gaining 3lbs overnight weight fluctuation while on low carbs???

123juliaj123

I wonder if anyone can help. I have noticed that my weight fluctuates a LOT as in I got weighed yesterday same time first thing in the morning etc and again today and despite having low carbs yesterday and plenty of exercize and keeping my cals low my scales tell me I am 3lbs heavier than yesterday???

scales seem accurate since my partner is also using them and not having this problem.

This is not the first time this has happened and its very depressing I really dont understand it. Im not premenstral or anything like that and I am at a loss to understand it as I presume I am retaining water but why?

hope someone can help

thunder1982

If I drink alot of water esp mineral water the night before I often weigh in heavier, also if we had dinner later than usual. Lots of things make you weight fluctuate. I am currently trying to break the habit of weighing myself everyday and move to once a week. The problem for me is on my designated weigh in day I weigh myself and not get a great result, then weigh myself the next day and lose 1kg overnight!

Protranser

Are you eating high sodium while doing low carb? That can cause water retention, too

123juliaj123

Thankyou for your reply thunder. I ate at the usual time yesterday or at least within an hour and didnt drink more fluids than usual yesterday night.

I have got so that I dare not just rely on getting weighed once a week because if my weight is up for some reason I am stressed that I have gained when I have stuck with my diet for a whole week til I get weighed again. I would prefer to just weigh weekly and hope to do that soon but atm it seems unreliable and leaves me not really knowing how Im doing

123juliaj123

Protranser wrote: »

Are you eating high sodium while doing low carb? That can cause water retention, too

hmm I have no idea ... runs off to look at diary for yesterday

Alatariel75

I can gain over 5lbs from water retention if I have a high sodium day. There are also other reasons for water retention, and I'd suggest that a 3lb overnight gain is definitely due to that.

123juliaj123

I looked at my diary and the sodium level appears similar to previous days however I do add salt to my food (yes I know it is unhealthy and is something I plan to deal with after I have my weight sorted) so I can not be sure if I did take more salt than usual.

I dont feel its possible to pack on 3lbs in fat overnight logically I just wish I understood the reason for the water retention so I could expect it or freak out a bit less when it appears out of the blue overnight

I think bottom line is I am terrified of regaining the weight and keep thinking it will come back so when I get on the scale and it shows I am up I panic and feel like it is starting

123juliaj123

Alatariel75 wrote: »

I can gain over 5lbs from water retention if I have a high sodium day. There are also other reasons for water retention, and I'd suggest that a 3lb overnight gain is definitely due to that.

5lbs is a lot I think I would faint lol thanks for letting me know its reassuring that its not just me

aspdenbrae

I don't believe the scale day to day. Graph over a few weeks and use the average. Scales are notorious *kitten* lol. Not to be crass but I can lose weight after my morning coffee and newspaper if you get me

Protranser

If you're confident in your weighing/logging then yes, it's unlikely you ate 3500*3 calories ABOVE maintenance to gain 3 lbs of fat.

Definitely watch for salt intake, that's one of those "Gotchas" when watching the scale.

123juliaj123

aspdenbrae wrote: »

I don't believe the scale day to day. Graph over a few weeks and use the average. Scales are notorious *kitten* lol. Not to be crass but I can lose weight after my morning coffee and newspaper if you get me

I do get you and err the coffee and newspaper is not an issue lol but thanks for making me laugh

123juliaj123

Protranser wrote: »

If you're confident in your weighing/logging then yes, it's unlikely you ate 3500*3 calories ABOVE maintenance to gain 3 lbs of fat.

Definitely watch for salt intake, that's one of those "Gotchas" when watching the scale.

thanks I am thinking that it is time to be much more careful about the salt I add to food, I hadnt planned to start that yet but it really is something I should probably deal with now

yarwell

No reason to cut salt unless you have elavated blood pressure, your kidneys keep it in balance and on restricted carbs you tend to lose more sodium in urine.

Weight does fluctuate +/- 2 lbs daily around an average as the body doesn't tightly regulate its water content. There are data smoothing apps and web sites that might make you feel better like trendweight.com and the Libra app.

melonaulait

Try sprinkling herb mix on the foods you would normally eat with added salt? It'll be weird at first but at least you can still keep sprinkling your "salt".

tennisdude2004

Don't weigh yourself daily!! I have fallen into this trap before and it can be frustrating.

