at other times so I don't think it's the problem, but this is more than I usually eat at one time so maybe?)
So it isn't a carb heavy meal. Shouldn't have tons of sodium either. Any thoughts on why it causes a short-term weight gain?
(Please note - I am NOT freaking out over it. The weight quickly goes away, I'm not worried about it in the least. It doesn't bother me, I'm not thinking about cutting this meal out of the rotation. Just curious if anyone has any theories on why it's happening or if you have any similar experiences.)
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Replies
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Maybe the sausage?! I know a lot of sausage--even the plain has quite a bit of salt/seasoning in it?0
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tons of sodium in sausage, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and cannellini beans. Even if it says "low sodium", those are packed with it. I'm not making judgments on any health issues related to sodium, just saying that as it relates to your question, that's the answer. If you aren't already, you can track sodium in your diary. I track it just so I can stay on top of why fluctuations are happening. Good news is that it will fix itself in a few days.
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The sausage has sodium about 400g...
there are higher sodium in canned tomatoes than regular tomatoes...
tomato sauce has sodium....
onion has sodium....
olive oil has sodium...
cannellini beans have sodium....even if salt isn't added...
paprika has sodium....
fennel seeds have sodium...
1/2 cup broccoli has about 20 mg sodium...
So it's not high, but high enough for water retention to kick in. It isn't high enough so it disappears quickly.
Try eating about 2500 mg to 3000 mg sodium...
I gained 2.5 kgs the next day..
This was probably food and water weight together.0 -
It's the sodium.
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Please provide the complete ingredients of the tomatoes.
The no salt added is your clue. Often times when you see a " no something added ". You can be sure they just used some other form
Of that ingredient and often times more of it to replace the the ingredient they didn't add.
Deli meats are a good example
"No nitrates " Added but then they just add celery salt to make sodium nitrite.0 -
When you log the meal, how many mg of sodium does it have?
What is your daily average sodium intake? How much more weight do you have to lose?
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I eat broccoli regularly but if I eat a whole load of it at once rather than a cup's worth, it tends to make me feel horribly full.0
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I would also look closely at whats in the tomato sauce. If your living gluten free then there might be enough in the sauce to cause an inflammatory reaction (combined with sodium).0
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Them brocc gainzscottacular wrote: »I eat broccoli regularly but if I eat a whole load of it at once rather than a cup's worth, it tends to make me feel horribly full.
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Please provide the complete ingredients of the tomatoes.
The no salt added is your clue. Often times when you see a " no something added ". You can be sure they just used some other form
Of that ingredient and often times more of it to replace the the ingredient they didn't add.
Deli meats are a good example
"No nitrates " Added but then they just add celery salt to make sodium nitrite.
Pomi chopped tomatoes - 5 mg sodium per serving. That's not it.
Cannelli beans - 100 mg per serving. I eat 1.5 servings with this meal. That's not it.
Tomato sauce - ingredients are tomatoes, olive oil, basil, carrots, onion, sugar, salt (already mentioned only 162.5 mg sodium in the amount I eat per meal)
Olive oil - no sodium (as in 0, not "some" like one poster said)
Pasta - no sodium (as in 0)
MFP says it's 1,100 mg sodium for the meal (almost 500 mg from the sausage, I hadn't realized it was that high). I still wouldn't really call it a high sodium meal.
Someone mentioned possible gluten in the sauce. Nope. And wouldn't be a problem, I only eat the gluten free pasta because my wife has issues with wheat.
For the full day my sodium was 2,700 which is a little high for me (usually 2,000 - 2,300). Is that difference enough to cause 2.5 lbs of water retention? It really is just this meal that seems to cause me to have high weigh-ins for a few days.0 -
If you know it happens and you aren't freaking out over it, why the worry? Just know it's gonna happen and choose not to weigh for a few days after you eat it...
I would assume it's the sodium and amp up your hydration to flush that excess sodium out faster.0 -
My actual meal has less sodium than that. I just noticed that I used a more generic "canned tomatoes" entry that has the right calories but 195 mg of sodium versus the 5 mg in what I actually ate. So the meal was more like 910 mg sodium and the full day was more like 2,500.
Maybe it is the broccoli. It doesn't make me feel bloated or anything though.0 -
MarciRenee74 wrote: »If you know it happens and you aren't freaking out over it, why the worry? Just know it's gonna happen and choose not to weigh for a few days after you eat it...
I would assume it's the sodium and amp up your hydration to flush that excess sodium out faster.
