Somewhat Puzzled

steve0308
steve0308 Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Please bear with my short story …

For a little over a month I’ve seen my weight drop consistently, simply through eating smart and exercise. This past Saturday morning I stepped in the scale and it read 205lbs, (please don’t laugh … I was pushing 220lbs a month ago) which was good seeing my goal is 195lbs.

So Saturday was no different in terms of what I ate, even better was I got even more exercise due to shoveling lots of snow. Now Saturday night changed a bit as I went to a friend’s place and had a total of three cans of ginger ale and some Whisky, how much Whisky I can’t be exact, but let’s say on the high side it was between eight to twelve ounces. Judging how I felt Sunday it was most likely up around twelve ounces.

Sunday I didn’t eat a lot, in fact it was so little that I didn’t even bother make any entries in my food log, but if I had to guess I would say maybe 1000 calories total, but I did drink lots of water, plus shoveled more snow.

So this morning (Monday) I step on the scale, fully expecting to my weight come in at under 205lbs, but it read 209lbs! Can this happen just because of the drinking on Saturday? It was very demoralizing to see, not that I’m going to quit, I’d just like to know if this is possible.

Thank you

Replies

  • blink1281
    blink1281 Posts: 23 Member
    The same thing happened to me this weekend. I ate well all week and went to the gym 4 times plus a lot of shoveling. Then Sat i went out w/ some friends had 3 drinks and some munchies. Definitely didn't binge. Sunday i ate well again. Weighed myself this morning and gained 4lbs. I'm thinking maybe i didn't drink enough water this weekend and the alcohol made me dehydrated and that is why i gained. I figured i will just start over today and increase my water intake. Definitely frustrating though.
  • wikitbikit
    wikitbikit Posts: 518 Member
    Drinking--especially more than, ah, let's say moderately, ahem--always messes up my relationship with the scale for a good three or four days. You dehydrate, rehydrate, under-eat, eat greasy crap, feel pukey... and the scale laughs. You'll be back to normal numbers probably tomorrow :)
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    The alcohol definitely did this.
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
    It was the alcohol, but it wasn't weight gain. You dehydrated by drinking so much, and now you're retaining water like crazy to make up for it. Just relax and give it a couple of days before you weigh yourself again.
  • shaneabner
    shaneabner Posts: 8
    Your weight gained is nothing more than water weight. The body will retain water because of the alcohol but also because of the exercise and lack of food. Within a couple of days your weight should return to normal, just keep plugging away.
  • steve0308
    steve0308 Posts: 3
    Thank you for your answer, I was hoping it had something to do with retaining water but I couldn’t be sure … I’m glad I don’t drink on a regular basis:smile:

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