Does being sick make you gain weight?

chrismark1usa

I don't get it. I counted, weighed, and measured everything that went into my mouth this past week, and I still gained a pound. I'm 50 and the weight just won't come off. I felt good all week. I feel like my waist is getting smaller, yet I gain weight this week. I thought you had to eat 3500 extra calories to gain 1 pound. I kept it to 1200 each day, all week long. Why did I gain? UGH! I'm so frustrated. I'm 5"8" and very active. I forgot to mention, I had a terrible head cold. Could that be the reason? I probably have 3 pound of mucus in my sinuses.

jbrowne83

Hey, I just had this same thing happen to me. Only I gained 8 pounds in about a week. No idea why, I have kept working out and am not eating anymore food. Only thing I can think of is how much more water I have been drinking with the cold medicine and I suppose with the sodium from chicken soup and what not I may be retaining water. There is just literally no way I could have gained that much weight but the scale doesn't lie! I wouldn't get discouraged over one pound, it is normal for the body to fluctuate a few pounds from day to day, as long as you feel better and notice a difference in how your clothes fit then it is definitely working! You are right about the 3500 calories but not all calories are the same. 1200 calories of salty, fatty foods will obviously be metabolised by your body differently than 1200 calories of veggies. Good luck on your weight loss!

papastu

maybe 1200 a day just isnt enough, try more

michellebd1980

I'd say to up your protein and realize that muscle weighs more than fat... So, while you're gaining muscle the scale could fluctuate a few pounds here and there. Hang in there!

Li_Willi

maybe 1200 a day just isnt enough, try more

This.

Crawflowr

one week isn't really enough time to make any assessment of weight loss, your weight will naturally fluctuates as much as 3 lbs in the course of a day, so if you weighed yourself at the start of the week at a low point and at the end of the week at a high point you could have actually lost 2lbs and you wouldn't see it. Scales just aren't that accurate and the body is not stable. Keep up the healthy eating for at least 1 month before making any adjustments. So many things cause fluctuations, such as the time of the month (for women) and water weight. Hold in there. My scales only weigh to the nearest 1lb so my weight zig zags down, I usually hit a new low one day and the next Im back up a couple of pounds but gradually over time it is dropping. When I draw out the graph in excel I'm amazed how steady the decline is.

justle

you know i had a really bad cold and chest/sinus infection last 10 days but i was still really cautious about what i ate yet i gained a pound! maybe its a defense mechanism? well thats what i'm telling myself anyway lol!

i've already lost back that pound though so i'm happy.