How does one "gain 2 pounds" in a day!? Please help!

water retention due to any number of factors. You did NOT gain 2lb of fat overnight, it's impossible.

The other posters already answered. As grimendale said, track measurements. Try not to think about the scale.

What everyone else said.

I'm only really commenting to add; if you worry about the scales this much, you should not weigh every day. Weigh once a week or even better, once a month. The scale is a liar and unless you are someone that can cope with that, then weighing every day is only detrimental to your motivation.

1. It's water retension. 2. stop weighing yourself everday

I weigh daily. I attribute this to my success in maintenance. I am the same weight as I was a year ago.

First off, make sure you are weighing in the morning around the same time each day, weight naturally fluctuates by a few pounds throughout the day, in the morning you have been fasting for about 8 hours and will weigh less than after eating a meal later in the day, which is completely normal.

Otherwise it is likely water retention, either from salt or inflammation (or other causes I don't know of, I know people talked about this in relation to exercise which I am not very familiar with), when I was working with my naturopath on an elimination diet she said that you will not gain over a pound of fat overnight, but if you are reacting poorly to something you eat it can cause you to retain water weight and this was how the progress of the diet was monitored as I added foods back in. Or it could just be salt and electrolytes causing weight retention. It should come back off as easily as it went on, as long as you stick to a good eating plan and try not to go overboard on salt. Good luck!

I also weigh every day. It is just habit and I guess I am a little obsessed with my numbers (but not in a bad way) I recently noticed a 3lb overnight weigh gain (I weigh every morning after my first pee) After research and talking with MFP friends I realized it was water retention from my period. Then looking back- the same thing happened last month too- it all makes sense now. I researched it online and it said women on average show a 3-7lb gain. Some even as high as 10lbs but it is just water and it will come off when your cycle is done. Try avoiding foods realy high in sodium during that time and drink alot of water.

Hope this helps.

I'm one of those crazy people that weigh myself almost everyday.. I was really excited with yesterday's results (185.0) which made a 1.6 pound loss from last week. Even though I went over a little bit on my calories (eating my exercise calories back), I still managed to do OK with my food choices and drank water (I always forget to log) and got a quick walk in! Then, I jump on the scale this morning and it says 187. Again. I can't seem to get away from the number. Everytime I lose, it shows up again. Could someone shed some light on this?!

I agree with everyone else, but wanted to add -- in addition to your measurements, you should take progress photos of yourself. The scale said I gained, but pictures don't lie. I'm an obsessive daily weigh-er too, but I'm trying to break that habit because I freak out if it goes up and (like everyone said) there's no way it was actual weight gain.

I'm another daily weigher. I agree that it helps to keep me on track and accountable. It works for me because I understand that weight will go up and down due to many of the factors listed above. Weighing daily and recording those weights can be useful in understanding the natural variation in weight from day-to-day. For many of us, it works very well. However, others find that it discouraging to see those fluctuations. Only you know which you are. In the meantime, if you stay on plan, I'm sure you'll see those 2 pounds disappear permanently soon.

2 lbs of fat is roughly 7000 surplus calories, I doubt very seriously if you ate that much.

It's likely that it's a mix of bloating/water retention and waste (poop). Waste can weigh up to 3-4 lbs if you haven't gone in a while, TMI, but true.