Salt, water and weight

pscott822
pscott822 Posts: 16 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently did a 1.5 mile swim race in the ocean. I'm not a fast swimmer, so I spent two hours fighting the waves and swallowing lots of salt water. I weighed myself before the race. 213. I weighed myself later when I got back Home. ( I often weigh my self before and after running races to check hydration levels...So I guess I did the same out of habit. ) I hopped on the scale. 218.

What! I gained 5 pounds over the course of a race? I was baffled. Then I remembered that my tongue was slightly swollen at the end of the race. I then realized the impact of consuming (Unintentionally in this case) high amount of salt. It took several days for my weight to return to 213!

I had never realized how much salt causes us to retain extra fluid until my ocean race. I now am aware when I eat high salt food I delay normal weight loss numbers and remain artificially high. I had always thought that water weight was an exaggeration until I experienced it myself. I am glad to announce the water weight is gone and I resume losing. 211 and forward.

Replies

  • fxgs
    fxgs Posts: 41 Member
    A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds so it appears that you swallowed 1.67 gallons of salt water!!!!!
  • annie7hudds
    annie7hudds Posts: 199 Member
    Wow! It just shows what a difference it wil make.

    well done on your swim.
  • pscott822
    pscott822 Posts: 16 Member
    FXGS,
    I drank 5 half liter bottles of fresh water immediately after the race. I think I severely underestimated my need for water on this swim. I need to treat it more like a running race. If 1 gallon is 8 pounds. Then I drank 5/8 of a gallon. which sounds reasonably considering I drank 2.5 liters of fresh water afterward. I also had two beers and some ice cream afterward.
    :drinker:

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