Weight easily fluctuates several pounds a day, it's normally just water weight.
Lots of things can affect this. Levels of glycogen in the muscles, excess water retained by your cells - being dehydrated can affect the amount of water you retain.

The main thing to remember is, if your maintaining or in a deficit, that 3lb's won't be additional body fat.

Weigh maybe once a week and focus on your progress from there.

Orphia

123juliaj123 wrote: »

I wonder if anyone can help. I have noticed that my weight fluctuates a LOT as in I got weighed yesterday same time first thing in the morning etc and again today and despite having low carbs yesterday and plenty of exercize and keeping my cals low my scales tell me I am 3lbs heavier than yesterday???

scales seem accurate since my partner is also using them and not having this problem.

This is not the first time this has happened and its very depressing I really dont understand it. Im not premenstral or anything like that and I am at a loss to understand it as I presume I am retaining water but why?

hope someone can help

"Plenty of exercise"? That could be what's causing it. The body retains water to build up glycogen stores after it's been depleted due to heavy exercise.

It's related to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness - where your body hurts more a day or two after intense exercise.

I climbed a 70-storey mountain today, so I'm expecting a big jump in weight tomorrow or Sunday, but it's not going to bother me because I know I've eaten at a deficit and it's just water, and will go back down.

Kind regards.

123juliaj123

Orphia wrote: »

123juliaj123 wrote: »

I wonder if anyone can help. I have noticed that my weight fluctuates a LOT as in I got weighed yesterday same time first thing in the morning etc and again today and despite having low carbs yesterday and plenty of exercize and keeping my cals low my scales tell me I am 3lbs heavier than yesterday???

scales seem accurate since my partner is also using them and not having this problem.

This is not the first time this has happened and its very depressing I really dont understand it. Im not premenstral or anything like that and I am at a loss to understand it as I presume I am retaining water but why?

hope someone can help

"Plenty of exercise"? That could be what's causing it. The body retains water to build up glycogen stores after it's been depleted due to heavy exercise.

It's related to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness - where your body hurts more a day or two after intense exercise.

I climbed a 70-storey mountain today, so I'm expecting a big jump in weight tomorrow or Sunday, but it's not going to bother me because I know I've eaten at a deficit and it's just water, and will go back down.

Kind regards.

Now that is very interesting and I think it could well be a large part of the reason for the sudden gain. I have been doing a lot more exercize than usual and am feeling it in my whole body right now. Thankyou so much I had no idea about this

123juliaj123

Thanks so much everyone, I am beginning to understand quite a lot from all your help here

1)stop weighing daily and try to accept fluctuation is caused by simple water retention which can be a result of heavy exercize, sodium intake, etc
2)If I am at or below maintenance cals I can not gain weight so stop panicking

Im going to write this down and put it near my scales

Yi5hedr3

Gotta poop EVERY day!

daniwilford

I weigh every day, because I like the data, but weight fluctuates. One thing you can do is high/low comparison. So keep all your weights listed for the week, circle the highest, under line the lowest. Repeat the next week. Compare your highest weight the week before to the highest weight this week. Do the same with the lowest. If your highest weight this week is lower than your highest weight last week, and your lowest weight this week is lower than your lowest weight last week, you are moving in the right direction. It helps to keep things in perspective and lets you celebrate each new low, the day it appears.

N200lz

daniwilford wrote: »

I weigh every day, because I like the data, but weight fluctuates.

Same here. I look at the weekly average as my "progress barometer." I track my lowest weight of the week and the average.
After a while he day-to-day fluctuations become an expectation and will no longer concern you.

LivingtheLeanDream

If you weigh every day you have to be prepared for fluctuations which are perfectly natural...from hormones/ sodium / more carbs than usual/ DOMS from a new workout / being constipated.

