rapid or fluctuation

jess1992uga

So on my 21st bday I had bday cake for first time in 6 yrs (recovering from ED). Before that had maintained my wt for 5 days (from tues and then weighed Fri, sat, Sun). I had eaten a lot of my forbidden foods during that time and was feeling great. Then Sun had the cake and next day up a lb. It's now Wed I kept eating forbidden foods and the lb is still there. Should I accept its real weight gain at this point? Could a week catch up to you overnight? I was so excited to be able to eat these foods and not gain. Want to hold onto hope its a flux....but don't want to live in denial either. So should I accept that I gained thanks.to cake and these foods or hold on to thinking flux? I have been eating later than usual since Sun too...
I am trying to gain but it just scares me if weekly gain can really happen overnight...

fivethreeone

You state that you are recovering from an ED, so you need to realize it's unhealthy to have "forbidden fods" or be so tied to the scale that a one pound difference concerns you. The time that you eat has nothing to do weight your weight either. If you are trying to gain, this is a good thing and you shouldn't question it, just like if you were trying to lose, you would accept any loss.

jess1992uga

Thank you for your reply..but I'm looking for actual answer to my question. I am working to decrease my fear foods I just want to know whether bodies can really gain week worth overnight or if overnight nature of this mean fluctuation? Either way still eating my meal plan. Please ignore the ED part of this when answering...reason didn't want to share.

threshkreen

I agree that you need to be careful how you feel about food if you are coming back from an eating disorder. Labeling any food "Forbidden" is a sure way to set yourself up for failure.

Don't view any food as forbidden, just eat a nice healthy diet with lots of veggies, fruit and adequate protein. If you are emerging from an eating disorder I would hope that you have a nutritionist working with you.

That being said, sometimes if you are eating carbs from flour or some other kind of bulk, your weight gain could very well just be in your gut or in water gain. Don't stress so much over one lb...you said you were trying to gain. If you are really read into that goal that l lb should be a good thing for you!

Good luck and much success.

waldo56

Sure, its really easy to gain WEIGHT really fast, especially when eating sugary/carb things, but not FAT.

Carbs, in the form of glycogen, is stored within your muscles and liver to be used as fuel. Water binds to glycogen at a really high rate (something like 3:1), so it doesn't take a whole lot of carbs for your weight to spike a bit. That water will be bound to the glycogen within your muscles, making your muscles appear slightly larger.

However it takes >3500 calories above maintenence to gain a pound of fat. You really, really, really have to stuff your face and be trying over the course of several days to gain a pound of fat. Fat people get fat over the course of years. Even when bulking, the fat gain is virtually imperceptible, and certainly doesn't happen overnight.

The way glycogen works the more you have, the more your body burns of it and the less fat it burns. In order to keep that 1 lb of gain, you'll have to keep eating higher than usual carbs to feed your bodies higher carb burn rate.

When people switch between cutting, maintaining, and bulking, its not unusual to see rapid several pound swings as your body switches between various glycogen maintence points. When exiting a calorie deficit and maintianing, you can expect a good 2-3 pound gain within a week or two due to glycogen. In general it will make you look better, muscles getting a bit larger, bodyfat staying the same = appearing leaner.

Refeeds, done while cutting while lean in order to prevent hormone crashing, are short but huge carb intakes. They don't stop you from losing fat overall, but for a couple days the scale will be way up, done right you'll gain 2-3-4 lbs during a refeed, only to lose it all, plus more, within 3 days or so.

Understanding glycogen and its effects is the absolute key to understanding the scale, it it makes up the vast majority of day to day change. It explains why people starting low carb diets lose several pounds in the first couple weeks (hint, its not fat). It explains why the scale goes up and down as you change intake levels. It explains why the scale goes way up after cheat weekend, only to be back down to lower than where you started by wednesday. It explains why just a little "junk" causes huge change on the scale. It explains why people gain a little weight when they start strength training, and why their muscles get a little bigger despite a calorie deficit. And it is absolutely key to understand that glycogen IS NOT FAT. They are nothing alike. More glycogen makes you appear leaner. Glycogen is not stored in big deposites like fat is, it is between and within the cells within your muscles, making it indistinguishable from muscle.

