Water weight a week later??

Eve1972
Eve1972 Posts: 297 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Last Friday I went to the in laws for an Easter get together and enjoyed myself immensely! That involved a ton of salty food, cake chocolate, you name it! I knew I'd be up on the scale the next day (and I was 5 lbs up!!), but I knew it was just water weight and got right back to eating the way I usually etc.

Well here it is a week later and I am STILL 2 lbs up?? WTH is up with that?? Does water weight last this long? I've never had it stick around this long before, and it is freaking me out a little! *lol* Has anyone had water weight stick around a week or more, or did I really gain fat from 1 off day of eating!!?? Inquiring minds want to know! ;)

Replies

  • teachmom32
    teachmom32 Posts: 183 Member
    I don't know, but I'm scared to weigh in tomorrow. I figured out all my input and output calories and ended up at a deficit of only 50 calories. I should be exactly the same weight as last Saturday, but I have a feeling that's not what's going to happen!
  • rubberbiscuit
    rubberbiscuit Posts: 128
    We went out for breakfast on Easter and I had ham and bacon. I gained 5 pounds from that and it took until yesterday morning for me to get back to where I was a week ago. So yes, it's possible to hang onto the extra fluid for a while and no you're not alone with the crazy fluid gains.
  • sportzmom23
    sportzmom23 Posts: 103 Member
    Yep, sadly! I did the same thing, but went up over 6!! Finally yesterday I was back to normal....sadly for me, I do the same with cycle weight, can be up 5 pounds for 2 weeks...

    Drink more clear fluids :-)
  • Vaisaxena
    Vaisaxena Posts: 109 Member
    You know most people don't realize that the number on the scale doesn't mean much - if that's what you're really after then your idea of fitness is severely flawed. 2lbs is 4 cups of water - if I drink 8 cups a day my weight can fluctuate 4 lbs from JUST water intake each and every day - not the mention the few lbs of food that you eat daily.

    If you are truly holding water then it may be a few different things:
    1) Carbohydrate intake - each gram of carbohydrates holds about 3g of water - this doesn't mean you need to cut your carbs!!! This is not unhealthy water weight.
    2) Sodium - this also leads to TRANSIENT water weight gain in extracellular blood volume.
    3) Water intake - yup, not drinking enough water will cause you hold water... drink more and your body will drop more water.
    4) Severe Calorie Restriction - *if* you diet like most people on MFP then you're probably only eating 1200kCal a day which is about right for a pre-pubescent girl. Increase your calorie intake to only 20% below your maintenance calories.

    You concern shouldn't be 2lbs water weight from easter - it should be body-fat percentage, strength, appearance.
    Last Friday I went to the in laws for an Easter get together and enjoyed myself immensely! That involved a ton of salty food, cake chocolate, you name it! I knew I'd be up on the scale the next day (and I was 5 lbs up!!), but I knew it was just water weight and got right back to eating the way I usually etc.

    Well here it is a week later and I am STILL 2 lbs up?? WTH is up with that?? Does water weight last this long? I've never had it stick around this long before, and it is freaking me out a little! *lol* Has anyone had water weight stick around a week or more, or did I really gain fat from 1 off day of eating!!?? Inquiring minds want to know! ;)
  • Eve1972
    Eve1972 Posts: 297 Member
    You know most people don't realize that the number on the scale doesn't mean much - if that's what you're really after then your idea of fitness is severely flawed. 2lbs is 4 cups of water - if I drink 8 cups a day my weight can fluctuate 4 lbs from JUST water intake each and every day - not the mention the few lbs of food that you eat daily.

    If you are truly holding water then it may be a few different things:
    1) Carbohydrate intake - each gram of carbohydrates holds about 3g of water - this doesn't mean you need to cut your carbs!!! This is not unhealthy water weight.
    2) Sodium - this also leads to TRANSIENT water weight gain in extracellular blood volume.
    3) Water intake - yup, not drinking enough water will cause you hold water... drink more and your body will drop more water.
    4) Severe Calorie Restriction - *if* you diet like most people on MFP then you're probably only eating 1200kCal a day which is about right for a pre-pubescent girl. Increase your calorie intake to only 20% below your maintenance calories.

    You concern shouldn't be 2lbs water weight from easter - it should be body-fat percentage, strength, appearance.
    Last Friday I went to the in laws for an Easter get together and enjoyed myself immensely! That involved a ton of salty food, cake chocolate, you name it! I knew I'd be up on the scale the next day (and I was 5 lbs up!!), but I knew it was just water weight and got right back to eating the way I usually etc.

    Well here it is a week later and I am STILL 2 lbs up?? WTH is up with that?? Does water weight last this long? I've never had it stick around this long before, and it is freaking me out a little! *lol* Has anyone had water weight stick around a week or more, or did I really gain fat from 1 off day of eating!!?? Inquiring minds want to know! ;)

    Dude you sound a little grumpy! *lol* I eat WAY more then 1200 calories a day, lift heavy, take measurements. I am not usually bothered by weight fluctuations, can't lose 150 lbs and not have them. The reason I asked, was that it usually doesn't take a week for me to fall back into my normal range, and wondered if anyone had experienced something similar!

    I can see now that it isn't out of the norm, so I will keep on keeping on! ;)
  • Vaisaxena
    Vaisaxena Posts: 109 Member
    My apologies - didn't mean to come off as grumpy - just stern. A lot of people (my clients included) don't understand the idea.
  • Amyy1982
    Amyy1982 Posts: 369 Member
    I gained 5lbs over Easter weekend and finally lost them plus 0.4lbs this morning! It will come off :)
  • yamsteroo
    yamsteroo Posts: 480 Member
    I'm glad you posted this as I gained 5lb over Easter and it's taken until this morning for it to *just* about get back down to the 164lb I was last Friday.

    While I'm not fretting a lb here or there I was curious as to how long water would normally hang around as I thought a couple of days tops, but now I know.

    It's great there are forums such as this to ask these kind of questions - can you imagine how disheartening it would have been to see a 5lb weight gain and not know that it was more than likely all water?

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