No room for treats at all.... (gain, sigh...!)

zestyzesty

Does anyone else find that if they have even 1 day of eating unhealthy foods, they have a gain? I have put on 4 lbs in a week. Had a bad day this week eating cakes and a jacket potato loaded with butter and cheese. Also had a few chocolate biscuits during the week. Felt like I'd had an okay day today but haven't had chance to exercise so I'm over on calories. I work antisocial hours so it is sometimes hard to fit in exercise without overdoing it. Went to the gym for an hour before work last week but then was absolutely exhausted and threw my back out. Oh it is such a balancing act....

janejellyroll

Yeah, when people go over their calorie goals it often leads to temporary water retention. Or if they eat foods that are higher in sodium.

callsitlikeiseeit

its highly unlikely you gained a true 4 pounds in a week.

weight loss is not linear. water retention, whether from foods or meals high in sodium, or alcohol, or TOM, can result in water weight gain. Which is more than likely what this is.

If you log and weigh all your food, you would know exactly how much you ate.

diannethegeek

Yes, but it's usually water weight fluctuations from things like increasing carbs or sodium. It's not 4 pounds of fat gain. That's why I only weigh once a week (or even once a month), so the normal fluctuations don't get me down.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10196160/scale-stress-syndrome/p1

zestyzesty

Thanks for the tip. I think it might be water retention, as I have had quite a lot of sodium this week.

shmulyeng

If you gained 4 pounds because of one cheat day, you'll lose most of them within a few days.

Indyzgirl

Yesterday was a bad day for me (Superbowl) I refuse to weight myself for at least a couple days because I know I'll get discouraged .Good luck

AnnPT77

kittymou wrote: »

Thanks for the tip. I think it might be water retention, as I have had quite a lot of sodium this week.

There are a bundle of other things that may cause water weight, too, for some people: Time of month, for women (ovulation & menstruation are some points where some see water gain); starting a new workout or other activity that requires muscle repair; eating at/over maintenance calories when you've been in a calorie deficit for a while; eating a higher than usual proportion of carbs when you've been mostly lower; or (as you mention) sodium. I believe I've experienced all of these at one time or another (except time of month - I'm menopausal).

If you haven't eaten 14000 calories above your maintenance calorie level (roughly 3500 calories in a pound X 4 pounds added on the scale) during this time period, it's very unlikely that you have a real gain of 4 fat pounds.

Keep in mind, too, that the weight of food/drink still in your digestive system will show up on the scale, as well, so this could be a factor if you weighed at a different time of day; or after eating/drinking unusually late in the previous day; or after eating higher-than-normal residue foods (like extra high in fiber, for example).

melonaulait

I have noticed that the scale throws crazy high numbers at me for about 28 days of the month, then on about 1-3 days I can see how much I actually lost in that time. The weight trend is always downwards in the end, even if a lot of days it looks like I have "gained" again from the smallest number I last saw...

ARGriffy

It's quite simple. When you first start your (let's not use the diet word..) healthy plan you drop water weight which is water and glucose from muscle and tissue cells yes? When you eat at maintaince, they fill back up again with the water and glucose again hence it seems if you eat over you gain. That's why to stay at target, you need to actually get to about 3-5 lbs under it to sit at it when your water returns! This knowledge stopped me from going psycho and made me understand my fluctuations properly, believe me you can eat some treats time to time!

CeeBeeSlim

I'm confused a bit. So will your SCALE weight ever show true loss if you decide to never go over your daily calorie goal for weight loss but you don't want to give up your nightly chips fix? Will the sodium in those less healthy foods always hide what you may be truly losing in fat (not weight) loss?

kshama2001

kittymou wrote: »

Does anyone else find that if they have even 1 day of eating unhealthy foods, they have a gain? I have put on 4 lbs in a week. Had a bad day this week eating cakes and a jacket potato loaded with butter and cheese. Also had a few chocolate biscuits during the week. Felt like I'd had an okay day today but haven't had chance to exercise so I'm over on calories. I work antisocial hours so it is sometimes hard to fit in exercise without overdoing it. Went to the gym for an hour before work last week but then was absolutely exhausted and threw my back out. Oh it is such a balancing act....

Where are you in your menstrual cycle? I gain water weight at ovulation and right before my TOM.

Francl27

If you eat at a deficit or at maintenance, you will NOT gain fat. It doesn't matter what you eat.

So log it and be as accurate as possible. If you're still under maintenance, it's impossible that you gained any fat. Treats don't make you fat. Eating too much of anything does.

AnnPT77

CeeBeeSlim wrote: »

I'm confused a bit. So will your SCALE weight ever show true loss if you decide to never go over your daily calorie goal for weight loss but you don't want to give up your nightly chips fix? Will the sodium in those less healthy foods always hide what you may be truly losing in fat (not weight) loss?

Yes, it will eventually show loss.

Say you gain a pound or two of water weight. If you eat more chips, you're not going to gain an additional pound or two of water weight, then some more on top of that the next day if you have more chips, ad infinitum.

If you eat some normal (for you) amount of salt, you're going to hold on to some normal (for you) amount of water weight. Even if you keep hanging onto it, but you also stay within a calorie deficit, you'll eventually lose more fat than the water weight you're holding onto.

But water weight doesn't keep growing, and it doesn't normally persist and persist. You may add a little when you eat more-than-usual salt (or at time of month or whatever), then when the unusual conditions pass, the water weight will drop off, too. So you get ups & downs from water weight that kind of temporarily mask the gradual, uneven downward scale movement coming from fat loss (assuming you stick to your deficit).

And don't stop drinking water to avoid it. That won't work. If anything, drink a little more water.

CeeBeeSlim

Thanks for the comprehensive answer, Ann. I can step off the ledge now!

zestyzesty

Thanks for all the answers, much appreciated. I am less worried now. I think I was deydrated and also having too much salt, as the last couple of days I drank a lot more water and now starting to feel better. I work mainly nights which does play havoc with the body clock and the body in general. Also working nights I sometimes do find it hard to eat, so I suppose when I do have some appetite I maybe overcompensate. I think I just need more balance generally. As for time of the month, I am not sure as I'm slightly irregular but that could be a factor. I suppose when you have been a lot bigger, you fear any gain means you will soon be back to the start.....I have been doing some light weights and cycling at the gym so maybe it is muscle gain anyway.... I will get back into balance anyway, with plenty of water and nutricious foods and hopefully soon be back on track! Thanks again.

Shrinking_Erin

I've been steadily losing... then yesterday I had bread at all 3 of my main meals.. something i don't usually do. And this morning I was up by just over half a pound. I'm pretty sure it's the extra bread.. or just life... who knows.

Good luck!

Springfield1970

log calories then no need for worry!

zestyzesty

eringurl33, yes I have found similar! The only time I haven't is if I have done lots of walking (like 8 miles+) then it seems I can eat all the bread I like. If only had the time or energy! Thanks and good luck to you too! :-)

Springfield1970 yes I will try to! Logical! :-D