Weight gain why?

natashab61

Hi everyone,

I am really confused. I have been monitoring my caloric intake and yesterday I weighed 1.6 lbs less than today. I am doing aerobic workout for 45-55 mins each day and building muscle I think. But how did I gain 1.6 lbs in one day it makes no sense. Can someone please help me? I didn't expect to gain weight after sticking to my diet (calroic intake has ranged between 1200-1350 calories a day) and workout regime.
I feel very unmotivated.
Someone please help. I don't know what else I can do.

Sorry for being dramatic but I don't know what to do.

erienneb66

Normal weight fluctuations and weight loss is not linear. This is totally normal and expected and isn't a true indicator of weight loss. Instead, look at the overall trend instead of what the day to day variations are. I can fluctuate 5lbs day to day so even though I weight multiple times a week, I know to take the fluctuations with a grain of salt and chart my trends.

malibu927

It's not muscle. It's water weight due to normal fluctuations. You'll never lose every single day, or even every week.

Poisonedpawn78

to aid what the above two people have said. lets do a little fun exercise.

there is a 2lb bowl of carrots in front of you. you eat them all. Did you gain 2lbs or 1/10th of a lb in calories? the scale says 2lbs.

natashab61

Can I ask a quick question....how come people aka a guy I follow on YouTube. His channel is dose of fousey. ....how do people like him lose 8 lbs a week and in total with this weight gain and sticking to a restricted diet and workout regime. How have I lost only 1.4 lbs?
What did he do that I am not?
I was going to treat myself for sticking to my caloric intake (all healthy foods...no junk food just lots of veggies and brown grains and fruits). Do I even deserve to treat myself? I was gonna fit into my calories. Should I?

natashab61

Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »

to aid what the above two people have said. lets do a little fun exercise.

there is a 2lb bowl of carrots in front of you. you eat them all. Did you gain 2lbs or 1/10th of a lb in calories? the scale says 2lbs.

Hmm well energy goes into digesting that and also you excrete the the indigestible. So not 2 lbs. Can you please explain how this fits into my question. Sorry I am not getting the connection. Thank you

erienneb66

Because when you eat something, you have the whole weight of the something in your body until your body has the time to digest and remove the remains from the body. So those 2lbs of carrots stay 2lbs until you digest them down.

Also, you can't compare your weight loss to anyone else. Just because YouTube guy SAYS he loses whatever, or eats whatever, you don't actually see every second of his day. I can lose 8lbs a week, because I have a lot to lose. But that would only happen once before it would normalize out to a reasonable loss. Water weight is also a factor.

As for treating yourself, maybe don't think of food as a reward? That's how I got into weight issues, anyway. So eat what you want if it fits into your goals. Healthy is such a relative term anyway.

Poisonedpawn78

natashab61 wrote: »

Can I ask a quick question....how come people aka a guy I follow on YouTube. His channel is dose of fousey. ....how do people like him lose 8 lbs a week and in total with this weight gain and sticking to a restricted diet and workout regime. How have I lost only 1.4 lbs?
What did he do that I am not?
I was going to treat myself for sticking to my caloric intake (all healthy foods...no junk food just lots of veggies and brown grains and fruits). Do I even deserve to treat myself? I was gonna fit into my calories. Should I?

#1 he is not losing that much EVERY week unless he is 4-500lbs + and once he gets down into the 3's he will start losing less.
#2 that might have been his first week weight loss which would be 90% water.
#3 Everyone is different. male vs female isnt a fair comparison especially week to week timing(weight loss wise). are your activity levels the same? are you both eating the exact same foods in the exact same quantities? are you both the same height, weight, age? .. ect
#4 I dont know this person, but with the internet and youtube there is a LOT of BS to wade through. people lying, stretching the truth and reality and epic proportions of woo and fake information.

Poisonedpawn78

natashab61 wrote: »

Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »

to aid what the above two people have said. lets do a little fun exercise.

there is a 2lb bowl of carrots in front of you. you eat them all. Did you gain 2lbs or 1/10th of a lb in calories? the scale says 2lbs.

Hmm well energy goes into digesting that and also you excrete the the indigestible. So not 2 lbs. Can you please explain how this fits into my question. Sorry I am not getting the connection. Thank you

as you eat foods, drink water, exercise your body takes what it needs. depending on the timing of you weighing yourself from week to week or day to day, everything isnt equal. your body might be holding onto things to repair itself like water, maybe the meal you had yesterday calorie wise was the same but the weight of the food wasnt ( think 500 calories of meat vs 500 calories of lettuce, same energy different amounts/weight of food). until these things are removed from your system you wont know your true weight.

