The impact of a dessert/treat

RosannaPrism

I recently met my goal weight and for the past couple of months I've been focusing on maintaining my weight at 105-110 pounds. I find that eating a piece of cake, even when it's within my total calorie budget, causes an overnight gain of 5-6 pounds, and then it takes me a week for it to return to my desired range. Is this normal?

MiNinaLisa

i usually have a weight gain of a pound or two if i'm over my calorie max, but only for a day or two. never a week. what type of cake are you having that does this to you? do you have gluten issues?

AnnPT77

Reasonably so.

If we're going along eating at relatively consistent levels of our macronutrients (protein-fats-carbs) and sodium/salt, then suddenly one day eat a bunch more carbs or sodium/salt than usual (even at the same calorie level), it's absolutely normal to add water weight, which is part of metabolizing those things. Once that metabolization is over, the water weight drops off again. The magnitude - i.e. how much water gain for how much extra carbs/sodium - seems to vary somewhat from one person to the next.

Almost always, a sudden big jump (or drop) on the scale is either water retention shifts, or digestive contents in transit. Unless we eat a *massively* unusual level of calories above maintenance, or *massively* change our activity level, big, sudden scale increases aren't fat gain.

In my book, water weight shifts or temporary digestive contents changes aren't worth worry about. They go away without doing anything more dramatic than returning to normal routine, as you've seen.

If you haven't already read it, this would be informative:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

P.S. I'm in year 5 of maintenance. Ooof, the number of times I've seen multi-pound overnight scale-weight increases . . . that drop away over the next few days, without taking special action! Not worth stressing over.

mylittlerainbow

My issue is more with trigger foods. There are certain things that I can eat that will leave me wanting more - not just of that food but of everything around. I have learned through my life what those are and dole those out to myself only at intervals and with logging to make sure I stay on track. Being on maintenance, I've let those things back into my life guardedly but do have to keep a grip - not because of the calories in that one item but because of what they do to me. In the past, they would lead to outright binges.

LoveyChar

I'm small like you, and if I gain 3 or so pounds in a day or two I don't need a scale to tell me that I did; I can see it in the puffiness under my eyes or in the way my shorts fit. So I can relate to your issue of "the cake." Occasionally I'll eat cake, chips...and sometimes I'm up the next day. If I am very particular, very watchful of my salt and/or sugar the next day usually the weight will come off within a day or two. Also a good sweat out run or workout will work wonders to get the excess water shed. I really believe it's just water in your case, my opinion.

sijomial

My normal for a piece of cake would be no impact at all - but I have a high calorie allowance and eat a high carb diet.

But my normal for a Chinese take away is a 5lb overnight gain which goes in a couple of days. For me salt is a far higher factor for triggering a water weight bounce.

As time goes by you learn what is your particular normal pattern of weight fluctuations and realise those fluctuations out of line with your calorie balance really don't matter. They can even be a source of amusement when you come back from holiday/vacation and see you have gained 10lbs in 10 days (salt, flying, alcohol, sun.....).

Jthanmyfitnesspal

@sijomial is right on it again. I find the figure to be high for just a piece of cake (5 out of 105 lbs). But, I try never to deny someone else's experience. Maybe the sugar causes you to retain water?

My experience is that, if I drink alcohol, I can see an unusual weight spike that can't be explained by the calories. And it usually goes away in another day or two. But never as large as 5% of my bodyweight!

mom23mangos

I rarely weigh myself because stuff like that drives me crazy, but when I did I used a trending app. Unless you are a super data person, maybe go to less frequent weighing now that you are in maintenance and use measurements and photos to base your progress more.

nxd10

It must be carbs and water. I have a small bit of ice cream every day with no change. And will eat a bit of cake any time I want it without noticing. But a big carb load always causes me to hold water.

I disagree with mom23mangos. I weight myself every day BECAUSE the weight fluctuations drive me crazy. If I only weighed once a month I'd worry I'd get a bad day. When I step on the scale every day only focus on trends.

4Phoenix

@AnnPT77 Excellent and insightful article that you wrote on scale weight. I'm maintaining a 1000 caloric deficit daily and see the scale hover on plateaus for days. I will keep in mind your comment "as long as you remain in deficit, you are losing fat". When I look at the trend line, it is a downward journey so I know that I'm losing fat over time. Congratulations on your 5 years of maintenance!

briscogun

If I have a high calorie meal with some adult beverages, especially if its fried foods with lots of sodium, I'll easily gain 3-4 lbs overnight. Now I don't eat 14,000 extra calories so I know its mostly water weight, and within a few days its usually back down to normal if I get my diet back on point. Treats don't trigger a weight gain for me as long as I'm within my goal, but the stuff above will. Everyone's body reacts different to different stimuli and inputs, you just have to learn your trigger points and not fret over them too much. If you like cake, eat some cake!

Also agree with @LoveyChar that working out the next day really helps me burn that extra glycogen in my system to work it out faster. A good 30 minute run really makes me feel lighter and better.

J72FIT

sijomial wrote: »

My normal for a piece of cake would be no impact at all - but I have a high calorie allowance and eat a high carb diet.

But my normal for a Chinese take away is a 5lb overnight gain which goes in a couple of days. For me salt is a far higher factor for triggering a water weight bounce.

As time goes by you learn what is your particular normal pattern of weight fluctuations and realise those fluctuations out of line with your calorie balance really don't matter. They can even be a source of amusement when you come back from holiday/vacation and see you have gained 10lbs in 10 days (salt, flying, alcohol, sun.....).

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