Help understanding

ainzerillo

So, I was on an under 1200 calorie a day diet and realized (through the help of this forum) that I wasn't eating enough for weight loss. So, last Tuesday I increased my caloric intake to what is recommended for me to lose 1 lb. a week. I fully expected to see an increase in weight before losing anything as my body adapts to the new diet. And, yes, I had gained a pound as of Saturday morning.

But, over the weekend I did an 11 mile hike with a 35 lb. pack. I did 8 miles on Saturday and 3 miles on Sunday. I increased my caloric intake as I knew I would be burning a ton of calories. My food profile is public if you want to check it out. I get on the scale this morning and I am up 5 lbs. from Saturday.

Please help me understand how this happens.

Zichu

Well on Saturday you burned that many calories, so I took off the amount of calories you burnt from the amount of calories you were meant to eat. I then took off the remaining calories you didn't eat and if I worked this out right, you technically only ate 752 calories. If you didn't exercise and left that amount of calories on that day, you wouldn't of reached your goal.

Now I could see these being the possibilities:

1) The amount of calories you actually burnt isn't accurate.
2) You maybe had a bit too much sodium and you are storing too much water?

I gained like 4lb overnight and it was because I had too much sodium, so it was holding on to whatever what I had drank. I heard you needed to drink more water to get rid of it, so I did and the next day I lost all the weight I had gained from water.

MinnieInMaine

I think Zichu is partly right. Starvation mode doesn't tend to kick in THAT quickly...but I do think there's a strong possibility that you're retaining water. Assuming hiking with that much weight isn't normal for you, your muscles are probably sore today. You can pretty much guarantee any time your muscle are sore, you're retaiing water. When you start exercising or add something new and more intense to your activity, this puts stress on the muscles that are working harder and or differently than usual. As part of the natural healing process, this tissue then retains water.

Keep eating right and being active and up your water a bit for the next couple days (any any other time you do extra activity) and I'm sure it'll be gone by the end of the week. Also, if you're not already tracking sodium, add it to your food diary.

ainzerillo

Thank you. Yes, my muscles are sore. I'm not used to hiking 11 miles with 35 pounds. I'll kick up the water and resume my work out routine tomorrow. I was too sore to hit it today.

ainzerillo

WOW WOW... I just modified my diary to include Soduim. I was -1,754 for that day. Way over my sodium limit. I must be retaining a bunch of water. I need to keep track and monitor this for the next few days.

Thank you for pointing this out!!!!!