water weight from exercising...

bluecrayonz
bluecrayonz Posts: 459 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey so i've been exercising religiously now and i notice that i gain a tremendous amount of water weight from it. Even though I know its water weight it depresses me to see the scale go up when all I've ever wanted was the scale to go down! Sometimes it depresses me so much that i say screw my efforts and binge eat? maybe i should stop exercising IDK what to do??

Replies

  • hkry3250
    hkry3250 Posts: 140
    Doesn't sound possible. Water weight doesn't come from exercise, it comes from diet, more importantly a high sodium diet. If anything, the exercise helps you lose water weight through sweating.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    Binge eat or work out water weight.........hmmmmmmm, that's so difficult to decide............
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    If the scale has that much of an impact on your decisions, weigh in no more than once a week. Keep exercising.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Doesn't sound possible. Water weight doesn't come from exercise, it comes from diet, more importantly a high sodium diet. If anything, the exercise helps you lose water weight through sweating.

    Exercise makes your muscles retain water to repair themselves
  • red_road
    red_road Posts: 761 Member
    Doesn't sound possible. Water weight doesn't come from exercise, it comes from diet, more importantly a high sodium diet. If anything, the exercise helps you lose water weight through sweating.
    you have no idea what you are talking about. this is why it would be better to google that question
  • anaduffy
    anaduffy Posts: 74
    try drinking my water when you workout. You could just be dehydrated and it's easy to do when working out just keep a water bottle handy see if that helps
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Doesn't sound possible. Water weight doesn't come from exercise, it comes from diet, more importantly a high sodium diet. If anything, the exercise helps you lose water weight through sweating.
    Glycogen is shuttled into the muscles to assist with recovery, and water binds to glycogen at a rate of ~3g water / 1g glycogen. So you do indeed retain additional water as a result of working out. I'd think any trainer would know this.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Doesn't sound possible. Water weight doesn't come from exercise, it comes from diet, more importantly a high sodium diet. If anything, the exercise helps you lose water weight through sweating.

    Wow, they made one bone-headed comment and closed their account.

    Touchy.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Hey so i've been exercising religiously now and i notice that i gain a tremendous amount of water weight from it. Even though I know its water weight it depresses me to see the scale go up when all I've ever wanted was the scale to go down! Sometimes it depresses me so much that i say screw my efforts and binge eat? maybe i should stop exercising IDK what to do??

    Get rid of the scale.

    Only weigh the morning after a rest day with normal sodium meals. If still sore from lifting too, invalid weigh-in, wait until next week.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Wow, they made one bone-headed comment and closed their account.

    Touchy.
    Oh, it wasn't just one. :tongue: Far from it.
  • norcal_yogi
    norcal_yogi Posts: 675 Member
    Doesn't sound possible. Water weight doesn't come from exercise, it comes from diet, more importantly a high sodium diet. If anything, the exercise helps you lose water weight through sweating.

    ...wrong...
  • clrrrr
    clrrrr Posts: 261 Member
    Take (at least) one rest day per week and weigh in first thing the morning after it. Also, do not eat or drink anything before you weigh in and use the facilities first. Make your rest day relatively low-carb, focus on lean meat and veggies. Get plenty of sleep. There are LOTS of ways to avoid water weight and not exercising is not the one you should be pursuing!!
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
    define "tremendous amount of water weight"....
  • Voncreepy2
    Voncreepy2 Posts: 1,450 Member
    We as women have it rough already in that department. I get water weight when I exercize too, especially when I was working out everyday, maybe alternate your days and let your muscles recover. If you have severe weight gain or are swelling in your extremities you may want to see your Dr. It can be a sign of a cardiovacular problem.
  • Voncreepy2
    Voncreepy2 Posts: 1,450 Member
    haha I saw that they closed their account
  • shquig
    shquig Posts: 68 Member
    When I started working out religiously my weight plateaued for a bit but within a couple weeks my body acclimated and started losing again. Hang in there and be patient. Working out is so good for you so don't let this discourage you.

