Holiday Weight

jaysanchez4

Happy Holidays everyone! Hope everyone is having a great vacation as enjoying their family and friends time!

Anyways, I'm sure this question has come up before but it's a first for me.

Holidays are pretty tricky for me diet wise, I've been doing extremely well up until a few days before Christmas until now.

I've been going over my calories but only by a few hundred each day.

Today I weight in 4.5lbs heavier than what I was a week ago, I'm wondering is this actual fat or water weight? I've been eating carbs, and the typical food you eat during the holidays, not as clean as I was a couple of weeks ago.

If it is water weight, what's the best way to get rid of it quickly?

Also wondering how does everyone else do during the holidays as far as dieting goes?

Thank You!

malibu927

To gain four pounds of fat, you would've needed to eat 14,000 calories over maintenance. So yes, most of it is water weight. It should fall off within a few days to a week.

jaysanchez4

malibu927 wrote: »

To gain four pounds of fat, you would've needed to eat 14,000 calories over maintenance. So yes, most of it is water weight. It should fall off within a few days to a week.

Awesome,

Thank You!

I'm hoping if I just keep drinking a lot of water, this bloat will go away.

professormango

I don't treat holidays or vacations any differently. That ensures consistency throughout the year!

Zephrine

I feel your pain. I've gained a similar amount. Too much chocolate and boozy fruit cake. Back on track today and although I will struggle to stay under my calories, I'm atleast logging everything properly again.

MalkinMagic71

I was up 5 pounds or so when I stepped on the scale Monday morning Just for fun after stuffing my face for a few days over Christmas. This morning 4 of those 5lbs are already gone. It was mostly water weight. I expect to be back to my pre Christmas weight by the end of the week.

b3achy

malibu927 wrote: »

To gain four pounds of fat, you would've needed to eat 14,000 calories over maintenance. So yes, most of it is water weight. It should fall off within a few days to a week.

^^^ This! You don't really have to do much other than getting back on track with your new normal eating (whether at a deficit or at maintenance) to drop the water weight. I do find for me that drinking extra water helps to flush the system, but everyone is different, and YMMV. I think I clocked in at ~1.5 lbs heavier this morning, but know it's mostly water retention, so I'm not too concerned. Going out to do my normal exercising today helped bunches, especially since it was a much bigger calorie burn than what I was able to do over the holidays (2 hours of paddleboarding in 80F weather (500-600+ cals) vs. 1 hour of walking in 40F weather (~175 cals)). So hitting your normal exercise routine should help too.

ETA: I've spent at least 4 days over my calorie deficit goal...some days eating at maintenance, some days a bit more by a few hundred calories over. But I know it's a drop in the bucket. I might stall this week, but that's the worst it should be. Once I get back to my deficit eating, I'll be back on track with the typical losses, though I'm very close to moving into maintenance mode anyway.

jaysanchez4

Thanks so much everyone, I was so upset when I saw the scale go up almost 5 pounds in just two weeks of eating off my diet. But I wasn't extremely off my calories, I'm anxious to get back on track tomorrow

jaysanchez4

Wow up 6 pounds in 13 days?

This really better be water weight lol

jagodfrey08

You aren't the only one! It's probably water retention. I didn't pig out over the holidays, but I did eat more carbs and a few hundred extra calories for the past week of holiday traveling. I'm up 3 lbs this morning after getting home last night. I'm going to give it a few days and see where I am. Just get back into your previous routine, and it will equal itself out. Good luck!

sschrock

I agree with many here. I too was up by 4 lbs from the Christmas weekend. I did not work out Saturday or Sunday, but was back in the gym all the rest of this week, giving it some extra umph! Only down 1 lb though, so I'm planning on watching the caloric intake more closely. Now to get through New Year's! Hang in there!

jaysanchez4

Thanks Everyone!

So i shouldn't be worrying too much should i? Because i'm actually freaking out pretty bad

sschrock

I say stop worrying and focus on what you know you need to do! You got this!

jaysanchez4

Thank You! I'm eating light and hitting the gym today!

benevempress

I don't know how to make this link go to page 1, but go back to the beginning and read the initial post. It is excellent.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10303793/who-gained-weight-during-the-holidays-i-have-a-solution

jagodfrey08

jaysanchez4 wrote: »

Thanks Everyone!

So i shouldn't be worrying too much should i? Because i'm actually freaking out pretty bad

No. No reason to freak out. You'd have to seriously overeat to actually gain 4 real pounds in a week. It's most likely water weight. Just get right back into your groove, drink plenty of water, and it should drop back down after a few days.

pageohana6

I too have been going over my daily maintenance calories daily. I've been baking goodies, receiving goodies, etc. I am in recovery from a knee surgery about 9 weeks ago, so just beginning to excercise again. I have been weighing myself weekly and last week I was up by 2 pds. So that's 2 pds gain in a week. I brushed it off, figured that meant I'd have to have eaten 7.000 calories over my weekly maintenance calories. That wasn't possible as I logged everything. So I started drinking more water daily. And being a little more conscious of what I was eating, while still eating the holiday goodies. I weighed yesterday ( a week later), and lost 1.8pds from the 2 from last week. So just drink lots of water to help flush out and log everything.

cwolfman13

jaysanchez4 wrote: »

Thanks Everyone!

So i shouldn't be worrying too much should i? Because i'm actually freaking out pretty bad

Do the math...