The scale is not a tool that you should be using in the short term unless you understand glycogen and its role in your body.

zyxst

Water weight gain from food (re: sodium) usually lasts about a week for me. WW due to my period lasts 2 weeks. Don't know if that helps you, but at least there's someone else who holds onto water weight.

michail71

Everything Waldo said.

Besides, from a thermodynamic perspective you would have had to consume an excess of 3,500 calories and process it all in one day to gain a pound overnight. That's not likely.

We can't violate the laws of thermodynamics.

Graelwyn75

You cannot blame that gain on the cake etc, just because it happened to show up after the fact.
You are going to gain weight, that is the whole idea of recovery, and just because that gain might happen to show after eating a 'forbidden food' does not mean it is related to that food. It could be from what you ate last week. You should be simply focussing on making your weekly target gain, not on what causes that gain or you are simply not going to recover from this. You are still very much stuck in that scale fixation, rather than focussing on the good time you had on your birthday and the memories that has created.

acpgee

Waldo's post was great, but here is another explanation of the same phenomenon

http://www.justinowings.com/understanding-bodyweight-and-glycogen-de/

kaykaylyn

Sure, its really easy to gain WEIGHT really fast, especially when eating sugary/carb things, but not FAT.

Carbs, in the form of glycogen, is stored within your muscles and liver to be used as fuel. Water binds to glycogen at a really high rate (something like 3:1), so it doesn't take a whole lot of carbs for your weight to spike a bit. That water will be bound to the glycogen within your muscles, making your muscles appear slightly larger.

However it takes >3500 calories above maintenence to gain a pound of fat. You really, really, really have to stuff your face and be trying over the course of several days to gain a pound of fat. Fat people get fat over the course of years. Even when bulking, the fat gain is virtually imperceptible, and certainly doesn't happen overnight.

j way glycogen works the more you have, the more your body burns of it and the less fat it burns. In order to keep that 1 lb of gain, you'll have to keep eating higher than usual carbs to feed your bodies higher carb burn rate.

When people switch between cutting, maintaining, and bulking, its not unusual to see rapid several pound swings as your body switches between various glycogen maintence points. When exiting a calorie deficit and maintianing, you can expect a good 2-3 pound gain within a week or two due to glycogen. In general it will make you look better, muscles getting a bit larger, bodyfat staying the same = appearing leaner.

Refeeds, done while cutting while lean in order to prevent hormone crashing, are short but huge carb intakes. They don't stop you from losing fat overall, but for a couple days the scale will be way up, done right you'll gain 2-3-4 lbs during a refeed, only to lose it all, plus more, within 3 days or so.

Understanding glycogen and its effects is the absolute key to understanding the scale, it it makes up the vast majority of day to day change. It explains why people starting low carb diets lose several pounds in the first couple weeks (hint, its not fat). It explains why the scale goes up and down as you change intake levels. It explains why the scale goes way up after cheat weekend, only to be back down to lower than where you started by wednesday. It explains why just a little "junk" causes huge change on the scale. It explains why people gain a little weight when they start strength training, and why their muscles get a little bigger despite a calorie deficit. And it is absolutely key to understand that glycogen IS NOT FAT. They are nothing alike. More glycogen makes you appear leaner. Glycogen is not stored in big deposites like fat is, it is between and within the cells within your muscles, making it indistinguishable from muscle.

The scale is not a tool that you should be using in the short term unless you understand glycogen and its role in your body.

Thanks for this.

guidothecat

I agree with Waldo and graelywn...and you know I adore you my dear...but throw the darn scale away! (as I have been telling for forever)..either trust in your team, and your god, or forever more feed ED? You are the only one that can make this choice for you, and not to be harsh either....but either embrace recovery ( and yes, you will gain some weight) or embrace ED and live the next however many years you have left in ED's mind screw depths? it is your decision after all?

so I say (as I do always to you) throw the darn scale out and embrace recovery? I really want to see you in a year going all "I beat ED's *kitten*" instead of what I see now? you are strong and young, and have your struggles, not discounting those, but YOU need to decide which path you are going to step on..either recovery or ED...your choice?