Like I said, I was curious if anyone else had similar experiences. Ideas on what is going on for me, and/or if they have a meal do something like that for them when it doesn't seem to be high sodium. (the last part so that if I find another meal that does it for me I might more quickly figure it out....took me several weeks to realize it was this meal that does it for me)0 -
For me it would be the carbs...that's a guarantee of about 5 pounds of water weight...0
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Sodium in the sausage, plus carbs make me retain.0
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Meat + tomato sauce + pasta makes me retain huge amounts of water and upsets my stomach. I can eat each ingredient one at a time in separate meals and be fine but combine them all and I'm a mess. Even low salt sauce and ground turkey (not salty sausage). So now I'll just have plain sauce with pasta, no meat and eat more protein at another meal.0
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How often do you eat gluten-free carbs? I have issues with some of the grains they use where I end up bloated for several days (and the kind of gassy that drives the dog from the room), and definitely hold on to a few extra pounds until it passes.0
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What about this meal is different from your usual diet? Is this the only meal you eat gluten-free pasta with?
Check the ingredients on the gluten free pasta, sometimes there's some crazy stuff in "gluten-free" foods.0 -
holothuroidea wrote: »What about this meal is different from your usual diet? Is this the only meal you eat gluten-free pasta with?
Check the ingredients on the gluten free pasta, sometimes there's some crazy stuff in "gluten-free" foods.
This is pretty much the only time I eat the gluten free pasta. Made by Barilla, only ingredients are rice flour, corn flour, and mono and diglycerides (whatever those are).
I do have gluten free pizza once a week and that doesn't do it. Not sure exactly what is in it because it's from a restaurant. I would think that would be higher in sodium than this meal (because it's from a restaurant and because of their sauce and cheese).
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Fennel is a diuretic, Fyi0
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You know what the calorie count is on the recipe and you are entering that accurately, as well as measuring your portions?0
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Between the amount of tomatoes, the beans and the supersized pasta serving, that really is a pretty significant number of carbs.
How many servings of food are you getting out of this? It's not clear to me if this is feeding one person or four.0 -
You know what the calorie count is on the recipe and you are entering that accurately, as well as measuring your portions?
Yes, but even if I weren't there is no way that it would cause 2.5 lbs of weight gain....and if it did that gain wouldn't go away in a few days if it was from high calories.0 -
azulvioleta6 wrote: »Between the amount of tomatoes, the beans and the supersized pasta serving, that really is a pretty significant number of carbs.
How many servings of food are you getting out of this? It's not clear to me if this is feeding one person or four.
I don't know what you're talking about. I have said the amounts per serving multiple times. I have said the entire thing is 4 servings but I haven't said exactly how much of each ingredient. I have said 1-1.5 servings of pasta per meal/serving (where 1 serving is 56 grams), how is that "supersized"? 1 serving of pasta.0 -
mburgess458 wrote: »You know what the calorie count is on the recipe and you are entering that accurately, as well as measuring your portions?
Yes, but even if I weren't there is no way that it would cause 2.5 lbs of weight gain....and if it did that gain wouldn't go away in a few days if it was from high calories.
I would chalk it up to the combination of water retained due to sodium & carbs, and the time it takes for that fair amount of bulk to move through your system, (which can be up to 48 hours).
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mburgess458 wrote: »You know what the calorie count is on the recipe and you are entering that accurately, as well as measuring your portions?
Yes, but even if I weren't there is no way that it would cause 2.5 lbs of weight gain....and if it did that gain wouldn't go away in a few days if it was from high calories.
I would chalk it up to the combination of water retained due to sodium & carbs, and the time it takes for that fair amount of bulk to move through your system, (which can be up to 48 hours).
I can buy that. I also think I might be more sensitive to increased sodium than some people... not because I'm a "special snowflake", just because it's pretty rare that my sodium is above 2,300 mg in a day. Maybe the combination of carbs, a bit more sodium than usual, and the bulk of a literal crap-load of broccoli is the whole answer.0 -
sausage has a lot of salt
just saying....0 -
Sodium.
Your meal is making my stomach hurt just thinking about it! I also have issues with tomatoes and broccoli causing bloat and stomach pain. I eat them in moderation. That's probably just me so I would say sodium is your likely issue.0 -
mburgess458 wrote: »azulvioleta6 wrote: »Between the amount of tomatoes, the beans and the supersized pasta serving, that really is a pretty significant number of carbs.
How many servings of food are you getting out of this? It's not clear to me if this is feeding one person or four.
I don't know what you're talking about. I have said the amounts per serving multiple times. I have said the entire thing is 4 servings but I haven't said exactly how much of each ingredient. I have said 1-1.5 servings of pasta per meal/serving (where 1 serving is 56 grams), how is that "supersized"? 1 serving of pasta.
MEAL and SERVING are really different...
Your recipe seems to be mixing up things that are several servings with things that are individual.
Either way, it seems like a LOT of food. I don't understand why you didn't just share the calories and macros for the meal, per individual. Otherwise we are doing a lot of guessing.
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