Disappointing setback: Is this normal?

Spangler413

I had one day of drinking and going above my calorie limit for a friend's birthday celebration, and I gained almost 5 lbs after working very hard for weeks to lose it. I know that I can't let little setbacks like this throw me off course, and I will continue doing what I can to keep losing weight, but it's very disappointing to watch so much progress go to waste in just one day. Can anyone explain how this could happen? I only went about 1000 calories over my limit with alcohol.

pineapple1989

How long did you leave it from the birthday to weighing yourself? It could be water weight if you had a lot of sodium etc

cmriverside

Alcohol does that to me too.

Give it a few days back on track, and the weight will drop back off. Alcohol is bad in a lot of ways . . . not the least of which is water retention while your body struggles to process the poison.

DrMAvDPhD

You're just bloated from the alcohol. There is no way you put on 5 lb of fat in one night. Don't worry about it, drink lots of water and I'm sure you'll go back down in a few days.

My weight fluctuates about 3 lb from day to day. If I drink, it goes up at least 4 the next morning. It is back down by the next day.

auuudriana

In order to gain 5 lbs you would have had to drink/eat 17,500 excess calories. It is most likely just water weight and will come off soon.

ladyraven68

I had one day of drinking and going above my calorie limit for a friend's birthday celebration, and I gained almost 5 lbs after working very hard for weeks to lose it. I know that I can't let little setbacks like this throw me off course, and I will continue doing what I can to keep losing weight, but it's very disappointing to watch so much progress go to waste in just one day. Can anyone explain how this could happen? I only went about 1000 calories over my limit with alcohol.

It takes an excess of 3500 calories to gain 1lb of fat.
unless you consumed 5x3500 = 17500 over maintenance it is not fat, it's just water retention.

Stay away from the scales for a few days.

CTredsoxfan

give it a few days then weigh in again -its what i call "fake weight" dont weigh in everyday it can drive you mad

Spangler413

Thanks for the responses, folks. I'll check in again when I lose it.

myfitnessnmhoy

I'm gonna run with the herd here. Moo. Yes, what you just experienced is temporary gain, probably brought on by water retention due to the alcohol, and quite possibly also any extra sodium you picked up in the snacky foods commonly found at parties.

Drink an extra glass or two of water a day for a couple of days, then re-weigh. I bet most or all of the "gain" will vanish.

If you really overate, some of it might be genuine gain, but I bet it's not much.

cannonsky

In order for you to gain 1 pound you have to eat a surplus of 3500 calories. What you are seeing is simply water weight from eating/drink more than usually and likely higher sodium items... it will come back off. Try not to stress over it too much