Why do I retain water so bad in the heat??

happycauseIride
happycauseIride Posts: 536 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
This may be a dumb question, but it's hot and I am a sweater, yet I retain water like crazy when I'm in the heat. I can tolerate the heat just fine. I can be out in it, drink bottles and bottles of water, have sweat pouring off me like crazy yet I won't pee all day and I swear I retain everything I drink until in the cool house. As soon as I spend time inside, and drink more water, I starting peeing again, my rings start sliding around and my shoes are too loose.

I actually tested this on Saturday and weighed myself in the am right after I woke up. Then I went outside and went for a walk in the hills, did some weeding and landscaping, went to a garage sale and then we had a bon fire at night. I drank several bottles of water that day, and by night time my hands were so puffy they hurt. I weighed before I took a shower at 10 pm and I had gained 4 lbs that day. I stayed inside most of the day on Sunday, peed a LOT, and was back down those 4 lbs yesterday morning.

Is this a normal thing in the heat? I hear a lot of people joke about losing weight because they sweat it off but I have the opposite happening to me.

Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    How's your sodium intake?
  • kat_princess12
    kat_princess12 Posts: 109 Member
    Your body is trying to prepare for what it sees as imminent dehydration. I had the same experience during a study abroad program in a hot climate - drank water constantly but could go literally all day without peeing, whereas normally I have to go every 1-2 hours.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
    hmvanwink wrote: »
    This may be a dumb question, but it's hot and I am a sweater, yet I retain water like crazy when I'm in the heat. I can tolerate the heat just fine. I can be out in it, drink bottles and bottles of water, have sweat pouring off me like crazy yet I won't pee all day and I swear I retain everything I drink until in the cool house. As soon as I spend time inside, and drink more water, I starting peeing again, my rings start sliding around and my shoes are too loose.

    I actually tested this on Saturday and weighed myself in the am right after I woke up. Then I went outside and went for a walk in the hills, did some weeding and landscaping, went to a garage sale and then we had a bon fire at night. I drank several bottles of water that day, and by night time my hands were so puffy they hurt. I weighed before I took a shower at 10 pm and I had gained 4 lbs that day. I stayed inside most of the day on Sunday, peed a LOT, and was back down those 4 lbs yesterday morning.

    Is this a normal thing in the heat? I hear a lot of people joke about losing weight because they sweat it off but I have the opposite happening to me.

    Same thing happens to me. I don't have an explanation - the only thing different is heat and humidity levels. This tendency was part of the motivation to lose weight - feeling bloated in the summer is much more tolerable weighing 50 pounds less.

  • ManiacalLaugh
    ManiacalLaugh Posts: 1,048 Member
    There was another thread about this a few weeks ago. The question was "how many people retain water in the heat?" The answers were mixed and didn't depend on gender - so I would wager it's genetic (some people are more prone to water retention), or environmental (how much sodium v. water a person is taking in).

    I do gain about 2-5 on hot and humid days (so glad I moved next to the Mississippi River, lol). To minimize this, watch your excessive salt (often hidden in pre-packaged meals and snacks, lunch meat, some diet drinks) and drink plenty of water (which it seems like you're doing).

    Otherwise, don't sweat the day-to-day weigh ins. Your walk could've caused part of this as well. I once gained 5 lbs on an 8 mile hike. Certainly, this wasn't fat, but the heat, humidity, and the physical strain all conspired against the scale. I took that first weigh in like a grain of salt and then watched in amusement as those 5 lbs (plus 2 I'd actually lost in addition to it) melted off in the next week or so.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Our AC was just out for something like 3 weeks so I just went through this. For the first several days, I was very bloated but then it seemed to go away. So long term hot weather seems like it would be preferable over short term because with long term my body would get used to it and stabilize but fluctuating up and down would make it keep going through bloat/non-bloat/bloat/non-bloat. Or something like that.
  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,031 Member
    This is how your body deals with heat: It tries to hold onto water, for as long as it can, to prevent dehydration.

    Nothing to really be concerned about.
  • happycauseIride
    happycauseIride Posts: 536 Member
    Well I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this. I told my husband about it and he looked at me like I was nuts. The one positive thing about it is that I can spend all day at a softball tournament and not have to worry about peeing in a dirty, disgusting bathroom. :wink:

    Thanks for all your responses.
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