How Did I Gain So Much Weight On Vacation?

PugBug20

Hi, all. Last night, I returned home from a four-day vacation to the beach. Mind you, before vacation, I had been doing awesome for two months: I had lost a total of 13 pounds, I never ate a calorie over my 1,200 a day limit, I exercised for an hour a day at least six days a week, etc., so on vacation, I allowed myself to indulge. I did not want to go all out and lose all of my progress, so I brought my own food and ate the same breakfast, lunch, and snacks as I do at home and made dinner my cheat meal each day. I will admit that I did some serious damage at dinner (and when I say serious, I mean serious, which I am not proud of), but I was honest about the calories I had consumed (none of the restaurants provided nutritional information, but I estimated as best as I could). I didn't drink my calories, either (all I drank was water and diet soda). Our hotel did not have a gym, so I was unable to do my usual workout, but I walked the entire boardwalk and back (about four miles in total) each day, so it wasn't like I was just lying around the entire time (I know walking doesn't burn a ton of calories, but it's still something). When I got on the scale this morning, I was expecting to see a three pound weight gain (which wasn't ideal considering my goal was to maintain, but it wasn't anything I couldn't deal with), but to my shock, I had gained six pounds in just four days. I know I over-indulged and consumed about triple the amount of calories I do on a regular basis, but there is no way I ate 5,200 calories a day (realistically, I ate about 3,000 calories a day, which I am not proud of and is by no means good, but it's far from 5,200). How did I gain so much weight on vacation? I should also mention that I am expecting my monthly visitor within the next few days (TMI), so could that have anything to do with it? Please help, I feel like a failure and I am so ashamed of myself.

zoeysasha37

Most of that is likely water weight. give it a few days continue to drink your water, and I bet it will go down some.

Liftng4Lis

I agree, its just water retention. Give it a couple of days and all will be good!

higgins8283801

Your uterus is full of a lot of fluid right now. Women always gain right before their period because of the buildup of "stuff". Reweigh once your period ends and I bet you will be around what you expected.

He1loKitty

Your uterus is full of a lot of fluid right now. Women always gain right before their period because of the buildup of "stuff". Reweigh once your period ends and I bet you will be around what you expected.

Gross.

Kalikel

If you flew, you may have retained water. If you ate foods with a lot of sodium (you did), that will make you retain water. You may have a period coming (edit: I re-read and you DO!) which would add tons of water. A few pounds will come off naturally as you get home and start drinking water. You'll probably drop like 6-7 pounds of just water weight.

The other way you gained - you ate a lot. You took in more calories than you used up. Giving it a cute name like "cheat meal" or "cheat day" won't change the fact that it's overeating. If you do it every day, you're going to gain weight. So, that's my guess about how you gained. I don't know, of course!

You had yummy food on vacation and took a break from your diet. You aren't the first and you won't be the last. It's a setback, not the end of the world. You can re-lose whatever you gained and then just keep on truckin.

The important question is: Was it good? (Because if it sucked or was Meh, then those are like crappy pounds. If it was good, they're justifiably earned pounds. The latter are easier to lose...said some study, somewhere. )

CupcakesMom2

Did you get sunburned? That might be another reason to retain water.

CleanUpWhatIMessedUp

This happens to me sometimes when I overeat too. You didn't really gain that much weight. It will be back to normal in a couple of days. It would be incredibly difficult to actually gain 6 pounds in the span of a few days.

Iron_Feline

Your uterus is full of a lot of fluid right now. Women always gain right before their period because of the buildup of "stuff". Reweigh once your period ends and I bet you will be around what you expected.

Gross.

And also wrong. :noway:

Cc215

Don't panic. I did it earlier in the month. A week off on holiday was half a stone weight gain. I dropped two pounds two days back on plan. And then quickly dropped the rest so that after 5 days I was back at preholiday weight. That was obviously half a stone of water my body was happy to dump!

The way I see it - this was a two week set back on my grand weightless plan (one week of eating and drinking - especially the drinking), and one week of recovery. Definitely worth it and nothing to worry about.

higgins8283801

Your uterus is full of a lot of fluid right now. Women always gain right before their period because of the buildup of "stuff". Reweigh once your period ends and I bet you will be around what you expected.

Gross.

And also wrong. :noway:

How is it wrong? Your body builds up a lining in case a embryo implants. If there is none you shed it. The lining is full of blood, tissue and water. So how exactly is it wrong?