This is why people use trend lines or weight themselves over longer periods to see the progress. Daily and even weekly you WILL see fluctuation in both directions.

natashab61

Thank you all. For your lovely comments. Definitely helped me be okay with this fluctuation. you all rock!

cafstrategies

it's average for a body to fluctuate in weight. Weight loss isn't linear, it's more up and down, even when doing everything right. This is why Cheat days play such an importance. Men can go two weeks without a cheat day before seeing adverse reactions, women however can only go 1 week before their reserves of leptin aren't burnt out. Rest days are important, and cheat days are important.

malibu927

cafstrategies wrote: »

it's average for a body to fluctuate in weight. Weight loss isn't linear, it's more up and down, even when doing everything right. This is why Cheat days play such an importance. Men can go two weeks without a cheat day before seeing adverse reactions, women however can only go 1 week before their reserves of leptin aren't burnt out. Rest days are important, and cheat days are important.

I've been hear nearly 3.5 years and I've never once had a "cheat day"

cafstrategies

malibu927 wrote: »

cafstrategies wrote: »

it's average for a body to fluctuate in weight. Weight loss isn't linear, it's more up and down, even when doing everything right. This is why Cheat days play such an importance. Men can go two weeks without a cheat day before seeing adverse reactions, women however can only go 1 week before their reserves of leptin aren't burnt out. Rest days are important, and cheat days are important.

I've been hear nearly 3.5 years and I've never once had a "cheat day"

It's a human body, if you have a calorie deficit for long enough, you will lose weight. In order to avoid plateaus, lose weight quickly, and keep hormones balances, having a refeed day can be very healthy. I don't mean eating candy, and 7,000 calories. But, taking a 1,200 day, to 2,500, or the maximum amount of your calories for maintenance. So, better to say, Eating to your Maintenance once a week, is powerful in the weight loss journey.

Noreenmarie1234

natashab61 wrote: »

Thank you all. For your lovely comments. Definitely helped me be okay with this fluctuation. you all rock!

just wanted to add i fluctuate 8lbs day to day and i've maintained for years don't worry . Weight loss graphs are a huge zigzag with overall downward trend.

philyflyazz

Don't freak out I was eating right no carbs and exercising n managed to gain 12lbs water weight is real n blood sugar fluctuation can cause weight gain and loss n being on your menstral cycle keep going and see how your clothes fit you sometimes the scale is not accurate

kmv1431

Is it possible that there was a lot of salt in your diet? I know that causes me to gain temporarily.

namelesshere

Daily weight fluctuations are natural. Almost everybody will blame it on water retention but it also depends on where you are in your "solid" retention. (poop cycle). It is more accurate to weigh weekly and to measure trends. A body can hold as much as 10 lbs of waste before letting it go.

AnnPT77

cafstrategies wrote: »

malibu927 wrote: »

cafstrategies wrote: »

it's average for a body to fluctuate in weight. Weight loss isn't linear, it's more up and down, even when doing everything right. This is why Cheat days play such an importance. Men can go two weeks without a cheat day before seeing adverse reactions, women however can only go 1 week before their reserves of leptin aren't burnt out. Rest days are important, and cheat days are important.

I've been hear nearly 3.5 years and I've never once had a "cheat day"

It's a human body, if you have a calorie deficit for long enough, you will lose weight. In order to avoid plateaus, lose weight quickly, and keep hormones balances, having a refeed day can be very healthy. I don't mean eating candy, and 7,000 calories. But, taking a 1,200 day, to 2,500, or the maximum amount of your calories for maintenance. So, better to say, Eating to your Maintenance once a week, is powerful in the weight loss journey.

If it works for you, swell. I agree that a modest refeed occasionally won't hurt much, and may help some people, psychologically or physically. Far from a universal requirement, though: I lost over 60 pounds, 1/3 of my body weight, in less than a year, without any kind of structured refeeds, and I'm female. No plateaus. Into my 2nd year of keeping it off, too.

OP, a few things that can increase scale weight temporarily, but that are not fat gain:

• new workout, or heavier workout (body holds extra water in its tissues to help muscle repair)
• other healing or inflammation (same reason)
• water you drank, still sitting in stomach or bladder, not yet expelled as urine
• food you ate, still sitting somewhere in your digestive system, not yet processed into energy or excreted (full transit from mouth to the other end can take up to 50+ hours, even in healthy people)
• in premenopausal women, extra water weight related to menstrual cycles (can happen anytime from ovulation through menses)
• more salt eaten than usual, even if it's a completely healthy amount (body holds onto some extra water to process it out eventually)
• more carbs eaten than usual, even it's a completely healthy amount & below your calorie goal (same basic reason as for salt)

And I'm probably forgetting some.

As far as loss rate: Crazy TV shows, blogs, YouTubers, magazines, etc., advocate dumb things, and create silly expectations in others. Weight loss greater than about 1% of body weight weekly is risky, unless one is morbidly obese. Even when morbidly obese, there are limits. Any slower rate than that is OK for most, too, as long as ultra fast weight loss (under medical supervision) isn't required for some serious health condition.

Losing too fast creates risk for fatigue, weakness, moodiness, irritability, loss of muscle mass, cognitive problems, hair loss, brittle finger nails, thinning bones, immune system issues, and more. Will those things happen for sure? Maybe not. But they're a lot easier to avoid than recover from. Why take chances?

Slow, steady, patient, persistent, healthy, strong - that's the way to it.

junodog1

Daily weighing over two months - the reality. Don't let it get you down.