is it bad to eat heavy meals?

cappuccinio
cappuccinio Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
i just had a big dinner (ramen!) and gained and decided to check out the scale when i got home. i gained FOUR lbs. woah. according to my calorie counter i stayed within my limits for the day and i'm pretty sure those lbs will be gone soon enough... maybe not by tomorrow morning, but they'll go away. i'm just curious though... 4 lbs is huge and is it normal to go up and down that much lbs, when it takes me a week to lose 2 lbs?

Replies

  • honigbubble
    honigbubble Posts: 22 Member
    I have no idea but I need to know...
    Bump.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Everyone gains weight during the day. The food you eat doesn't magically lose weight once you eat it. The most accurate time to weigh yourself is in the morning after you use the bathroom and before you eat or drink anymore.
  • fushigi1988
    fushigi1988 Posts: 519 Member
    You had a big dinner that was heavy in salt, it's just your body holding extra water, and the food that is still in digestive tract. Tomorrow or the day after it will be gone, just drink some extra water, take it easy with the salt and have a good poop.
  • Yilsip
    Yilsip Posts: 50
    My weight fluctuates a by +\- 3lbs, every day. It's all about water retention/dehydration. What I do is wait until my weight has been consistent for about a week, then I use the lowest weight to weigh in.
    Careful with your sodium intake, I love Ramen too!
  • brevislux
    brevislux Posts: 1,093 Member
    Measuring several times a day isn't effective. Our weight fluctuates during the day.

    Weigh yourself at the same hour every time.
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
    Eating legitimately big meals can be an issue for someone with GERD/acid reflux and other issues.

    Soup+salt= lots of water not clearing your system.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
    My weight fluctuates a by +\- 3lbs, every day. It's all about water retention/dehydration. What I do is wait until my weight has been consistent for about a week, then I use the lowest weight to weigh in.
    Careful with your sodium intake, I love Ramen too!

    This! I would say I only weigh in first thing in the morning. After I go to the bathroom, before I have coffee.
  • caitconquersweight
    caitconquersweight Posts: 316 Member
    As long as you're within your goals for the day, it doesn't really matter how you divide up your calories. I end up eating more calories in snacks than I do during meals, and that's just how I like to do it.

    And I agree with everyone else, it's probably best to weigh yourself as soon as you get up in the morning. Your weight fluctuates throughout the day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    i just had a big dinner (ramen!) and gained and decided to check out the scale when i got home. i gained FOUR lbs. woah. according to my calorie counter i stayed within my limits for the day and i'm pretty sure those lbs will be gone soon enough... maybe not by tomorrow morning, but they'll go away. i'm just curious though... 4 lbs is huge and is it normal to go up and down that much lbs, when it takes me a week to lose 2 lbs?

    You do understand that the food and liquids you consume have a weight to them right? That weight doesn't magically dissapear when you ingest food...

    Srsly....do you not realize that foods and liquid and waste, etc all have weight...wouldn't it make sense that that weight would show up on the scale? FYI, most people do not weigh themselves multiple times per day and don't weigh themselves right after a meal...I mean c'mon...common sense here.

    Also, you do realize that 3,500 calories over your maintenance calories (not your deficit calorie goal calories) is 1 Lb of fat roughly right? So you would have to eat 14,000 calories over your maintenance calories to gain 4 Lbs of fat...even then, it just doesn't happen like that.
  • Unknown
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  • littleburgy
    littleburgy Posts: 570 Member
    I NEVER weigh myself after I've had a big meal or if I know I'm retaining water because I know it will make me needlessly upset.

    In the morning, 1-2 times a week, that's it!
  • dipsl19
    dipsl19 Posts: 317 Member
    whatever you ate is sitting in your stomach. it goes on the scale too. its like if you were holding a 5 lb weight in your hand, and stepped on the scale, youd be up 5 lbs. if you ate 4 lbs of food that day, there it is,on the scale. dont worry about it.
  • protein321
    protein321 Posts: 16 Member
    Eat whenever you want, stay within your caloric goal for that day and you're good to go.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    As long as it's within your goal calories, there's no problem. As others have pointed out, the food you eat has weight. A pound of celery has about 60 calories of energy, equivalent to only 0.33 ounces of fat. But if you weigh yourself, eat a pound of celery, then weigh yourself again, you'll be a pound heavier. Almost all of that weight will be gone in a couple of days, though, as your digestive tract extracts the nutrients and then eliminates the waste solids and water.

    If you drink a pound of olive oil, on the other hand (NOT RECOMMENDED, by the way), your scale weight will go up by a pound, but you will have ingested 4000 calories, equal to more than a pound of fat (since human body fat isn't 100% pure lipid). If those calories are excess, they'll be stored, and you'll end up with a long-term weight gain of more than a pound.

    Actually, I suspect that your digestive system couldn't actually absorb a pound of olive oil (about a pint's worth), and that a lot of it would run through you—if you could keep it down in the first place.

    Celery and olive oil are two extremes. Most food is somewhere in between. And then, of course, there's a tendency to retain water if you eat a lot of salt.
  • cappuccinio
    cappuccinio Posts: 15
    Thanks for the replies. They were all every helpful! I actually weight myself every morning but I've been advised to keep it weekly so I don't demotivate myself. :)
    You do understand that the food and liquids you consume have a weight to them right? That weight doesn't magically dissapear when you ingest food...

    Srsly....do you not realize that foods and liquid and waste, etc all have weight...wouldn't it make sense that that weight would show up on the scale? FYI, most people do not weigh themselves multiple times per day and don't weigh themselves right after a meal...I mean c'mon...common sense here.

    Also, you do realize that 3,500 calories over your maintenance calories (not your deficit calorie goal calories) is 1 Lb of fat roughly right? So you would have to eat 14,000 calories over your maintenance calories to gain 4 Lbs of fat...even then, it just doesn't happen like that.

    I'm not an idiot. I'm just curious as to where the weight is coming from, exactly. For example, I can eat a 200g (1/4 lb) meal and gain 1lb from it. I checked once out of curiosity. This didn't bother me, I was just CURIOUS as to where else it's coming from. Now I know it's also from retention, etc, thanks very much. :)

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