Is there a limited weight loss impact to a large number of calories burned in one day?

mimc66

This weekend, I did a long bike ride 5hrs 30 mins, avg hr 143, 7K ft of climbing (hard weighing 200 lbs.). According to my bike computer - burned calories 3,984. I ate within my net calories for losing 2lbs/wk including what I ate on the long ride. Today - net gain of .5lbs? If you burn this many calories in a day, does it not impact weight loss the same as not exercising and eating less each day?

CarvedTones

Water and glycogen in muscles, I think.

lynn_glenmont

Water retention.

deannalfisher

inflammation and water retention from stress on the body

collectingblues

Water retention. Happens to me every time I hike.

A good sign: If you're sore, the scale is likely going to be up. I did a long run Saturday in the heat, and barre yesterday, along with furniture construction last night. I woke up feeling like my glutes/quads were made from concrete, and sure enough, the scale was up right along with it.

endermako

Water retention definitely from that long bike ride. I hiked for 2 hours yesterday and have 2 lbs of water on me today

AnvilHead

^ All the above.

MegaMooseEsq

I feel like I've read that there might be an upper limit to the amount of fat the body can use in a certain period, but I seriously doubt that's in play here - think about the bonkers amount of exercise those poor people on Biggest Loser do. As the other comments note above, your body is almost certainly retaining water after all that hard work. I'd guess you might feel a bit sore or stiff today? Weight loss isn't linear and won't respond overnight the way you might expect it to, so you need to watch your longer trends and be patient. Good luck!

mimc66

How many days would it take for water retention to return to normal?

tinkerbellang83

You aren't going to be able to see the result of one day on the scale there are too many other factors that affect the numbers on the scale. If you ate your net calories then you obviously ate a lot more food than is normal for you, which in itself has weight and if it was higher in sodium or carb then you will see water retention from that, you are likely retaining water from the exercise too.

minstrelofsarcasm

mimc66 wrote: »

How many days would it take for water retention to return to normal?

That changes from person to person and also can change based on the amount of water retained. I usually recover in 3-4 days at the absolute latest, but there are people who take a week or longer to recover.

MegaMooseEsq

mimc66 wrote: »

How many days would it take for water retention to return to normal?

It depends on the person and on what caused the retention - anywhere from a day or two, to a week or two, to not until you stop whatever it was caused the increased retention (some people's weight goes up during certain types of strength training, for example, and almost everyone retains more water when going from a low to higher carb diet). Your body is constantly cycling water in and out of your body, so don't think of it as an abnormal thing. Your weight is a range and is going to be changing all the time.

stanmann571

Short answer, yes.

Your body will do a variety of things to adjust to a one time high burn.

You will feel sluggish, You may fidget less, etc.

Additionally, as above from other folks, you will retain water.

You may also be more hungry(AKA rungry)

mimc66

I will see how it changes in the next couple of days and post the changes. As far as being sore, I always feel a little sore - I'm old.. Thanks for pointing at water retention. I was craving salty food after the ride and when I just went back and looked at mfp nutrition from yesterday, I consumed a lot of sodium - 3,850! Never even realized I had consumed so much sodium - completely mindless eating!

stanmann571

mimc66 wrote: »

I will see how it changes in the next couple of days and post the changes. As far as being sore, I always feel a little sore - I'm old.. Thanks for pointing at water retention. I was craving salty food after the ride and when I just went back and looked at mfp nutrition from yesterday, I consumed a lot of sodium - 3,850! Never even realized I had consumed so much sodium - completely mindless eating!

After that much activity and assuming you primarily hydrated with water, you need to replenish electrolytes.

That's why it's important to balance hydration with electrolytes(sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc)

Beer, Gatorade, Chocolate milk, are popular ways to rehydrate with flavor and electrolytes.

janejellyroll

Also, even if you're within your net you still have a lot of the extra food you ate still in your body -- this is going to impact your weight until you're done processing it.

mimc66

Update - I'm still 2 lbs. heavier on the 3rd day after event than I was the previous 5 days before the event. No exercise since and eating same calories as prior to event. Hopefully a swoosh coming up else it really makes me wonder the weight loss impact of big events. Will update progress in a couple of more days.

PAV8888

You're using a weight trend app or web site to evaluate your weight level, right?

mimc66

Hi, I weight myself every morning same time on fitbit scale (aria). I took the average of the last 5 days prior to event(all within .5lbs) so no big swings.

mimc66

Well never got a swoosh in weight loss. My opinion, burning a lot of calories in exercise in big events does not equal big weight loss. Must be something occurring with recovery that prevents body from adapting too much in one day.

jefamer2017

I have noticed a pattern with me since I've been losing weight. I work Saturday Sunday and Monday. During those days I walk around 10 miles a day and lift thousands of pounds somewhere in the ballpark of 25000 to 35000 a day. During my work days I'll weigh 1 to 2 lbs more then by Wednesday after a day of rest I'll be down 2lbs lower than I was the previous week. This has been routine for me every week. I also do not hydrate as well as I should when I am working. I drink water all day long but it's never enough. It's crazy how the body works.