How much weight can you gain in a week?

smnovosad1

I am 5'5", 125 lbs -- pretty happy with that. In 1 month we are going on a cruise, and I want to relax a bit. I just lost 8 lbs and have to eat 1240/day to keep losing 1 lb/week, so I guess 1740 would be maintenance.

If I just eat whatever I want on the cruise, what will likely happen? Any suggestions? I don't want to gain a ton of weight, but 2 lbs or so would be ok.

jaga13

Don't be surprised if the scale shows a larger increase --a lot of water retention after sodium rich food and alcohol. After a few days I would expect the scale to come
Back down. I really doubt you'll eat enough to gain more than a pound.

arditarose

Well, have you ever tracked a day or two when you eat whatever you want? When I eat whatever I want it's usually 2500 calories at least. My maintenance is only 1800, so I would gain a couple pounds for sure.

shadow2soul

You will probably see a larger gain then 2 lbs. However, most of the gain will most likely be water weight from the increased sodium and possibly even food weight from the increased amount of food in your digestive track. It should come back off within a couple days to a week (time it takes to get water weight off varies person to person).

Have fun and don't worry about it too much. Just plan to get back on track as soon as you get back.

tkphotogirl

It depends what 'whatever you want' consists of. I know what I *could* be like with unlimited free 24 hour buffet food if I allowed myself totally free reign The last cruise I was on had an unlimited cocktail package and fresh thin-crust Italian pizza available from midnight to 6am in addition to the daytime food spreads; I could easily have racked up an extra 3-4000 calories a day (and may well have done had I a) not been aware of how many calories there are in that stuff and b) not spent so much time walking the length of the ship to get to various events). Just brace yourself for how much food will be available! You know yourself best - keep your eye on your goal but remember to have fun

SMKing75

Here's what we do while on a cruise or any vacation really, we walk everywhere. On the ship we never take the elevators. We only take the stairs. We walk around the ship while at sea. On a land trip, we walk to town (if one is near), we walk the property, we take the stairs. We travel a lot and while my husband gains at least 5-7 lbs each time (more from drinking), I only gain 2 at most and then they are gone in 3-4 days. Have a nice trip!

yirara

Also keep in mind, if you're having a longer trip to the boat, especially by plane you will most likely hold onto more fluids as well. For me it usually takes about a week until I get rid of the post-plane water weight. TOM water weight (hardly ever stop taking the pill) only lasts for about 2-3 days

emmycantbemeeko

This is really variable- are you someone who historically has had a tendency towards blowout treat meals? Gone back for seconds at dessert? Eaten pizza and burgers and stirfry off the buffet? It's certainly *possible* to eat 3500 extra calories or more in a day given unlimited food and zero self-control. But you don't have to. You can think of the unlimited food as a great reason to thoughtfully pick the thing you like best- no pressure to finish a dish that sounded great but was a disappointment, no reason to pick something unhealthy because it's cheap.

I went on a 5 day cruise about a month ago. I couldn't weight/track (no scale or internet) and I let go of the idea of losing over that week, but I did not want to let go entirely and lose all the progress I've made. I did, however, want to enjoy myself.

So I focused on the food I knew I would really enjoy- the formal dining room meals that include beautiful presentations and dishes we rarely eat at home. For dinner, I had whatever sounded best. Those portions are actually very reasonably sized, and I usually ended up enjoying dinner without feeling overstuffed or regretful about eating something unhealthy and disappointing afterward.

For breakfast and lunch, I had light options. A buffet is a great opportunity to make some healthy choices, and if you're honest with yourself, the buffet food is rarely of a quality that makes it super-exciting, so a second plate is a waste of calories.

So for a typical day, I would have fruit and eggs for breakfast, a salad and half a sandwich for lunch, and then whatever decadent option on the dinner menu sounded good, including dessert.

I also skipped the unlimited alcohol package. Other than buying a glass of champagne one night, I didn't drink, which saved a lot of calories. I think many people overindulge to feel like they're getting their money's worth out of the "unlimited" food and drink, and it really doesn't help you- the money is spent, is there any reason to pack on extra weight or drink yourself in to a stupor to justify it?

I was also VERY active- we went swimming and snorkeling every day, hiked all over the hilly port towns we visited, and took the stairs everywhere. Fifty plus flights of stairs a day per my fitbit gave me some wiggle room.

By the time I got home, I was up 2.9 pounds on the scale, but likely most of that was water weight, as within a week I was back to my pre-cruise weight, and I'm not eating at the kind of deficit that would burn that much fat.