Graelwyn75

I agree with Waldo and graelywn...and you know I adore you my dear...but throw the darn scale away! (as I have been telling for forever)..either trust in your team, and your god, or forever more feed ED? You are the only one that can make this choice for you, and not to be harsh either....but either embrace recovery ( and yes, you will gain some weight) or embrace ED and live the next however many years you have left in ED's mind screw depths? it is your decision after all?

so I say (as I do always to you) throw the darn scale out and embrace recovery? I really want to see you in a year going all "I beat ED's *kitten*" instead of what I see now? you are strong and young, and have your struggles, not discounting those, but YOU need to decide which path you are going to step on..either recovery or ED...your choice?

Wonderfully said, and I totally agree.
You only have two possible paths now.
I know which one I would choose.
It is a miserable existence, being confined in the chains of an eating disorder and an obsession with that silly number on a manmade object. You are so much more than that, and you really need to see this.
Find another outlet. I wasted several decades with eating disorders. One day, you look in the mirror and realise how many years and how much opportunity for joy you have missed.

apothecarist

You got some GREAT advice and answers here.

If you really must weigh yourself, do it once a week only. Seeing day to day fluctuations will only hinder your recovery from the ED.

MrsFowler1069

In regard to your request for an answer, I think Waldo covered that very nicely.

What I would also like you to know is that my daughter and I literally cried happy tears for you and your beautiful heart when you ate that cake at the restaurant. We read bits of your blog and were unbelievably proud of you for taking on your freedom foods. We rooted for you taking a step closer to being a veterinarian and basked in the warmth in your friendship with your cake-mate and friend.

I just want to say to you that we know you can do this. You are extremely intelligent and funny and you have the ability to look forward...sometimes. Most of the people on this site are not here with the same specific goals as you, but many of us have had an unhealthy relationship with food and have had to learn (sometimes the hard way) to think and live differently to get different results.

In this, you aren't different. You can do it. I hope you are continuing to work with your nutritionist and to beat back the fears that have been tying you down. This pound of gain, if it is indeed real, is a victory, dear. And if it is a temporary fluctuation, then it's a shadow of victories to come. I hope you'll let yourself concentrate on getting healthy and fit, on fueling your body, and on recognizing these obsessions and fears for what they really are...lies.

Just thinking of you and wanted you to know. Take care of yourself.

moss11

Some really helpful replies, particularly the last one! There are I imagine, many on here who are dealing with or trying to recover from some type of ed or another.
I do agree carbs will make your weight increase sharper and faster than it actually is. Water retention will be more obvious when you start to eat a bit more carbs. Once your body is used to it, it will level out and as others mentioned your muscles will have filled out a little and your body might appreciate the hydration.
It can be hard to be objective to your situation when a lot of us have minds and bodies that work differently from yours.
It seems to me you are trying hard to conquer your issues, taking advice and asking for support, that is definitely the way forward. One day at a time, and share your deeper feelings with those around you that you trust. We sometimes see things as only black or white but sharing, listening and questioning our thoughts can be quite enlightening. You have already being doing that and are open to opinions by posting on here, which is very positive!

chimp517

I usually weigh 6-10 lbs more at night then when I woke up but I never keep it. When I bulk I hope to gain a pound a week if with a caloric surplus around 800 calories

jess1992uga

You guys are all so sweet. Sadly I let some of my fears as well as financial burdens cause a slip recently but I refuse to let the slip be a relapse. My hope and dream is to inspire others with an ED to recover. I want to be an Animal-Assisted Social Worker at an ED residential treatment. I will know the fear, the tears, and the strength it takes to overcome. I have suffered from every single eating disorder and want to beat them all once and for all. Your posts and words of encouragement are what I needed to read today to remember why to fight. Have meeting with dietician on Thursday to get back on track. Prayers are welcomed