Iron_Feline

Your uterus is full of a lot of fluid right now. Women always gain right before their period because of the buildup of "stuff". Reweigh once your period ends and I bet you will be around what you expected.

Gross.

And also wrong. :noway:

How is it wrong? Your body builds up a lining in case a embryo implants. If there is none you shed it. The lining is full of blood, tissue and water. So how exactly is it wrong?

The comment that it is a lot, that it is full of fluid.

It is between 3-12 teaspoons of fluid that is then lost. I would hardly call that a lot.

So yes. Wrong.

Patrice120

Flying makes you retain water. In a couple days it will probably reverse itself.

sarahsedai

Your uterus is full of a lot of fluid right now. Women always gain right before their period because of the buildup of "stuff". Reweigh once your period ends and I bet you will be around what you expected.

Gross.

And also wrong. :noway:

How is it wrong? Your body builds up a lining in case a embryo implants. If there is none you shed it. The lining is full of blood, tissue and water. So how exactly is it wrong?

The comment that it is a lot, that it is full of fluid.

It is between 3-12 teaspoons of fluid that is then lost. I would hardly call that a lot.

So yes. Wrong.

besides, it's water retention that causes the weight gain, not lbs of 'stuff'.

hgycta

Most of it is probably water retention since it's near your TOM, and especially considering the excessive amounts of sodium you must have consumed at those dinners. Eating out at restaurants always result in my diary ending in more sodium than recommended, and that's if I'm good and eat within calories. When I eat a little more, the sodium is hopeless. Add up several days of vacation and that is A LOT of salt for your body to handle most likely, and it will be sensitive.
I would give it about a week, until your TOM is over, and then weigh yourself. In the meantime, go back to your regular eating patterns before the vacation, and begin exercising again. It usually takes about two to three days to see the results of your eating behaviors anyways. You'll probably still gain about two pounds (some of it may be muscle mass since you were walking a lot), but even if it somehow doesn't completely go away, don't fret. It was one vacation, lesson learned, nothing healthy eating and exercise can't undo. We all need our breaks

hgycta

Oh, and in addition to my previous response, I would like to add that Carb Loading may have been a possibility as well, depending on what type of foods you actually consumed within this time. Going off memory, I believe if you eat within 60-70% (at least) of your calories from carbs, your body will retain more water. I learned this in my nutrition class from briefly reading a chapter of my textbook, I'm sure you could do more research about it online!
But either way, it could be a lot worse. At least you're catching it early

seltzermint555

Water retention. It happens. That's life. Nothing to be ashamed about.

This.

My husband and I go on a lot of weekend road trips of 2-3 days with more indulgences than normal. That's what usually happens to us. For whatever reason he usually experiences it even more than I do. For example when we went away for Memorial Day weekend, on the day after our trip I was up 3 lb and he was up 9 lb. Within a week we were both back to our pre-trip weights and the following week we both saw small losses. It was water retention, not some mega fail.

DeeJayShank

Oh, and in addition to my previous response, I would like to add that Carb Loading may have been a possibility as well, depending on what type of foods you actually consumed within this time. Going off memory, I believe if you eat within 60-70% (at least) of your calories from carbs, your body will retain more water. I learned this in my nutrition class from briefly reading a chapter of my textbook, I'm sure you could do more research about it online!
But either way, it could be a lot worse. At least you're catching it early

^^this^^

Bodybuilders carb-load 24-36 hours before a show to increase the size and weight of their muscles, which improves their muscle size and physique.

Carbs increase glycogen stores in muscles, which causes increased water retention, which makes your weight go up.

Increased sodium has a similar effect.

I have gained as much as 10 pounds after a vacation of eating lots of bad foods, and yet after the water weight disappeared in a week, I had only gained about 1 extra pound of bodyweight after a week of eating like a pig.

You are going to be just fine.

DeeJayShank

Water retention. It happens. That's life. Nothing to be ashamed about.

This.

My husband and I go on a lot of weekend road trips of 2-3 days with more indulgences than normal. That's what usually happens to us. For whatever reason he usually experiences it even more than I do. For example when we went away for Memorial Day weekend, on the day after our trip I was up 3 lb and he was up 9 lb. Within a week we were both back to our pre-trip weights and the following week we both saw small losses. It was water retention, not some mega fail.

Yep, when you have a weekend like that, it will increase your leptin levels, which actually makes it easier to lose weight the following week. Even hardcore fitness people implement cheat meals for this purpose.