Steadily gained 5lbs over past three days

emilydinah
emilydinah Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,
I have never posted before, but I could use some guidance. I am an avid exerciser. I love to run and compete in half marathons every few months. I run about 4 times a week (tempo runs and long runs at the end of every other week.) I also strength train with free weights 4 times a week and integrate Pilates and an hour of elliptical on the days I do not run. (I take one day off from exercise very week to give my body a rest.
In addition, I am strict with my diet. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, limit bread and cereal breakfast (if I have a salad for lunch I usually have a small slice of bread with it,) and eat fish and poultry as primary protein sources. I do like chocolate and allow myself 9 espresso beans dipped in dark chocolate per day, or half of a square of Lint 90% cocoa.

In the past, I have had serious body image issues I am working to overcome. I have been at a stable healthy weight of 115-116 for about a year now, significant fluctuations only occurring on the day after I run 13-18miles occasionally. However, over the past three days I have been steadily gaining weight. I am now up to 120. How can this be?

Replies

  • hungryhobbit1
    hungryhobbit1 Posts: 259 Member
    5 pounds in that period of time is more likely to be fluid than anything else. It could be:

    - you've had a little bit of excess sodium. Restaurant meals are killer for this.
    - you are about to experience your period
    - your muscles are recovering and retaining fluid
    - you've put on a little bit of muscle (though five pounds is not likely)
    - ? your body just has something going on that it needs a little extra fluid for right now

    It takes 3500 calories to truly gain one pound. Unless you have consumed 17500 excess calories in the past five days, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

    Drink extra water and take it easy on yourself. If you are concerned about what you might be eating, track your calories for a few days, but it doesn't sound like you overeat. Take out your tape measure to see if your measurements are the same.
  • allshebe
    allshebe Posts: 423 Member
    My guess would be water weight, but I don't know why. Did you eat something salty? Exercise really hard?
  • thoeting
    thoeting Posts: 89 Member
    Funny you should post this...I gained 6 pounds over the last 3 days. And no, there is no way I ate in excess of 21000 calories

    I DID have two restaurant meals, which accounts for some sodium

    Other than that? I got nothing

    But frustration? Yeah, I got that
  • thoeting
    thoeting Posts: 89 Member
    My guess would be water weight, but I don't know why. Did you eat something salty? Exercise really hard?

    Would exercising hard make you gain weight?
  • allshebe
    allshebe Posts: 423 Member
    Muscles apparently retain some water when they're in "repair mode".
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    At 3,500 calories per pound (over maintenance) I seriously doubt it.

    Water weight from sodium. Maybe a pound or two.
  • lydialou87
    lydialou87 Posts: 12
    Muscle weighs so much more than fat... I always find that if i weight train whilst dieting, I never lose weight (according to the scale) - this is why its so important to check your measurements. I find it so disheartening to find nothing has come off, but usually its just that hefty muscle building up!

    I do feel your frusutration though, but i'm sure there is a perfectly normal reason why this has happened.

    Good luck with finding out x
  • dietstokes
    dietstokes Posts: 216 Member
    did the temperature just get warmer by you the last few days? I have found sometimes that when there is a shift to warm weather that my weight goes up for a few days. Not sure why. But I highly doubt its anything more than water weight. Make sure you're getting your water in and keep up with your diet and your exercise. You sound like you are spot on.
  • emilysmallfry93
    emilysmallfry93 Posts: 30
    Muscle weighs more than fat, so it could be that you've gained a bit of muscle mass and lost some fat over the past couple of days. have you eaten much protein?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Pretty much mathematically and scientifically impossible that you gained 5 Lbs of actual fat over that time...that would mean you would have had to consume 17,500 calories over your maintenance level of calories in 3 days to accomplish such a feat. For the average female, that would be about around 7,800 calories gross per day.

    You have natural weight fluctuations...if you've had excess sodium, you're going to retain more water...this is common with restaurant food that is loaded with the stuff. I went out for dinner on Friday and Saturday morning I was a whopping 5 Lbs heavier due to fluid retention from the sodium in my meal. I was back to normal by Monday.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Muscle weighs more than fat, so it could be that you've gained a bit of muscle mass and lost some fat over the past couple of days. have you eaten much protein?

    NO...

    1) You don't gain any appreciable muscle while at a deficit of calories; building muscle requires a surplus. You cannot be anabolic and catabolic at the same time.

    2) You most certainly don't put on 5 Lbs of muscle in three days...a male with decent genetics who has a spot on diet and spends a good deal of time in the weight room might put on 6 Lbs of actual muscle in an entire year.
  • abbiperets
    abbiperets Posts: 10 Member
    Not to get graphic, but are you regular? I had a terrible time last week, with the scale going up, until it clicked that I hadn't "gone" in a couple of days. Upped my water, and even had one dose of my 7-year-old's Miralax... within a day, everything was running smoothly again, and the numbers were back where they belonged.
  • emilysmallfry93
    emilysmallfry93 Posts: 30
    NO...

    1) You don't gain any appreciable muscle while at a deficit of calories; building muscle requires a surplus. You cannot be anabolic and catabolic at the same time.

