9lb Gain!!!!

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I have really debated with myself to post this or not but I am really curious to see what everyone thinks and their point of views. I have been doing really well with my weight loss all the eating right and exercising and as of March 19th I weighed in at 140.6. I was super excited because that puts me down 23lbs and over the halfway mark. My husband had been gone for 7weeks and with his return home I had decided to just eat what I wanted for the week but still do all my exercising. I worked out all week and burned 4700 calories. Friday came around a week later March 26th and like my usual Friday weigh in I got on the scale just to see the damage. I was thinking maybe 2-3lbs because I had still been working my butt off exercising but to my dismay the scale was up 9lbs in a week.:sad: Yes you heard me right the scale read 149lbs. I was so upset crying and so confused. I got on and off the scale but it was still reading the same thing and I even got on a second scale. I have not been back on either scale since then and don't plan on it till this Friday. I don't really understand how this is even possible. I got off track around Christmas time for about 6 weeks and I was not exercising or eating right. When I decided to get focused again and weigh myself at that time I had gained 7lbs in 6 weeks. That is why I am just so confused!!!!! How is it possible to gain 9lbs in one week? Someone please help me.

What I am wondering is if this is even possible? Has anyone had anything like this ever happen? I just want to know everyone's thoughts.
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Replies

  • carrieberrie
    carrieberrie Posts: 356 Member
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    I would say its water.
  • kateyb
    kateyb Posts: 138 Member
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    Was it TOM? I've gained 5lbs in 2 days just down to TOM before!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    could be a number of things, are you ah...um... backed up, it could be that along with water retention. it is almost impossible to put on 9 lbs in one week you would have to consume 31500 more calories than you burn. so if your maintenance cals are 1500 you would have to take in 6000 calories/day plus exercise calories to gain 9 pounds in one week.
  • becky123456
    becky123456 Posts: 75 Member
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    My weight fluctuates up and down because of water.. Especially at the time of the month - I gain lots of pounds and then it goes away.. Maybe it's the same for you?
  • usmcwifeb15
    usmcwifeb15 Posts: 470 Member
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    Not TOM that is not coming till next week. Backed up? No problem there either. There is no way I consumed that many calories plus I was exercising all week. Maybe it was water but that is a lot of water. You can see why I am so upset it just doesn't make any sense.
  • 8turboturtle8
    8turboturtle8 Posts: 239 Member
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    When I tend to give myself some slack and eat whatever I notice that there is alot of sodium involved. And I don't even really like "Salty" foods...it's just in there. So it is most likely that there is some water retention going on...and if you are even close to your TOM double whammy! Be sure to drink LOTS of water and flush all that sodium!!!
  • JayAlexander
    JayAlexander Posts: 268 Member
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    It happened to me! 8lb loss one week then an 8lb gain the next. I was now working out the gain week but I too expected like 2-3lb. I think it was just water weight though because I lost 5 of the 8lb the next two days without working out. Have you watched your sodium? Drank enough water? Your TOM? I know it's hard not to get discouraged and want to give up but it's not worth it. Just use it as inspiration to try that much harder next week. Good luck! and hang in there :flowerforyou:
  • evelynojedadiaz
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    I bet its water..I also yoyo a lot and to my surprise I started taking a water pill and now im at my lowest weight ever..I eat right and also exercise but im sure the water was what was holding me back..I never thought that I was one to retain but I did and now I dont..GNC has a great water pill WATEREX its cheap and very effective. Chin up and kee at it. Make sure that you are not buring yourself out with so much exercise..beleive it or not that can hinder your progress..
  • gpies
    gpies Posts: 56 Member
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    I bet its water..I also yoyo a lot and to my surprise I started taking a water pill and now im at my lowest weight ever..I eat right and also exercise but im sure the water was what was holding me back..I never thought that I was one to retain but I did and now I dont..GNC has a great water pill WATEREX its cheap and very effective. Chin up and kee at it. Make sure that you are not buring yourself out with so much exercise..beleive it or not that can hinder your progress..

    Hi, Can you explain the water pill a bit more? I haven't really heard of that - does it defeat the purpose of drinking all that H20 that they want us to drink? Just curious about it because I haven't heard many people mention this. Thanks
  • gnme4243
    gnme4243 Posts: 120
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    When I tend to give myself some slack and eat whatever I notice that there is alot of sodium involved. And I don't even really like "Salty" foods...it's just in there. So it is most likely that there is some water retention going on...and if you are even close to your TOM double whammy! Be sure to drink LOTS of water and flush all that sodium!!!

    I agree!! My first thought was how much sodium you probably took in during that week- it was probably alot more than your usual, and that does have a big effect.

    Hang in there, the majority of it will probably drop right back off once you flush out your system and cut back on the sodium. Weigh again after TOM and give your body a little time to get back on track. :flowerforyou:
  • IsabellaCullen
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    I agree with a lot of has been written so far .. without knowing exactly what you were eating while celebrating your hubbies return (congrats, btw), it's virtually impossible to give you an accurate answer. However, here are a few things I've learned in the many years I've been yo-yo-ing on the scale:

    Scales are funny things. They aren't always 100 % accurate, so I always take what they say with a grain of salt. Perhaps your "140" weigh in wasn't entirely accurate, and maybe it should have read closer to 142 or so. This is especially true if you sometimes move your scale. I have a small bedroom, and need to keep the scale under my dresser when I'm not using it. If I move it to one part of the floor & weigh myself, I will get one reading. I can move it two inches in any direction & get a completely different number. If the floor is even slightly out of balance, your scale won't be accurate. I finally had to mark off an area of the floor to put the scale (with brown tape, so its not THAT obvious), in the hopes that I will always get a reading that is close to accurate, but I also know that isn't guaranteed.