    It's a small price to pay. More muscle = more fat burn. Keep it up, it will all pay off.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    define "tremendous amount of water weight"....

    If you did 3-5 days in a row of intense cardio and didn't eat enough carbs back, you could be down by 1500 calories at weigh-in for carbs, that's 3 lbs of mainly water weight.

    Now eat enough carbs and you are up 3 lbs as it stores with water.

    But you can gain 5-7 lbs on a full-body heavy lifting routine that leaves you really sore and retaining water for muscle repair.

    If you weighed after a low sodium day and were dehydrated, you could show a 4-5 lb gain easy if the next weigh-in followed a high sodium day with good amount of hydration.
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
    define "tremendous amount of water weight"....

    If you did 3-5 days in a row of intense cardio and didn't eat enough carbs back, you could be down by 1500 calories at weigh-in for carbs, that's 3 lbs of mainly water weight.

    Now eat enough carbs and you are up 3 lbs as it stores with water.

    But you can gain 5-7 lbs on a full-body heavy lifting routine that leaves you really sore and retaining water for muscle repair.

    If you weighed after a low sodium day and were dehydrated, you could show a 4-5 lb gain easy if the next weigh-in followed a high sodium day with good amount of hydration.

    Thanks for that info, but I meant for the OP to tell us what she's talking about when she says "tremendous". One persons "tremendous" is another person's "tiny fluctuation".... just like one persons "huge thighs" is another person's chicken legs. :)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Thanks for that info, but I meant for the OP to tell us what she's talking about when she says "tremendous". One persons "tremendous" is another person's "tiny fluctuation".... just like one persons "huge thighs" is another person's chicken legs. :)

    Ha, well, hopefully those possibilities will shed some perspective on her definition, and realize her tremendous could have been a whole lot more.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member


    Get rid of the scale

    ^^this

    Day to day weighing does not give a true reflection of fat loss. Ditch the scale or only weigh once a month. Take measurements and/or follow progress based on how your clothes fit.
  • 4mydogs
    4mydogs Posts: 66 Member
    I agree with the above comment and ditch the scale. The simple fact is the excercise is better for you than bingeing, if the number on the scale casues you to get anxious and binge, remove offensive scale and weigh once or twice a month. I only weigh once a month and I will tell you it is much less stressful and helps me focus on my long term goal which is being strong and healthy.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Stay off the scale. Give the process time. Do not stop exercise. Do not binge. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
  • slay0r
    slay0r Posts: 669 Member
    ^ True that. I've put on a stone and a half (about 18lb) in 3 months and I look WAY better than I did at the smaller weight, working out wins! If I'd followed the scales I'd have seen a couple of pounds gained and tried to lose them, by not doing that and following what I looked like in the mirror I allowed myself to get into a much better position than I was and I look better at the same time, result!
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Hey so i've been exercising religiously now and i notice that i gain a tremendous amount of water weight from it. Even though I know its water weight it depresses me to see the scale go up when all I've ever wanted was the scale to go down! Sometimes it depresses me so much that i say screw my efforts and binge eat? maybe i should stop exercising IDK what to do??
    That's got to be one of the worst reasons I've heard to give up exercise. You know what is happening, so why would that make you binge eat? I'm not saying I don't understand stress eating, but why not turn this around and see it as a lesson to let go of your emotional attachment to that number on the scale? People think that the number on the scale determines their worth, and the lower the number, the better. People are wrong. The earlier you get your head around that, the happier you'll be.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Doesn't sound possible. Water weight doesn't come from exercise, it comes from diet, more importantly a high sodium diet. If anything, the exercise helps you lose water weight through sweating.

    this i wrong. When increasing intensity or starting a new program your muscles will store additional water to protect them from the damage caused by exercise and to aid in recovery.

    ETA: already cover by many other posters, sorry nothing more to add
  • imhungry2012
    imhungry2012 Posts: 240 Member
    Drink more water. It may seem counter productive but your body holds onto more water when you are deydrated. Google it.

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