Are we blaming sodium and overlooking something else

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runner475
runner475 Posts: 1,236 Member
in Food and Nutrition
OK. So yesterday April 18th 2014 I had a cheat day. I went well over 500 plus calories of my goal..... an absolute CARB Overload.... TOTAL JUNK. ...

Today April 19th 2014 morning I weighed myself and I'm 2.2 lbs down

Measurements (after 15 days)
Chest - 0.5 inches lost
Waist - same no change
Hips - 0.25 inches lost (probably let's say no change, could be human error)

Now what was going on for rest of the week
1) Absolute tracking on scale (in grams) of everything that went in mouth
2) Protein overload (I love protein so I never have an issue)
3) Cross training and/or running for 5 days - 60 mins minimum each day.
4) Plus walk dogs everyday all the 7 days - rain or shine.
5) I'm always under my sodium everyday but on cheat day.

That tells me - we should see results we want to see even a day after cheat/carb overload day provided we are well behaved for the remaining part of the week.

So my question - what's going on with water retention/ sodium theory affecting the next day? B'coz clearly even after eating 1,400 plus calories of Junk Carb (in one meal) and over 60% sodium in it, something jus' overruled their effects the next day that we all been believing in .... at least I have been.

Replies

  • runner475
    runner475 Posts: 1,236 Member
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    Note: I'm in no way close to being nutrition specialist / health coach at all. Whatever I learnt, am learning is here on MFP and internet. My this post is to clarify the picture that puzzled me
  • Spacegirlley
    Spacegirlley Posts: 80 Member
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    In to see what answers people have. I'm curious too.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    Do you weigh daily?
  • runner475
    runner475 Posts: 1,236 Member
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    Do you weigh daily?

    Not lately .... No I do not weigh everyday since last month.

    But I was doing so for 15 days sometime in march jus' to understand and study what food caused what the next day.

    I'm done with that research and study. So to answer your question. No I don't. Jus' weigh once a week.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    Do you weigh daily?

    Not lately .... No I do not weigh everyday since last month.

    But I was doing so for 15 days sometime in march jus' to understand and study what food caused what the next day.

    I'm done with that research and study. So to answer your question. No I don't. Jus' weigh once a week.

    Only asked because you MAY have had a slight sodium gain on the scales but not noticed it because of your loss over the rest of the week. I can't see your diary but I'm assuming the 500 extra calories would have still left you in TDEE deficit overall for the week? :smile:
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    +/- 2 lbs is regarded as the random variation you will see on weighing daily I believe, as the body does not tightly control water content (compared to something like blood pH).

    Carb intake promotes retention of sodium, and more sodium obviously adds to the load, but the kidneys work away to regulate blood concentration / osmolarity so I've always been of the view that with functioning kidneys the sodium balance sorts itself out and is just part of the noise in the signal of measured bodyweight.
  • HollisGrant
    HollisGrant Posts: 2,022 Member
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    Maybe you had a whoosh. There are lots of topics on the whoosh if you look under the forum search feature. Here's one below.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/797688-experience-with-the-whoosh?hl=whoosh&page=5#posts-17948726
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
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    I think you are on to something here. one of the best things about tracking is the more detailed I get, the more I learn. Especially if I weigh in daily and track it. (I am on maintenance) In May, I am going to see my Doctor how I see once a year since starting this fitness journey in December 2011. He helped me get comfortable that I am in the right weight range for me, etc. I have noticed that the "big" stuff is very important to maintaining my weight, and feeling great. The big stuff to me is avoid salt, eat my protein and drink my water. Get my 10000 steps in every day, and do my 15-30 minutes of yoga or barre3 in every day. the days I grab a protein bar instead of eating "whole foods" like eggs or roast chicken I tend to retain water. Strawberries and oranges and apples are better fruits than bananas for me. I am going to ask him moe about nutrition. I follow Dukan, but I continuously seek the right balance.
  • gmoneycole
    gmoneycole Posts: 813 Member
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    I agree with the past couple of posters...you'll see some fluctuation in general based on your diet and since you are not weighing daily you probably had the losses (even greater) earlier in the week and stepping on the scale after cheat day alone only allowed you to see net losses.

    As long as you have the long run in mind and have built healthy habits you will see body transformation and the short term ups and downs on the scale don't matter any way.

    Lots of awesome luck to you on your journey! :)
  • pennyllayne
    pennyllayne Posts: 265
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    I always see an increase on the scale after a big day, but only if calories are something like 2000 and carbs are 200g+. It depends how much you ate over the whole day and how many carbs I'd say. I've been on a diet where I would have a very low cal day and then a higher cal day, but it'd only be around 1600 cals and the next day there would often be a loss on the scale. I rarely see gains after a day of moderately high eating and this is probably because the carbs aren't enough to completely fill glycogen stores and I'm still using up that energy. In the context of a day above maintenance, eating enough carbs to create a good amount of glycogen stores will show the most increase. Our muscles and liver can store an entire day's worth of calories in glycogen, so if you're only eating around 150g of carbs it won't be enough to retain a bunch of water.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    First off, carbs are carbs; especially if you're not obese or too unfit.

    Even if you got them out of the garbage, your body doesn't care.

    I don't know the specifics, but the body is a VERY complex mechanism - not like a computer where if you spend the time you can find the exact line of code causing the problem (err, usually, if you've got a lot of time.)

    500 calories isn't much in the grand scheme of things.

    I would suggest using an app like 'libra', weighing every day but using the 'trend' which this produces.
  • runner475
    runner475 Posts: 1,236 Member
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    Thank you so much for the wonderful wonderful loads of information. I so appreciate it.

    I'll weigh tomorrow again and keep this post updated on what the scale showed and of course measure again jus' for the ha-ha's

    Thanks again for the insights guys.

    Love Ya.
  • SpicesOfLife
    SpicesOfLife Posts: 290 Member
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    i went overboard the other day (to my friends: yes, i sneakily did not log it... :D) with homemade double almond chocolate chip cookies, like 1000+ over my goal and the next day i had gained 5lbs which i assume is the "water weight" they are talking about here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/993865-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut

    i measured myself and i had still lost a bit (or kept at the same) since the day before, but the scale noticed.

    i realise this has nothing to do with the sodium question but its just one more proof that indulging once in a while does not make you fat, it just fills up the glycogen stores. :)

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