What is water weight?

trucwoodall
trucwoodall Posts: 4
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm new to the message boards but felt like I had to post this question. Just what is water weight? What does it mean when people say it's "water weight"? I'm assuming it's not how much you drank. Is it that you ate too much sodium and the water in your body is retained because of all the sodium? I had lost about 3 lbs in the past 3 weeks but the past few days I've gained a few pounds back. I haven't been as strict on my diet because it was my birthday on Tuesday. I don't understand how my weight could have gone from 126.8 to 128.8 OVERNIGHT. It's been 4 days since and I haven't been able to get back down to 126 so I'm not sure if it's water weight, does it stick around for that many days? I have to add that I've been doing weight/strength training 3x/week so could it be muscle weight?

Any thoughts that can help me understand what's going on would be great. Thank you in advance!

Replies

  • lepper
    lepper Posts: 2
    I think you've got to look at the scale with a +/- 4 pounds range. I found this article. It seems to explain it pretty well: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5007466_what-normal-weight-fluctuation.html. It looks like you are already thin. Keep up all the exercise and eating well and don't worry so much about the scale.
  • david081
    david081 Posts: 489 Member
    Water weight is water retained in the body. Too much sodium can lead to increased retention. Oddly, drinking 8+ glasses a day helps prevent water retention, as I guess the body knows it has enough hydration. Some could be muscle also. If you keep sodium down and drink a lot of water you should lose some water weight - it is quick to go but quick to return!

    rgds, David
  • trucwoodall
    trucwoodall Posts: 4
    Thanks for the article, I will definitely check it out!
  • trucwoodall
    trucwoodall Posts: 4
    Thanks for the tip, I know I really need to drink 8 glasses. I seem to only be able to manage about 5 glasses a day.
  • TDGee
    TDGee Posts: 2,209 Member
    The way I learned it was 1 pint of water = 1 pound. So if you overdid your sodium (Yes, like me dammit!) and noticed some swelling or God forbid you hopped on a scale and you weighed 2 pounds more than you did a day or so ago, you can sorta figure you are holding onto 2 pints of water weight. Just a general rule of thumb kinda thingy.
  • CommittohealthCHANGED
    CommittohealthCHANGED Posts: 436 Member
    Bump
  • TheGoktor
    TheGoktor Posts: 1,138 Member
    I'm new to the message boards but felt like I had to post this question. Just what is water weight? What does it mean when people say it's "water weight"? I'm assuming it's not how much you drank. Is it that you ate too much sodium and the water in your body is retained because of all the sodium? I had lost about 3 lbs in the past 3 weeks but the past few days I've gained a few pounds back. I haven't been as strict on my diet because it was my birthday on Tuesday. I don't understand how my weight could have gone from 126.8 to 128.8 OVERNIGHT. It's been 4 days since and I haven't been able to get back down to 126 so I'm not sure if it's water weight, does it stick around for that many days? I have to add that I've been doing weight/strength training 3x/week so could it be muscle weight?

    Any thoughts that can help me understand what's going on would be great. Thank you in advance!

    This is exactly what happened to me this morning! It is quite disheartening isn't it? Still, it *will* go, so I think the trick is to accept that it's just a blip which will happen from time to time. (See how I am trying to convince myself here?!) :smile:
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