water weight, wtf?

sadiebea25

I'm sick of hearing about water weight - if you lift weights you'll gain water weight, if you eat salt you'll gain water weight, if it's your time of the month you'll gain water weight. Water weight, water weight, water weight! To me it seems like weight is weight, and I'm pretty sure I have "water weight" on my body at all times, since I eat over my sodium every day (I love salt!), and I started exercising. And our bodies are made up of mostly water. I just gained back a few lbs. after a bad weekend and my husband said "oh it's just water weight" so it just makes it sound like my horrible weekend was OK and that magical water weight will just evaporate, or what ever it does, and I'll be down again. Water weight seems to be an excuse for weight gain that is tossed around too much. Water, fat, muscle, whatever, I still want to lose it. Ok, rant over

wannakimmy

lol Feel better?

yes, weight is weight imo

ninerbuff

Which is why people shouldn't weigh daily if they live and die by the scale. You want to know if if your losing fat? Let your clothes and mirror be your measuring mark.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

SezxyStef

I think you need to smoke a cigarette and relax :smokin:

x2 *hands op a smoke*

wanna get away from the water weight...stay away from the scale...concentrate on inches and pics for comparison and BF%.

sadiebea25

I think you need to smoke a cigarette and relax :smokin:

lol, not a bad idea :smokin:

jec285

I think you need to smoke a cigarette and relax :smokin:

lol, not a bad idea :smokin:

This is now a smoking thread :smokin:

leggup

I think it's helpful to know when I'm carrying extra water weight, and when I've stagnated because I have been less diligent. Then again, I am one of those weigh-every-day people who wants as much data as possible.

richardheath

Thing about water is that it fluctuates. Gained 2 lb over the weekend? Unless you ate 7,000 calories over maintenance, it isn't fat: it's just water. Me? I want to lose fat, retain muscle and ignore water.

Now, hand me a smoke!

rml_16

So, when on a rare occasion I go to a restaurant and eat a meal with 3,000 mg of sodium when most normal days I eat around 1,000 and the scale shows a 5-pound gain the next day, I gained fat?

UsedToBeHusky

Yes, your body carries water weight all the time. Different things can cause that water to fluctuate. If you want to beat yourself up for a bad weekend, then be our guests, but know that most of that gain is water.

auddii

I'm sick of hearing about water weight - if you lift weights you'll gain water weight, if you eat salt you'll gain water weight, if it's your time of the month you'll gain water weight. Water weight, water weight, water weight! To me it seems like weight is weight, and I'm pretty sure I have "water weight" on my body at all times, since I eat over my sodium every day (I love salt!), and I started exercising. And our bodies are made up of mostly water. I just gained back a few lbs. after a bad weekend and my husband said "oh it's just water weight" so it just makes it sound like my horrible weekend was OK and that magical water weight will just evaporate, or what ever it does, and I'll be down again. Water weight seems to be an excuse for weight gain that is tossed around too much. Water, fat, muscle, whatever, I still want to lose it. Ok, rant over

I went on a trip and gained 7lbs over the weekend. I did not gain 7lbs of fat in 3 days. I came home and by the end of the week, I'd lost 9lbs. I did not lose 9lbs of fat in a week. I did however, lose 2lbs over the course of a week.

TriShamelessly

Thing about water is that it fluctuates. Gained 2 lb over the weekend? Unless you ate 7,000 calories over maintenance, it isn't fat: it's just water. Me? I want to lose fat, retain muscle and ignore water.

Now, hand me a smoke!

Amen!

jess17587

i don't know much about this area but i think you should just weigh your self every 2 weeks for 1 or 2 months and see a pattern of weight loss,gain or maintain and change your meal plan accordingly

Serah87

It is just water weight, which will come off quicker then fat weight. :bigsmile:

firstsip

Yeah, we do have water weight on our bodies at all times. However, it's only an excuse if it's someone is using it as such.

For many, it's an understanding of the basic human body, because water weight changes, leading to fluctuations on the scale that aren't actually an indicator of one's weight, bf%, etc.

For many, understanding "it's just water weight," keeps them sane and helps stop crash dieting when something causes a fluctuation, be it hormones, muscle soreness or sodium.

Thoth8

Carbs get converted into glycogen and stored in the muscle and liver. Glycogen is hydrophillic, and can absorb up 2x or 4x its weight in water depending on what article you read lol. Water weight is indeed not a big deal, however, too much water weight is usually a sign that you're eating too many carbs. I eat a lot of sodium (sea salt and himalayan salt) and I am still losing tons of water.

sadiebea25

So, when on a rare occasion I go to a restaurant and eat a meal with 3,000 mg of sodium when most normal days I eat around 1,000 and the scale shows a 5-pound gain the next day, I gained fat?

I'm not saying water weight doesn't exist, I just don't want it to be an excuse for me. I guess I feel like "oh it's just water weight" is the easy way out. I just need to stop having bad weekends! I'm thinking of only weighing once a month, I don't think I handle fluctuations well

:smokin: :smokin: :smokin:

jcallejabjj

Too much emphasis on water weight. Water will forever exist in the body. To lose it, is just temporary. You'll hear fighters talk about losing water weight to make weight, to dehydrate. Eliminate it from your weight management if you are trying to go for the long term. I'm prepping for a tournament and I'm trying to lose as much water weight as I can to meet weigh in requirements. All that water is gonna come right back after weigh ins, re-hydrate. Not healthy to incorporate it to long term weight management.

rml_16

So, when on a rare occasion I go to a restaurant and eat a meal with 3,000 mg of sodium when most normal days I eat around 1,000 and the scale shows a 5-pound gain the next day, I gained fat?

I'm not saying water weight doesn't exist, I just don't want it to be an excuse for me. I guess I feel like "oh it's just water weight" is the easy way out. I just need to stop having bad weekends! I'm thinking of only weighing once a month, I don't think I handle fluctuations well

:smokin: :smokin: :smokin:

If you're consistently losing, it doesn't matter. An excuse for what? i don't understand what you're upset about.

Mav3rick54

I am one of the weirdos that like to weigh daily so I can see what my body is doing. I have been at this for 7 months now and I KNOW my weight will go up 2-3 lbs every weekend, because that is when I tend to eat higher sodium foods. I lose it in a day or two. To keep things in perspective, one 16 oz bottle of water weighs one pound. The point is, the body naturally fluctuates based a multitude of variables and one cant get caught up in the day to day changes. It is the trend over time that matters.

BurntCoffee

I was just thinking this same thing. LOL. Water weight seems like the best explanation when there is no other explanation. Either way I'd rather say "ohhhh it's just water weight" so I don't freak out and have a baby over it.