Sodium and water retention

russellvolk

Hi gang,

I'm a 38 year old male, 6'1", 216 lbs. I know I shouldn't, but I weigh myself everyday. Yesterday, I was 215 lbs. Today I was 216 lbs. I ate about 2,000 calories yesterday, drank around 80 oz of water, burnt around 800 calories during exercising and when I woke up this morning, I was a pound heavier. I did have around 2,900 mg of sodium yesterday.

Could it be that I'm retaining water? It can't be fat, because I watch calories and macros, plus I burn off a lot of it. I'm just curious if I should cut down on sodium.

For example, last week me and my wife went out to sushi. I had 2 sashimi rolls. I woke up the next morning and I was 3 lbs heavier. I was pissed.

Could it be that my body is just prone to retaining water? What would you recommend?

Thanks

AmyRhubarb

I recommend either not weighing yourself daily, or getting used to seeing fluctuations like this if you continue to weigh daily. Nothing wrong with stepping on the scale every morning as long as you don't let the numbers mess with your head.

You said it yourself - it's not a fat gain, could be water, but if so, it will go back down, no big deal. Measurements and comparison photos are a much better way to see your progress as the scale will show you different numbers all the time.

I don't even track my sodium anymore. I did for a time, but I drink plenty of water, and I know when I've eaten high sodium foods I tend to drink a little more.

Weight loss isn't linear - watch the overall trend over time. Daily fluctuations will happen, it's totally normal.

russellvolk

Thanks for you response. This really doesn't mess with my head. I'm just trying to understand how my body works. If these kind of crazy fluctuations are caused by sodium, I have no problems reducing my levels of sodium. I'm just trying to understand why it's happening.

I do weigh myself daily. It's just something I've been doing for a while. I do however record my numbers once a week. I do take my pictures every 30 days, so there's something to compare to. I'm just trying get a better understanding of how my body works.