    2) You most certainly don't put on 5 Lbs of muscle in three days...a male with decent genetics who has a spot on diet and spends a good deal of time in the weight room might put on 6 Lbs of actual muscle in an entire year.
    [/quote]

    Was just simply trying to help. no need to be rude.
  • chooriyah
    chooriyah Posts: 469 Member
    I fluctuate by at least 5 lbs every day. My guess would be bloating and water retention due to an increase in exercise intensity, dehydration, hangover, alcohol consumption, excess salt (perhaps hidden). These are the things that do it for me.
  • mmddwechanged
    mmddwechanged Posts: 1,687 Member
    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1001822-why-scales-suck

    What does "steadily" mean? .8 pounds every 12 hours?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    NO...

    1) You don't gain any appreciable muscle while at a deficit of calories; building muscle requires a surplus. You cannot be anabolic and catabolic at the same time.

    2) You most certainly don't put on 5 Lbs of muscle in three days...a male with decent genetics who has a spot on diet and spends a good deal of time in the weight room might put on 6 Lbs of actual muscle in an entire year.

    Was just simply trying to help. no need to be rude.
    [/quote]

    How was that rude? I was merely correcting miss-information. It is incredibly difficult to build muscle, yet these posts of "probably gaining muscle" always pop up...even though the individual is dieting and there exercise doesn't even include muscle building activity (i.e. resistance training) If it were that easy to put on muscle, pretty much every guy on the planet would look like the incredible hulk.

    I wasn't trying to be rude, it's just counterproductive to suggest that something is happening when it is clearly impossible for it to happen.
  • Joocey
    Joocey Posts: 115 Member
    Check to make sure your scale is calibrated correctly too. Seems too obvious to point out but you never know.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    I'm 110 pounds and I have been known to retain up to 5lbs of water in a day or two (especially during my period) and that's a lot for someone so small. It eventually returns to normal. Like the others said, most likely not the case and you shouldn't worry on a day to day basis, that will drive you crazy!
  • Joocey
    Joocey Posts: 115 Member
    How was that rude? I was merely correcting miss-information. It is incredibly difficult to build muscle, yet these posts of "probably gaining muscle" always pop up...even though the individual is dieting and there exercise doesn't even include muscle building activity (i.e. resistance training) If it were that easy to put on muscle, pretty much every guy on the planet would look like the incredible hulk.

    I wasn't trying to be rude, it's just counterproductive to suggest that something is happening when it is clearly impossible for it to happen.

    Haha... all those posts have a depressing effect on guys like me that are trying to gain weight.

    Brb spend hours in the gym setting new strength records and hours outside of the gym metiuculously counting calories and macronutrients to gain 5 lbs, only 2-3 lbs of which is muscle, over a period of months.

    Brb read post about someone gaining 5 lbs of muscle in 3 days. (Not srs here though since that's not what OP said.)
  • afireswife
    afireswife Posts: 11 Member
    It could be your Thyroid. I had an issue with mine. I decided to have it checked and it was off. So I took meds for 6 months and it corrected it. It was hypo so it slowed down and caused me to gain wait. 20lbs in 3 months.

    It was just a thought!!!
  • emilydinah
    emilydinah Posts: 10
    Thanks for the help everyone. I think you're all probably right, water is the most likely culprit. I am just not used to retaining unless I have completed a long run the day before and when that happens I am usually back to normal the next day. But I there's no way I ate over 7,000 extra calories every day the past three days! I'll try not to stress too much and trust things will probably normalize soon. Thanks again!
  • keithf1138
    keithf1138 Posts: 63
    Remember it was just a 3 day holiday weekend. I find on a regular weekend even while continuing to run at a calorie deficit nearly every Monday I way a couple of pounds more than Friday (I weigh in every morning before consuming anything after using the bathroom.). My routine on weekends is much different. We may eat out, we are more active. Our workouts move to morning, I may have a drink or two, etc. etc. Key is my deficit is usually about the same as my weekday deficit. Yet it takes a few days for my body to re-adjust and purge the extra water it retains each and every weekend. With this 3 day weekend it was even worse. It is rather annoying, but seems to be predictable.
  • aviduser
    aviduser Posts: 208 Member
    Funny that you notice the gain after a big run . . .

    Last Sunday I did a 100 mile bike race. By Tuesday AM, I was up 5 lbs. By the end of the week, I was back down.

    For all I know about exercise, diet, recovery, etc, I never realized that muscles in recovery hold onto water.

    That must explain it.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    I did that. It took me a few days to drop it, but then I was at a new low. Made me a little crazy though.

    Check out the "Happy Scale" app if you do this often.
  • emilydinah
    emilydinah Posts: 10
    Oh yes, that one's pretty predictable for me. I'm usually up 2-5lbs the day after a long run. I'm sure a long bike, or any particularly strenuous workout would do the same thing.
  • tjthegreatone
    tjthegreatone Posts: 324
    Over the past few months I've stopped trusting the scale AT ALL. I might hop on once every few weeks to see what's happening but the number may have been magicked out of thin air as I can never predict it.
    I've been known to gain ten plus pounds in a day and lose six of them the next. The use of the mirror and looking at photos are more helpful.
    Of course if you have body dysmorphic disorder that's probably no good either.

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