    Hidden sugars & sodium affect body weight ... read this -- if you haven't already -- it's got some good points: http://www.skwigg.com/id12.html

    Between the sodium, the more than likely relaxed portioning when DH came home, possibly a reduction in water intake, as well as scale fluctuations, I'm sure that when you WI again, things will have balanced themselves out!

    You know that the change on the scale is NOT from added weight, because there is no way you could have intake that many calories & had them convert to fat that quickly, so double check your portions & what you've been eating, drink some extra water, and you'll be right as rain in no time!

    Good luck!!
  • lucky1ns
    lucky1ns Posts: 358 Member
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    I gained 6 pounds in 1 day.

    I logged it too.

    My chart looks pretty whacked out because of it.

    1 week away from TOM could be causing water weight plus you have been indulging so perhaps your sodium (and alcohol?) consumption has been up.

    Whenever I gain I log the reason why at weightchart.com so I can go back later and remind myself of what I did.

    I gained and lost the same 5 pounds all last year and am so glad i logged it because now I can go back and compare.

    The best part is you will lose it fast so that will e kind of motivating!
  • Pengwen
    Pengwen Posts: 1
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    Just for your own sanity's sake, why don't you try to weigh again tomorrow. Maybe you'll be surprised and find that you only gained a few pounds rather than 9 lbs. Sorry to be so blunt for the guys that may read this, but it's a fact of a woman's life. If you're period isn't due to start until next week, you may very well be retaining some extra fluid...even now. Don't get yourself too worked up about what happened on the scale today. As Scarlet says, "tomorrow is another day". Put it behind you and get yourself back on track with your eating. The other thought too is that you may be gaining muscle weight so between the fluid retention and the muscle weight could very easily explain what's going on with your body. Again, try the scale again tomorrow. :)
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
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    I just got back from a week long Caribbean cruise. I was a lot tanner, but about 5 pounds heavier the night I came back than when I had left. I was fairly active and tried to pick healthier foods, but I have no idea how many calories I ate. I also drank but not excessively (well, except the last night... lol... Spring Break!). It's now 3 days later and I'm down to within a pound of when I left. I've just been drinking TONS of water to flush everything out of my system and back to eating healthy and exercising. When you throw your body for a loop by changing your habits for a week, it needs a few days to adjust. I'd recommend staying away from the scale for a few days, go back to your healthy eating and exercising, and see where you are again. My guess is that you just need a few days to adjust.
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
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    Maybe it was water but that is a lot of water. You can see why I am so upset it just doesn't make any sense.
    It's not that much water A gallon weighs like 8 pounds and there are PLENTY of places for your body to stash it. I had one MEAL of eating something I was craving (just happened to be a burger & fried pickles, lol) and the next day I was up 3 pounds. That was Monday. I drank a lot of water Monday and yesterday & peed my life away but today the water weight is gone and I'm down about 5 whole pounds from Monday.

    Drink a lot of water to flush yourself out and I bet you'll be down near 140 again in a few days. :wink:

    Edit: It's also important to consider that when you weighed yourself the time before and you were near 140 you could have easily been dehydrated. Even a little bit of dehydration that is otherwise unnoticable can make a big difference in the scale.

    One of my MFP buddies in my check-in group was able to get off of the diuretic she was taking to help control her BP. She stopped taking it and, wham, 7 pound gain. She's doing everything right, it's just water weight. So, yeah, you're not alone. This happens all the time. You just have to recognize it for what it is & chugging along to reach your goal.
  • miqisha
    miqisha Posts: 1,534 Member
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    I agree with what everyone has said so far. Once you start eating and dieting the body will adjust back. I log what I eat on off days, but I tend not to weigh, the day after I pig out, because the scale usually is higher than expected, because we tend to eat saltier food, and drink more alcohol, and people tend to forget that alcohol is very high in calories, 1 corona is around 200 calories, so if you were drinking alot of alcohol, and retaining alot of fluid and eating junk, your body probably went into shock, and stored alot of fluid as well.

    I think when you check the scale again, you will be surprised as to how much closer to your actual weight you will be. It has happened to me before, cant fully explain it, most we can all do is assume what it is.

    Dont give up though

    Goodluck
  • usmcwifeb15
    usmcwifeb15 Posts: 470 Member
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    Thank you everyone for posting and giving me your thoughts. I have been back on track this week so I will wait till Friday and weigh in again. Hopefully all will be well on Friday. Thanks for all the words of encouragement!
  • mommyhof3
    mommyhof3 Posts: 551 Member
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    It happened to me and it was sodium. Once you really watch it you will see how much sodium is in food lol It is scary
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
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    Because of this thread, I added sodium to the things I track on my main food page. Looks like I've never really gone over the 2500 mg it tells me I can have, altho I have come close with a few frozen food items that are higher in it. I'll have to start watching out for those.
  • DeeDeeLHF
    DeeDeeLHF Posts: 2,301 Member
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    Yes, it is mostly water. When I see a bigger loss or a bigger gain, I don't count it until I have seen it for three days in a row. Most of the time by then it has mellowed out and is normal. Hidden (or not so hidden) sodium in processed foods is a killer.

    Hope it was great having him home!!