Have fun, just make thoughtful choices!

Jruzer

According to my 4+ years of data, the most weight I ever gained over a 7-day period was 9.6 pounds. However, a lot of that was probably food weight + glycogen + water retention. That was an Easter week after I had fasted aggressively during Lent and then ate myself sick.

I also track a moving average of my weight. The most that has ever gone up in a week was 4.0 pounds, for the same week I discussed above.

Your mileage may vary, but you can gain at least this much in a week, Choose wisely.

kommodevaran

Enjoy the cruise, just don't go overboard

Domicinator

I was super careful about what I ate at Disney World (didn't log) and still gained 4 or 5 lbs. Going by how fast it came off, it was probably a lot of water weight, but still. If you too nuts, expect a big difference when you get home. A week vacation in Florida set me back about a month and a half. But I had a great time so I didn't care.

Shells918

I was at an all inclusive resort and somewhat mindful, walked a lot and exercised a few times and gained 3.5 pounds in 7 days. It took me 3 weeks to lose them. I don't cruise but I know my mom, a life long weight watcher, has gained over 6 pounds on a cruise.

KateTii

I went on a 2-week cruise last year and this was my weight log... I ate and drank EVERYTHING. For example, dinner was two entrees, a main, two deserts followed by cocktails then midnight pizza.

I didn't do any big attempt to offset the calories with exercise, but I do take the stairs instead of the elevators (which is only due to an elevator phobia and not an attempt to get some extra exercise)

The first day after the cruise was a little confronting, but in reality as long as once the cruise is over you "get back on the horse" no matter what "damage" you do, you can defeat it.

[Note, this is in reverse order (read bottom to top) and in KGs]

kettiecat

I just got back from a cruise, weighed 153.4 when I left, 155 the day I got home and two days after that I weighed 153.

And I ate everything with 0 regard for calories. Triple dessert, pizza, buttery rolls, large cuts of red meat, alcohol every night, large breakfast.... I paid for the food I made sure I enjoyed it.

Take the stairs, explore the ship, use the fitness center. HAVE FUN!

chimaerandi

I'm going to an all inclusive in two weeks and I'm expecting to gain ten scale pounds when I get back. Will I? Probably not, I mean, if I can eat more than 3500 calories + maintenance a day, every day, I deserve a medal--but it's important to me to be ready for the sticker shock.

Realistically, I NEVER go on these kinds of vacations, so I'm giving myself permission to cut loose. But I've been doing this for years and so am over the emotional weight of the scale, mostly.

Yisrael1981

It's possible to eat a lot and gain a lot of weight. However every person is different.
If I eat whenever and whatever I could easily put away 5000 calories and obviously it all depends on what you are eating. That was me just eating junk food for a day so everything is much more calorie dense

Francl27

I was just reading somewhere that people typically gain 5 to 10 pounds during a cruise... I can see it. I guess it really depends on your self control though.

scolaris

Water weight fluctuations make it hard to ever know for certain. All I can tell you is I've never held on to any vacation 'gain' after I've been home & back to my regular routine the same number of days. So a long weekend spike pretty much disappears that following work week; a two or three week cruise would take that long again to wring out of my system. I enjoy the culinary aspect of travel greatly and focus on keeping my walking and activity levels up where I can spend most days comfortably at maintenance.

TavistockToad

the most i have gained after a week's all inclusive holiday was 5lbs

ninerbuff

smnovosad1 wrote: »

I am 5'5", 125 lbs -- pretty happy with that. In 1 month we are going on a cruise, and I want to relax a bit. I just lost 8 lbs and have to eat 1240/day to keep losing 1 lb/week, so I guess 1740 would be maintenance.

If I just eat whatever I want on the cruise, what will likely happen? Any suggestions? I don't want to gain a ton of weight, but 2 lbs or so would be ok.

It's EASY to gain 5-10lbs on a cruise. All you have to do is help yourself to everything they have on the ship.
I've been on 3 Disney Cruises and went to the gym at 6:00 am as well as ran the deck daily. I still put on 5lbs on each cruise.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

shano25

The most I gained on vacation was 8lbs in one week. That was because it was my first vacation in the US in a long time and I wanted to eat everything we don't have at home. And boy did I. Now when we go on vacation, I don't go as hard but I still let myself enjoy whatever I want and usually gain up to 5lbs. When I come back, I just go on a "detox" (no dairy, no bread, no meat, lots of green tea and water) and I lose whatever I gained within a couple of weeks.