Bloating or overnight weight gain?

proudseal

I've noticed this several times. After a good session of exercise, the next day sometimes my waistline expands an inch. I didn't eat extra to compensate, in fact, I ate less than usual. FYI I typically eat very little salt, and I don't add salt to my food. Possibly I didn't get enough sleep, but I'm not sure that would cause this.

I'm wondering if the waist expanding is my body retaining water or something? Or perhaps my abs are tired from the exercise (although I didn't work my abs much, mainly did cardio)? Does anybody else notice this?

Another thing I notice sometimes is my waist will expand and/or weight will increase the next day after I eat LESS than usual. Could this just be the types of foods I am eating? In this case my dinner was a moderate portion of rice pasta with red sauce, eggplant, kale, a little bit of mozzarella. I did not feel bloated or overfull afterwards, although I did feel tired (maybe just because it was the end of a long day).

I have also noticed the inverse. Back in the days when I used to binge on ice cream, sometimes I'd actually weigh less and have a slimmer waist the next day. I always figured it was because I did it in the late afternoon, and skipped dinner (since I was still too full to eat).

janejellyroll

Yes, it probably is water retention.

lorrpb

They say your muscles retain water after a hard workout to help in healing. Plus all the things you mention. The body does weird things so you want to track the long term trends of 1-4 weeks in both weight and inches. Don't worry about day to day fluctuations because they mean nothing.
SW 301
CW 187
GW 150

proudseal

lorrpb wrote: »

They say your muscles retain water after a hard workout to help in healing.

Hadn't heard that before, but thanks, that makes sense.

Liftng4Lis

Sounds like water retention.

OldAssDude

Stay hydrated, and make sure you're getting enough fiber.

jass553

Me too and don't know why?

Whitezombiegirl

Its water retention for sure. I get a half pound gain which takes 1-2 days to dissipate. Dont worry about it or change what you are doing. :-)

proudseal

Thanks everyone for your replies! I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

Amberonamission

Carbs give me some bloating at my waist, no matter the quantity. It resolves a few hours later.

SergeantSausage

Obsessive much?

An inch here or there, now and then ...

You'll be up and down, in and out, larger and smaller every day. If you ate the same thing at the same time, exercised exactly the same, slept the same ... it doesn't matter. It will ALL fluctuate ALL the time.

Don't sweat it.

Certainly don't obsess over it.

cafeaulait7

I understand the inch being confusing. I thought my waist measurement would only be affected by actual fat gain or loss, so it was a good way of telling that. Mine fluctuates by an inch for no reason, though Maybe measurement error comes into play, I figure. It's hard to inhale or not exactly the same way, etc.

Thighs are probably better for consistency if you are losing weight or at normal maintenance (I'm trying to add muscle, so thighs aren't good for me to know that it's fat I've gained). Bellies can be awful for women, imho. My water weight is very often bloating from hormones, so my lower abdomen can fluctuate a lot!

proudseal

cafeaulait7 wrote: »

I understand the inch being confusing. I thought my waist measurement would only be affected by actual fat gain or loss, so it was a good way of telling that. Mine fluctuates by an inch for no reason, though

Bellies can be awful for women, imho. My water weight is very often bloating from hormones, so my lower abdomen can fluctuate a lot!

Oh good. I thought it was just me lol.