how much weight could i be retaining from sodium?

sweetie89207
sweetie89207 Posts: 361
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
this week was pretty high sodium wise- like usual but i gained a lb this week and was pretty confused...is it possible that that is all water? and if so how much weigh can be water retention? 1 lb or 5 lbs or more?

and i kno i didnt get enough water in this week to counteract the sodium...even though i never went over my calories and exercised every day...


also how long does it take to build noticeable muscle? or muscle weight as they call it?

Replies

  • binary_jester
    binary_jester Posts: 3,311 Member
    this week was pretty high sodium wise- like usual but i gained a lb this week and was pretty confused...is it possible that that is all water? and if so how much weigh can be water retention? 1 lb or 5 lbs or more?

    and i kno i didnt get enough water in this week to counteract the sodium...even though i never went over my calories and exercised every day...


    also how long does it take to build noticeable muscle? like could i build a pound of muscle in1 week?
    Body weight flux can range anywhere from 1lb to 5lb or more. Doubtful that is all fat. I also doubt you can gain 1lb of muscle in a week also.
  • wiggleroom
    wiggleroom Posts: 322 Member
    I retain lots of weight from sodium! I don't know about the muscle question, but one pound could EASILY be from water retention.
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    Like you said water weight can be from 1 to 5 pounds or more depending on your size. As long as you are eating right and exercising, keep doing the same thing and your weight loss will show up next week. Is your period on or is it coming? This also affects your water retention.

    Get the water in, 10 or more glasses a day if you can and when you can and especially after you have had a higher than usual high sodium day. I drink 10 to 12 glasses a water a day when I am doing good. Weekends I avg 6 to 8 because I am not at work and gym.

    Muscles, forget about it for sure. If you are building muscle you want to do so because you will look mean and lean and skinner. But I doubt you are gaining that much muscle weight. A lot of that is pure myth for us average exercisers. Women would have to workout LONG and HARD to build enough muscle to gain a pound on the scale and at your size it is just not a factor right now. When I say LONG and HARD, I mean hours of weight training every week along with more hours of cardio daily.

    The scale will not reward us every week. Don't let it dictate your success. When you know you have been on point calorie wise, it will eventually show up on the scale.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    You can retain water for a number of reasons, from too much sodium and not enough water to hormone fluctuation. I worked for a surgeon who said it's normal for body weight to fluctuate up to 5 pounds from day to day. So yes, it's likely you're just retaining water from your eating habits over the last week. If you were sticking to your calorie goal you did not gain a pound of fat and you didn't gain a pound of muscle. It takes a significant amount of calories over your normal daily intake, including tons of protein, plus an extreme amount of weight training to gain muscle quickly.
  • sweetie89207
    sweetie89207 Posts: 361
    You can retain water for a number of reasons, from too much sodium and not enough water to hormone fluctuation. I worked for a surgeon who said it's normal for body weight to fluctuate up to 5 pounds from day to day. So yes, it's likely you're just retaining water from your eating habits over the last week. If you were sticking to your calorie goal you did not gain a pound of fat and you didn't gain a pound of muscle. It takes a significant amount of calories over your normal daily intake, including tons of protein, plus an extreme amount of weight training to gain muscle quickly.

    wow...up to 5 lbs day-to-day...thats insane! good to know tho! thanks
  • sweetie89207
    sweetie89207 Posts: 361
    Like you said water weight can be from 1 to 5 pounds or more depending on your size. As long as you are eating right and exercising, keep doing the same thing and your weight loss will show up next week. Is your period on or is it coming? This also affects your water retention.

    Get the water in, 10 or more glasses a day if you can and when you can and especially after you have had a higher than usual high sodium day. I drink 10 to 12 glasses a water a day when I am doing good. Weekends I avg 6 to 8 because I am not at work and gym.

    Muscles, forget about it for sure. If you are building muscle you want to do so because you will look mean and lean and skinner. But I doubt you are gaining that much muscle weight. A lot of that is pure myth for us average exercisers. Women would have to workout LONG and HARD to build enough muscle to gain a pound on the scale and at your size it is just not a factor right now. When I say LONG and HARD, I mean hours of weight training every week along with more hours of cardio daily.

    The scale will not reward us every week. Don't let it dictate your success. When you know you have been on point calorie wise, it will eventually show up on the scale.

    yea ur right...i totally gotta get that water up!!! its my detriment...sometimes i dont even make 8 cups ugh...not that hard!!! hahaha...but yea ur right im feeling better and things are fitting looser thats all that matters...just weird cuz i was losing consistently for 7 weeks then the last 2 weeks i gain...just confusing ya kno
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    Like you said water weight can be from 1 to 5 pounds or more depending on your size. As long as you are eating right and exercising, keep doing the same thing and your weight loss will show up next week. Is your period on or is it coming? This also affects your water retention.

