Weight Gain During That Time of the Week #LongRunProblems

_Waffle_

It happens every weekend. I do a long run which is so much fun and then comes the weight loading. This generally bumps my calorie requirements up to 5,000+ for that day. I try to get pretty close to that which requires you to eat all the food. Everything you can think of until you're nearly tired of eating food. A good bit of this food is carbs which of course just soaks up the water like a sponge. Then couple that with muscles that are in recovery and it's really easy to stack on 5 pounds or more in just a day even if you're 1,000 calories under your goal for the day. I think I've just about given up weighing myself Monday - Wednesday since it takes a few days for that to drop off.

I wonder if part of this response is from vasopressin? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasopressin) This would make sense since I easily lose 5 - 7 pounds of water weight during the long run. Your body's response to the rapid water loss would naturally be to release more vasopressin and preserve the fluids you have left. Basically "Stop draining out the kidneys. You're losing tons through sweating."

http://m.runnersworld.com/health/why-do-i-retain-fluid-after-long-runs

If your ADH level is increased by your exercise, you hang onto every drop until your body is satisfied that you are not about to deplete your water store; then you begin to urinate the excess water as the ADH level decreases and your urine output increases. It looks like that process takes one to three days for you.

Those of you that experience this just forget about weighing in a few days after your long run. There's no need to worry about water weight from that time of the week. Just keep doing what you know you should be doing and your body will eventually release these excess fluids.