A week of bad eating and the results show up now?

saranne1015
saranne1015 Posts: 180 Member
edited December 2 in Health and Weight Loss
OK, here's the situation:
About three weeks ago, I had a pretty bad week of overeating and eating a lot of non-nutritious crap. The following week, I more or less stayed within my daily calorie goals with a few slip-ups. As a result, after two weeks, I lost 1.1 lbs, which I thought was pretty amazing for how badly I ate.

This week, I've been hitting my calorie goals--actually being under it most of the time. Out of curiosity, I've been weighing myself every morning this week just to see how my weight fluctuates. I've been above my check-in weight every day, and as my weekly check-in day is tomorrow, I'm a little confused.

So my question is, even though that bad week's calories didn't show up in my weight immediately, is it possible that the calories like....jumped over a couple of weeks? Or is it more likely that I'm eating too much sodium/carbs?

Just a couple of things:
-No, it isn't that TOM
-No, I don't weigh my food, and I should, but I'm really just interested in my original question of calorie...week...skipping thing

I know I can turn it around, and I'm not discouraged and that I could definitely make some changes--But really, I´m just curious. Thanks for your responses!

Replies

  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    edited July 2016
    I've always wondered this too. It's almost like it's retroactive weight gain, lol. In to see the replies as well.

    ETA: I personally weigh all my food and have for a couple years but I noticed this trend with myself.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    edited July 2016
    Just because it's not your TOM, doesn't mean it's not water weight. We retain water for all kinds of reasons: TOM, dehydration (yeah, that one's weird), exercise (especially new exercise and strength training), higher levels of sodium...

    And just out of curiosity, how do you know you stayed within your calorie goals without weighing your food?

    Edited to add: love the profile pic btw :)
  • saranne1015
    saranne1015 Posts: 180 Member
    capaul42 wrote: »
    Just because it's not your TOM, doesn't mean it's not water weight. We retain water for all kinds of reasons: TOM, dehydration (yeah, that one's weird), exercise (especially new exercise and strength training), higher levels of sodium...

    And just out of curiosity, how do you know you stayed within your calorie goals without weighing your food?

    Edited to add: love the profile pic btw :)

    Hmm, OK, thanks. I guess there are about a bajillion factors to how much you weigh any given day. And about not weighing food--I try to compensate by eating under 1200 (or what my measuring cup/the package says is 1200 total) and I also don't log all the exercise I do because I don't really trust the exercise logging system. I know I should start, and perhaps that's the reason for this week's weirdness. But I've been eating similarly or even worse for the last 2 months and I've still seen loss. Maybe I'm getting into a plateau and I need to try integrating more exercise and getting a food scale?

    And thanks--Marilyn wouldn't have necessarily made a good life coach, but she was hot, so....goals.

  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    When it comes to exercise logging, I'd say estimate on the low end or just pick a percentage to eat back, say 50% to start. I usually eat back between 25-70% of mine, depending on how I feel after my workout (I workout in the evenings). If I had a particular grueling workout and am feeling really fatigued, I eat back more (usually high protein). If it was a light workout, I just have something small (100-150 grams)
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    My body has a time delay. I never lose in the first couple of weeks of going back on a cut and I didn't get my true holiday and illness weight gain from last month until 2-3 weeks after. The body isn't a mechanical machine and everyone's will react a little differently to changes. I have been back in my deficit properly for 2-3 weeks but have only just had my whoosh this week, I climbed for a solid week, started creeping down and evening out the second week, started dropping again this week. It is what it is. I know I'm doing what I need to do so the results will come.

    I also knew I was properly back in my deficit because I've started to go all squishy again, one of the less fun aspects of weight loss for me!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    It takes me 2-3 weeks to catch up.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Are you two weeks before TOM? I also gain at ovulation.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    I've always wondered about people who weigh daily "to keep themselves on track" or "to be able to make adjustments". In my experience, I've only seen the effects of overeating (or conversely, a stretch of coming in under calories) after a week or more. And as to fluctuations, this morning I was up 7 lbs (!) from my weigh-in last week for no apparent reason.
  • saranne1015
    saranne1015 Posts: 180 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    I've always wondered about people who weigh daily "to keep themselves on track" or "to be able to make adjustments". In my experience, I've only seen the effects of overeating (or conversely, a stretch of coming in under calories) after a week or more. And as to fluctuations, this morning I was up 7 lbs (!) from my weigh-in last week for no apparent reason.

