How does one "gain 2 pounds" in a day!? Please help!

kaseyAnne425

I'm one of those crazy people that weigh myself almost everyday.. I was really excited with yesterday's results (185.0) which made a 1.6 pound loss from last week. Even though I went over a little bit on my calories (eating my exercise calories back), I still managed to do OK with my food choices and drank water (I always forget to log) and got a quick walk in! Then, I jump on the scale this morning and it says 187. Again. I can't seem to get away from the number. Everytime I lose, it shows up again. Could someone shed some light on this?!

grimendale

You most likely didn't. Eating at a deficit, you didn't gain 2 lbs. You are likely retaining water and/or glycogen. If you've recently started working out, I'd bet on glycogen. Water weight fluctuates a lot from day to day, which is why it is often discouraged to weigh daily. Your going to get more consistent results if you track body measurements with a tape measure, as these are not significanlty affected by the normal fluctuations in retained water and biomass in the digestive system.

Phrick

water retention due to any number of factors. You did NOT gain 2lb of fat overnight, it's impossible.

cruzcrzyMarie

You didn't. This has happened to me numerous times, lately. Hang in there, you will be back down tomorrow!

roflsauce

The other posters already answered. As grimendale said, track measurements. Try not to think about the scale.

battyg13

Can i ask why you feel the need to weight yourself most days?

lauren3101

What everyone else said.

I'm only really commenting to add; if you worry about the scales this much, you should not weigh every day. Weigh once a week or even better, once a month. The scale is a liar and unless you are someone that can cope with that, then weighing every day is only detrimental to your motivation.

CyberEd312

Simply water retention and is the main reason I prefer not to weigh in every single day... I have seen my weight jump anywhere from a pound to 5 lbs. in a single day... If your truly eating in a deficit and logging all your food correctly then there is no way you gained 2 lbs. of fat.... Best of Luck

Xhell_on_heelsX

1. It's water retension. 2. stop weighing yourself everday

HollieDollieeeex

Your body naturally fluctuates daily, this maybe water retention, best advice would be stay away from the scales and weigh weekly, same day... same time... NAKED haha

cruzcrzyMarie

I weigh daily. I attribute this to my success in maintenance. I am the same weight as I was a year ago.

257_Lag

If you are going to weigh daily you need to understand and expect these fluctuations. Perfectly normal.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1042349-why-i-weigh-daily-repost

nashiyashi

First off, make sure you are weighing in the morning around the same time each day, weight naturally fluctuates by a few pounds throughout the day, in the morning you have been fasting for about 8 hours and will weigh less than after eating a meal later in the day, which is completely normal.

Otherwise it is likely water retention, either from salt or inflammation (or other causes I don't know of, I know people talked about this in relation to exercise which I am not very familiar with), when I was working with my naturopath on an elimination diet she said that you will not gain over a pound of fat overnight, but if you are reacting poorly to something you eat it can cause you to retain water weight and this was how the progress of the diet was monitored as I added foods back in. Or it could just be salt and electrolytes causing weight retention. It should come back off as easily as it went on, as long as you stick to a good eating plan and try not to go overboard on salt. Good luck!

phyllisgehrke

I weigh every day myself
You didn't gain 2 pounds overnight if you are at a deficient

Probalby just water retention.
I have 1 more pound to lose and when I look at the Maintenance Group with MFP, they all weigh every day.

hep26000

I also weigh every day. It is just habit and I guess I am a little obsessed with my numbers (but not in a bad way) I recently noticed a 3lb overnight weigh gain (I weigh every morning after my first pee) After research and talking with MFP friends I realized it was water retention from my period. Then looking back- the same thing happened last month too- it all makes sense now. I researched it online and it said women on average show a 3-7lb gain. Some even as high as 10lbs but it is just water and it will come off when your cycle is done. Try avoiding foods realy high in sodium during that time and drink alot of water.

Hope this helps.

RHSheetz

I used to weigh every day, just to play the game of "Oh I can't cheat cause I step on teh scale tomorrow" to help me stay on track. BUT if you weigh in every day, you need to be ready for weight fluxuations. I do find it interesting to see how food affects my body. So Like I did weigh myself today, and I was 4 lbs over where I was yesterday. So I started thinking and asking what did I do yesterday...

I eat Chinese food, which is high in sodium
I lifted last night, so I have swollen muscles and would be retaining water
It is REALLY humid right now

All these things lead to water weight gain for me. I learned this by weighing daily.