    Get the water in, 10 or more glasses a day if you can and when you can and especially after you have had a higher than usual high sodium day. I drink 10 to 12 glasses a water a day when I am doing good. Weekends I avg 6 to 8 because I am not at work and gym.

    Muscles, forget about it for sure. If you are building muscle you want to do so because you will look mean and lean and skinner. But I doubt you are gaining that much muscle weight. A lot of that is pure myth for us average exercisers. Women would have to workout LONG and HARD to build enough muscle to gain a pound on the scale and at your size it is just not a factor right now. When I say LONG and HARD, I mean hours of weight training every week along with more hours of cardio daily.

    The scale will not reward us every week. Don't let it dictate your success. When you know you have been on point calorie wise, it will eventually show up on the scale.

    yea ur right...i totally gotta get that water up!!! its my detriment...sometimes i dont even make 8 cups ugh...not that hard!!! hahaha...but yea ur right im feeling better and things are fitting looser thats all that matters...just weird cuz i was losing consistently for 7 weeks then the last 2 weeks i gain...just confusing ya kno

    Yes, I totally understand.....:-) But sometimes our bodies rebel, that is why it is important to stay the course so it will continue to drop pounds. and never underestimate water, fruits, and veggies. They keep the system regular and free.:laugh: And veggies and fruits have water in them also.
  • Canonoch
    Canonoch Posts: 120
    Water kills me at times this weekend alone I'm up 5 lbs. Back in August I went out for chinese adn gain 8 lbs that weekend. I ate a lot of ham this weekend. so water adds up to a lot for me and I can tell from my ring finger how swollen it gets at night when I wake up in the morning.I'll hammer down the water this week to flush the sodium out of system and hopeully be back to normal soon
  • WhitneyW78
    WhitneyW78 Posts: 186 Member
    I agree... depending on what time of day I weigh, my weight fluctuates from 1 to 5 or so pounds different. It's definitely water retention! Could be that if you weigh in a couple of days you'll have lost more.
  • Tomhusker
    Tomhusker Posts: 346 Member
    I'm glad I found this thread, I was wondering about the effects of sodium on weight loss. I seem to exceed the sodium amount every day and this with very limited, or even zero, salt use. I am amazed on the amount of it in packaged foods and am working towards a menu of more home made items.
  • Canonoch
    Canonoch Posts: 120
    I am amazed on the amount of it in packaged foods.

    Packaged foods, Fast Foods, Resurants, even Subway on a healthy grilled chicken sandwich is loaded with sodium. Blew my mind when I looked at the nutritional facts.
  • JustForMe27
    JustForMe27 Posts: 26
    I am amazed on the amount of it in packaged foods.

    Packaged foods, Fast Foods, Resurants, even Subway on a healthy grilled chicken sandwich is loaded with sodium. Blew my mind when I looked at the nutritional facts.


    Man Subway freaking kills me!!! I got a foot long one night and then got home and pulled up their website to get all the nutritional info and that one darn sandwich had 3000mg of SODIUM! And by the way the calories that they listed at the store for that particular sub was off by almost 200 calories and not in a good way :( I have banned ALL fastfood including Subway lol...
    Sodium is a big issue for me, have no problem staying below my calorie limit (sometimes I worry that I don't even get enough) but I really have to struggle everyday to stay below on the sodium. My other big issue is the water... I carry it with me all day long and feel like I am drinking alot (even cut out diet soda all together, so water is basically all I drink) but I never make it to 8 nevermind more! Guess I'll get there one day but in the mean time it's killing me on the scale.
  • ErinMarie25
    ErinMarie25 Posts: 733 Member
    Yeah, Subway is killer on sodium, sheesh. I stopped going there because of it.
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    I am amazed on the amount of it in packaged foods.

    Packaged foods, Fast Foods, Resurants, even Subway on a healthy grilled chicken sandwich is loaded with sodium. Blew my mind when I looked at the nutritional facts.

    I was surprised by Subway too! The grilled chicken from KFC. Any resturant food is high in sodium that is why it is good to limit your eating and cook fresh at home....:-)
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    A lot of times when I know I have had stuff high in sodium, I hold off from weighing in. I give myself one or 2 days before stepping on the scales. I weigh daily for the most part anyways. But if I know gain is from sodium I skiip a day when I have eaten out and sometimes I go ahead and weigh anyways and there is no change. No perfect science on this but we can try to figure out these bodies. :laugh:
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