    Yeah, I never did it before this week. Usually, I weigh Saturday morning, first thing, in the buff, about 30 minutes after I wake up. This week, I got a little curious about fluctuations and...Well, it's been a slow work week =)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Are you two weeks before TOM? I also gain at ovulation.

    I gain at ovulation then plateau until TOM, gain more, and lose it all (and more if I'm trying to lose) the 2 weeks after that.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    I've always wondered about people who weigh daily "to keep themselves on track" or "to be able to make adjustments". In my experience, I've only seen the effects of overeating (or conversely, a stretch of coming in under calories) after a week or more. And as to fluctuations, this morning I was up 7 lbs (!) from my weigh-in last week for no apparent reason.

    Yeah, I never did it before this week. Usually, I weigh Saturday morning, first thing, in the buff, about 30 minutes after I wake up. This week, I got a little curious about fluctuations and...Well, it's been a slow work week =)

    I wasn't criticizing you weighing yourself, or anyone that weighs themselves daily, as I used to myself. I've just never understood drawing conclusions based on daily weigh-ins :)
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Are you two weeks before TOM? I also gain at ovulation.

    I gain at ovulation then plateau until TOM, gain more, and lose it all (and more if I'm trying to lose) the 2 weeks after that.

    The human body is such a freak show! I gain steadily from TOM until I peak at ovulation, then lose steadily until TOM! Only after a couple of months of this do I know what's really happened with my weight loss (maybe ;) )
  • saranne1015
    saranne1015 Posts: 180 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    I've always wondered about people who weigh daily "to keep themselves on track" or "to be able to make adjustments". In my experience, I've only seen the effects of overeating (or conversely, a stretch of coming in under calories) after a week or more. And as to fluctuations, this morning I was up 7 lbs (!) from my weigh-in last week for no apparent reason.

    Yeah, I never did it before this week. Usually, I weigh Saturday morning, first thing, in the buff, about 30 minutes after I wake up. This week, I got a little curious about fluctuations and...Well, it's been a slow work week =)

    I wasn't criticizing you weighing yourself, or anyone that weighs themselves daily, as I used to myself. I've just never understood drawing conclusions based on daily weigh-ins :)

    I know you weren't! I don't really get it either. There's someone on my friends list who does it and gets really discouraged because of it and I keep thinking...Why TF are you doing that to yourself?
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    I've always wondered about people who weigh daily "to keep themselves on track" or "to be able to make adjustments". In my experience, I've only seen the effects of overeating (or conversely, a stretch of coming in under calories) after a week or more. And as to fluctuations, this morning I was up 7 lbs (!) from my weigh-in last week for no apparent reason.

    Yeah, I never did it before this week. Usually, I weigh Saturday morning, first thing, in the buff, about 30 minutes after I wake up. This week, I got a little curious about fluctuations and...Well, it's been a slow work week =)

    I wasn't criticizing you weighing yourself, or anyone that weighs themselves daily, as I used to myself. I've just never understood drawing conclusions based on daily weigh-ins :)

    I know you weren't! I don't really get it either. There's someone on my friends list who does it and gets really discouraged because of it and I keep thinking...Why TF are you doing that to yourself?

    Some people just can't get in the right mindset for daily weighing. Like some people have to cut all " binge" food out completely because a taste will make them binge. While others can still have those things in moderation. It's all personal to each individual.

    For me, daily weighing is just a number, a point of data to be used. Nothing more. I'm a numbers gal though. Probably why I'm in accounting lol
  • farmgirlco
    farmgirlco Posts: 118 Member
    I am a daily weigher. I always see a drop after a bad day of eating, then after 3-4 really good days I see a gain, like it was waiting to show up!! Then I get discouraged because it seems like I do better when I have the messed up days, even though it's probably retroactive from the good days I had.

    Also, regarding TOM, I gain 2 weeks before, then sometimes even out, then gain again at times during TOM. Oh the joys of bloat!!
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Oh I gain the week before my period (so part of that aforementioned creep up was water). I also gain if I have a really carby/salty meal. Or alcohol. Or different exercise to usual. I'm basically a camel.
  • kirstenb13
    kirstenb13 Posts: 181 Member
    When I look at my (daily) Libra log I can definitely see that periods of overindulgence show up in the scale with a 2-3 week delay, it's really interesting and no idea why it's happening. The same with losing - I've only lost in big whooshes after long stalls.
  • saranne1015
    saranne1015 Posts: 180 Member
    Well, I ended up losing about a pound, but I won't be overindulging anymore--or if I do, I'll limit it to one day and not nine...Thanks for the input, guys!
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