You either get used to those fluctuations or you stick to weekly/fortnightly weigh ins.
I like regular weigh ins as they help me understand how my body works, each to their own

jeepinshawn

day to day fluctuations happen and it can be very frustrating to gain 3 or 4lbs over night. As hard as it is you have to realize that each pound, if it were fat, was worth about 3500 calories, and most of us don't even eat that in day, so the idea you gained 3 or 4lbs which would be 10,500 calories of fat is crazy. Your body is just reacting to hormones or salt intake or exercise and is retaining water...

2 weeks ago I lost like 3lbs by my way in day, the next day I weighed and was like 4lbs heavier. I was initially upset, but after the first reaction I calmed down and realized it was all water weight, worked hard and stuck to my calorie goals all week and still only lost like .6lbs and my logs showed it should have been 2+lbs, shook it off and the next week I posted a 4lb weight loss, having changed nothing still doing the same calorie goals and still eating the same foods. Frustrating as heck to not see the numbers you want, but ya just got to shake it off and keep on keeping on lol

rankinsect

123juliaj123 wrote: »

Thanks so much everyone, I am beginning to understand quite a lot from all your help here

1)stop weighing daily and try to accept fluctuation is caused by simple water retention which can be a result of heavy exercize, sodium intake, etc
2)If I am at or below maintenance cals I can not gain weight so stop panicking

Im going to write this down and put it near my scales

You can weigh every day if you want, just do so with the mindset that you're looking at long-term trends, not day-to-day fluctuations.

Your water weight is always changing, and it can change far more within a day than your fat loss between days. Salt, electrolytes, glycogen, exercise, stress, hormones, all of them have effects on water balance, and basically the net effect is each day you weigh yourself with a random amount of water. You could easily gain 5-6 pounds within a day of just water, or you could lose that much. They aren't real gains and losses.

What you really care about is the long term trend of your weight. I like logging daily (always first thing in the AM after using the bathroom), but I accept there are days where my weight will jump up or down several pounds. The long term trend - the trend I see for the past weeks and months - is good, so I don't allow myself to be frustrated by daily fluctuations. Of course, the downward fluctuations are more fun than the upward

123juliaj123

I didnt really realise how normal it was to have these big fluctuations, it feels a lot less unnerving now that I can see that so many others here are having them and knowing that it can not be fat due to the amount I am consuming etc.

I am certainly feeling a lot better about it now, thanks so much everyone who has replied Im now content to look at my weight in terms of the longer term trend and I can see that the scale on any given day is actually only showing roughly how its going plus or minus water etc
thanks

Sued0nim

You know you don't have a scale weight but a scale weight range

Does this help...me at maintenance..this is normal

superhockeymom

I was up 2lbs this morning . I eat low carb low calorie and I played hockey for an hour last night. Sometimes your body just wants to hang onto some water I guess. Given my workout I would have expected to be down, but I'm not going to stress. Weigh tomorrow it will probably be gone.

sunandmoons

I don't eat low carb and my body fluctuates as well. Two days in a row I went mountain hiking up rough terrain.. Over 4 hours of intense hard work while enjoying beautiful scenery. I knew that I would fluctuate in weight before climbing.

Today the scale went up 2 pounds. This will drop down and will lose 3 or 4 pounds by Thursday or Friday. My lower body is very sore I'm feeling water retention and knew this would happen. Its the way my body works. So not a big deal to me.

Bshmerlie

I don't understand. You've lost 50 pounds but you have never experienced weight fluctuations such as these? Insteresting.

123juliaj123

Bshmerlie wrote: »

I don't understand. You've lost 50 pounds but you have never experienced weight fluctuations such as these? Insteresting.

I have had fluctuations but not as noticable as 3lbs up in one night when I couldnt find a logical reason and was expecting it to be down not up

Sunny_Bunny_

yarwell wrote: »

No reason to cut salt unless you have elavated blood pressure, your kidneys keep it in balance and on restricted carbs you tend to lose more sodium in urine.

Weight does fluctuate +/- 2 lbs daily around an average as the body doesn't tightly regulate its water content. There are data smoothing apps and web sites that might make you feel better like trendweight.com and the Libra app.

This is good information. I don't know how low carb you are eating but increased salt and low carb kinda go together. Weather or not someone needs to increase salt depends on how low carb they are but decreasing salt is uncommon for low carbers.