Had one bad day and put on 2.5lb

n_green_l
n_green_l Posts: 74 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am on a 1200-1400 calorie diet. I've been trying Dry January and found i was craving sugar so badly. I ended up eating 2450 calories yesterday... but now I've put on 2.5lb in a day. I finally lost 3 lb and feel its for nothing. May as well have had the wine I so wanted.

This is too hard
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Replies

  • kellycz
    kellycz Posts: 57 Member
    nataliegreenlouise wrote: »
    ...but now I've put on 2.5lb in a day. I finally lost 3 lb and feel its for nothing.
    This is why I sometimes (often) hate the scale. You work so hard and the scale does not always reflect that. You have a high calorie day or two and anxiously weigh yourself hoping you haven’t done any “damage.” Or you have a low calorie day and weigh yourself hoping you have lost a pound. Personally, I just cannot handle looking at the daily fluctuations and trying to figure out what is causing them. So for my own mental health, I stick to weighing in once per week. That strategy might work for you as well.
  • rocketblaster
    rocketblaster Posts: 50 Member
    Just get right back at it. I was on a cruise for 11 days ate what I wanted - « gained » six pounds and a week later it’s gone. Was likely mostly water weight from salty foods. A one day 2400 binge won’t last and wasn’t enough calories for s true 2.5 lb gain. Hang in there.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    I weigh myself every day - it accustoms me to the ups and downs that are normal for everyone, so that I'm less likely to panic if I see a temporary spike.

    If you are a pre-menstrual woman, weighing yourself weekly will most likely give you the same ups and downs as weighing daily, as mentioned above, compare yourself month to month.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    nataliegreenlouise wrote: »
    I am on a 1200-1400 calorie diet. I've been trying Dry January and found i was craving sugar so badly. I ended up eating 2450 calories yesterday... but now I've put on 2.5lb in a day. I finally lost 3 lb and feel its for nothing. May as well have had the wine I so wanted.

    This is too hard

    It's water weight and weight from more food/waist in your system.

    Do the math...You would have had to consume 7500 calories over your maintenance calories to gain 2.5 Lbs of actual fat.
  • chloecopey7
    chloecopey7 Posts: 21 Member
    Impossible. Dont worry.
  • Teabythesea_
    Teabythesea_ Posts: 559 Member
    edited January 2019
    2.5 pounds is 8,700 calories. 8,700 calories is way more than the 2,450 you ate. After subtracting your maintenance from 2,450, I’d guess without knowing your stats that you probably only ate no more than 1,000 over maintenance, which is less than 1/3 of a pound. Basically what I’m saying is what you’re describing is physically impossible in terms of fat gain. 2.5 is well within normal fluctuations.
  • PaigeAnderson1793
    PaigeAnderson1793 Posts: 21 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Where are you in your menstrual cycle? I gain at ovulation and right before my TOM. Because of this (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.

    This is what weight loss looks like:

    3pbbmob3zcuf.png



    I could not agree with this more! Thank you for sharing that. It is normal to experience peaks and valleys in your weight loss. Don't let one day wreck all your progress. I'd keep the momentum going for sure.
  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    It doesn't matter how well I eat or how much I exercise, there are a few takeaways I can order that always result in an immediate 2 to 3lb gain overnight. The good news is that it's temporary - it can take up to 5 days for me to shake it off, but it does go away.

    I have similar issues around my period - whoosh, the weight goes on. But when my period ends, it goes away too.

    One bad day is unlikely to derail your diet as long as you don't use it as a trigger to justify falling off the wagon and staying on the ground stuffing your face full of fatty, greasy junk food. Fluctuations even out over time as long as you keep persevering with making more good days happen.

    If you weigh yourself daily (and don't panic about fluctuations), over time you'll learn what things cause false weight gain/false weight loss for you. I can't do anything about my period, but I do know which foods will cause a temporary spike, so if I don't feel like I can cope with my weight suddenly (but temporarily) shooting up, I avoid them. For me, it seems to be things that are hugely salty, so if I control my sodium levels (rather than just looking at calories), I can get happier results.

    Good luck with your journey.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,160 Member
    You might find this thread amusing, perhaps even reassuring: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10603949/big-overfeed-ruins-everything-nope

    Summary: Details (calories and scale weight) from about a week that included 3 days of over goal eating, summing up to around 6,000 or so calories in excess of estimated total maintenance calories for those days. NBD.
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    Don't deprive yourself. Of course you lost it when you told yourself no sugar. That is human nature.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Bad days happen. They do feel pretty bad due to the number going up. But this is mainly due to water retention. More food requires more water to process. So, don't worry about it. In fact, count on the fact there WILL be bad days and learn to accept them and heck, maybe enjoy them when they happen. Just make sure more days are good than bad!
  • JohnnytotheB
    JohnnytotheB Posts: 361 Member
    I would think this may be water weight only. I don't think you have any issue if you remain focused and abide by your goals .
  • jamesjeffsmith
    jamesjeffsmith Posts: 34 Member
    1150 calories over your goal .33 pounds. 3500 calories equals a pound, so that is water weight and food in the digestive track. dont try to make up for this and go back to your goal. 3 days or so weight should level out.
  • n_green_l
    n_green_l Posts: 74 Member
    I really watched it yesterday, really watched it and I put on another 3/4 of a pound! What am I supposed to do?? This is so disheartening. 😞
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    nataliegreenlouise wrote: »
    I really watched it yesterday, really watched it and I put on another 3/4 of a pound! What am I supposed to do?? This is so disheartening. 😞

    look at weekly and monthly trends, not daily.

    step away from the scales is my advice.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    nataliegreenlouise wrote: »
    I really watched it yesterday, really watched it and I put on another 3/4 of a pound! What am I supposed to do?? This is so disheartening. 😞

    You're OK, OP. :) Go back to page 1 and look at that chart of weight loss. This happens to everybody. The number on the scale from day-to-day honestly tells you nothing about the fat loss going on in your body. Here's a couple of posts you can consider to reassure yourself, and please realize if you are emotionally invested in these daily numbers, you are going to have a very hard time.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10303793/who-gained-weight-during-the-holidays-i-have-a-solution/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634529/why-did-the-number-on-the-scale-go-up-this-week-heres-why/p1

    I also want to reiterate what someone else commented on. If you have chosen a weekly weight loss goal that is too aggressive for your current height, weight, & activity level (for example, 2 lbs/week is only for those with 75+ lbs to lose), you are going to struggle. If you were under-eating to the point of a binge, you likely need more calories on a daily basis.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Running2Fit wrote: »
    @Dilvish - Actually, weighing yourself daily is helpful for a lot of people. Weighing daily and tracking it in an app that will give you a moving average is going to give you a much more accurate picture of your weight than weighing once a week. But really it's about finding what works best for an individual. That might be only weighing once a week but you really shouldn't spread false information that weighing daily is something to be discouraged because research disagrees with you.

    This.. Weighing daily, but only looking at the trend weight (running average) to smooth out fluctuations, can be much less frustrating unless you have a huge amount of weight to lose (where you can expect it to always go down despite any fluctuations). (If seeing the scale go up on a daily weight gives you grief, watching it go up on a weekly weigh out definitely isn't going to feel better).
  • anmille8
    anmille8 Posts: 49 Member
    https://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/g19990871/weight-fluctuation-experiment/

    I also like this article woman weighed herself every hour of the day about 15 times and saw her weight jump around seven pounds. I agree af is a good challenge but if you like a drink every now and then don't be yourself up over it. I'm doing it as a less alcohol challenge and had two drinks this weekend and the scale didn't move up or down which i'm satisfied with.

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