Weight gain after longer jog?

horsehockey
horsehockey Posts: 24 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Normally I jog a few miles, every other day, and along with the calorie counting here have been seeing results for the most part.

Yesterday, after a much longer jog than normal (4.2 miles), I wake this morning to actually find a weight GAIN of about 4 lbs. This is after being under my calorie goal for the day by a significant amount (1600 once the exercise was factored in)

Anyone else ever see something like this happen? Feels good to be able to go that far, but this is a bit disheartening.

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Water retention as your body repairs itself from a harder than usual workout. It's not a problem.

    For the life of me, I'll never understand why people on this site weigh themselves so often and fret over the smallest of weight fluctuations. My scale has a 7lb swing depending on time of day, exercise, and food intake. It's not an issue
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Yep, just water - there's no way you gained 4lbs of fat overnight. :smile:

    I am constantly mixing up my workouts, and my scale fluctuates up and down all the time - I weigh daily because I find it fascinating rather that frustrating to see how the numbers change (or don't change sometimes) on a daily basis. I see the biggest drops on the scale after several rest days, because there's no stress on the body from workouts.

    But I see the best CHANGES to my body with consistent workouts. Don't let the scale boss you around too much - keep track of your measurements and how your clothes are fitting. Progress often shows there despite what the scale says.

    And nice job on the 4 mile run! :bigsmile:
  • AsellusReborn
    AsellusReborn Posts: 1,112 Member
    Normally I jog a few miles, every other day, and along with the calorie counting here have been seeing results for the most part.

    Yesterday, after a much longer jog than normal (4.2 miles), I wake this morning to actually find a weight GAIN of about 4 lbs. This is after being under my calorie goal for the day by a significant amount (1600 once the exercise was factored in)

    Anyone else ever see something like this happen? Feels good to be able to go that far, but this is a bit disheartening.


    Am I reading that right - you were 1600 calories under your goal after your exercise was factored in? What was your goal?


    And yeah, unless you consumed 14,000 calories beyond your maintenance cals yesterday it's not fat :) Long runs can make you sore and make your muscles retain water to heal; it's normal. I don't weight myself for a few days after my long runs.
  • horsehockey
    horsehockey Posts: 24 Member
    Am I reading that right - you were 1600 calories under your goal after your exercise was factored in? What was your goal?

    Yep. A typical day for me is supposed to be 1870 calories + about 950 for the jog = 2820 - about 1300 calories actually consumed = 1520 calories left over.

    Thanks for the replies folks!
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    Normally I jog a few miles, every other day, and along with the calorie counting here have been seeing results for the most part.

    Yesterday, after a much longer jog than normal (4.2 miles), I wake this morning to actually find a weight GAIN of about 4 lbs. This is after being under my calorie goal for the day by a significant amount (1600 once the exercise was factored in)

    Anyone else ever see something like this happen? Feels good to be able to go that far, but this is a bit disheartening.

    I have had that happen on many occasion, it is fluid retention.

    As you gradually get used to, say running four miles, you will have less and less fluid retention, but it may return as you lengthen your distances, until again, you begin to get used to that.

    The fluid retention definitely reduces as you run those distances more and more.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    Normally I jog a few miles, every other day, and along with the calorie counting here have been seeing results for the most part.

    Yesterday, after a much longer jog than normal (4.2 miles), I wake this morning to actually find a weight GAIN of about 4 lbs. This is after being under my calorie goal for the day by a significant amount (1600 once the exercise was factored in)

    Anyone else ever see something like this happen? Feels good to be able to go that far, but this is a bit disheartening.

    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.
  • nowakkk
    nowakkk Posts: 38 Member
    Hi.

    This happened to me too. I ran 13 miles on Saturday and 10 Sunday and I woke up this morning 7lbs heavier from last Thursday. I've been doing some research because I was nervous. That would be mean since July, I am up a total of 10 lbs. For someone that is consistent during the week with my diet and does a heavy amount of exercise on the weekends, it all just doesn't seem right.

    From reading posts, they are suggesting that muscles grasp onto any water to repair the muscles after a longer jog. I also consumed many more carbs to keep my energy levels higher for these last 2 jogs.

    I'm going to monitor for the next few days to see if it comes down. I'm crossing my fingers I am back to 130 by the end of the week.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Water retention as your body repairs itself from a harder than usual workout. It's not a problem.

    For the life of me, I'll never understand why people on this site weigh themselves so often and fret over the smallest of weight fluctuations. My scale has a 7lb swing depending on time of day, exercise, and food intake. It's not an issue

    /end thread, listen to this man

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