I no longer weigh daily cause I am at a different spot. So when you step on the scale, and you are up, ask yourself, "What did I do yesterday that was different"... "Am I injured"... "TOM"... this does help you understand better how your body reacts to things. BUT Only track and look at the weekly number.

hannamarie88

I'm one of those crazy people that weigh myself almost everyday.. I was really excited with yesterday's results (185.0) which made a 1.6 pound loss from last week. Even though I went over a little bit on my calories (eating my exercise calories back), I still managed to do OK with my food choices and drank water (I always forget to log) and got a quick walk in! Then, I jump on the scale this morning and it says 187. Again. I can't seem to get away from the number. Everytime I lose, it shows up again. Could someone shed some light on this?!

I agree with everyone else, but wanted to add -- in addition to your measurements, you should take progress photos of yourself. The scale said I gained, but pictures don't lie. I'm an obsessive daily weigh-er too, but I'm trying to break that habit because I freak out if it goes up and (like everyone said) there's no way it was actual weight gain.

adrylong

I've learned to trust the tape measure and pictures more than the scale.

I have been fluctuating around the same number since I started 4 weeks ago, but I like to take pictures every Monday as part of my progress. When I get discouraged by the scale, I look at my pictures and see the visual difference.

Raddichio

I'm another daily weigher. I agree that it helps to keep me on track and accountable. It works for me because I understand that weight will go up and down due to many of the factors listed above. Weighing daily and recording those weights can be useful in understanding the natural variation in weight from day-to-day. For many of us, it works very well. However, others find that it discouraging to see those fluctuations. Only you know which you are. In the meantime, if you stay on plan, I'm sure you'll see those 2 pounds disappear permanently soon.

lina011

stay away from the scales, ive gained 2 kilos but have lost inches " weigh maybe once a month

ForumLurker

2 lbs of fat is roughly 7000 surplus calories, I doubt very seriously if you ate that much.

It's likely that it's a mix of bloating/water retention and waste (poop). Waste can weigh up to 3-4 lbs if you haven't gone in a while, TMI, but true.

getting_fit86

Water weight.

saxmaniac

Hell, I can gain 7-10 pounds in a day. Water, food, it all weighs something.

It's not stored fat.

MissMaryMac33

I can easily gain/lose 2-5 lbs over night .. and its usually because I had way too much sodium the day before and didn't have enough fluids.

sharleengc

It's probably water weight. I know that for me, my AM weight is 3-4lbs lighter than my PM weight (I weigh myself everyday too.) I also noticed that even when I stay in my calories, sometimes it's the type of food I eat that can change the weight to,

I think one thing you do if you're weighing yourself everyday is not to stress. I like to see the changes and monitor myself but if one morning is up from the day before, I don't really sweat it because there are so many changes from day to day that you just can't stress too much.

If it's up several days in a row, then i take a look at what i'm doing and make changes. Maybe eat dinner earlier or something

cmcollins001

Sleep longer next time, it'll go away.

DavidHusky

I weigh 5-6 times a week in the morning before I work out. I use my lowest weight and don't worry about fluctuations (unless it has been several weeks without a "new" low). I reason that there are a lot of ways for the scale to show an inflated "high" number and hardly any (none?) for it to show an artificial "low" number.

If you want to be a daily weigher, you still need to look at your weight over a more meaningful amount of time (weeks, sometimes months). I just see it as more data points to prove the MFP hypothesis (then again I am a huge nerd!)

bannedword

I weigh every day. I just don't let it bother me.

trixietime

I weigh weekly, and twice a month in maintenance modes. Bodies can do wild things overnight. The problem with weighing every day (outside of the obvious threat of sliding into an eating disorder,) is that by the same token of an overnight weight gain from something salty you ate, is that you can also think that you've lost 2 lbs overnight, when in fact you were a little dehydrated. Everyone has their own style, but I would seriously ask yourself why you're weighing every day, if it's not an indicator of your overall health, or weight. It takes 3,500 calories to change your weight pound by pound, and that doesn't happen overnight. For your peace of mind, you might consider transitioning to weekly weigh ins, as a daily weigh in may lead to bad food choices.

Gearjammer71

I think someone needs to take my scale away from me. I not only weigh every day, but sometimes twice a day. It serves no practical purpose, and even though I tell myself to expect the fluctuations, I still question them just like the OP.

bradleybt

You may be gaining muscle. Maybe you could transition to the mirror test & use your scale weekly. Keep up the good work. I found

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/ayurvedic-fat-fighters-pt-1

Here is a link to 4 interesting fat fighting videos.

I've shifted calories around as she recommended & followed lots of her advice, I've lost ten lbs by following her methods. It's free too.