bloating and 5lb weight gain from cheat meals :(

Omgpuppylol
Omgpuppylol Posts: 11 Member
edited November 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Weighing the highest I have enough in my entire life (143lb) and wearing exclusively my "fat girl jeans" and stretchy pants, I decided it was time to get a hold of myself. So, I cut down my consumption of calories and amounts of processed foods. With a more sensible diet and 30-60 minutes of gym every day, I've gone down from 143 to 137.8. Yay!

BUT WAIT...

I went nuts the lasts couple days and binged on some naughty foods (check out my diary if you feel up to it). I had pizza, bagels, Ben & Jerry's, wine, beer, cocktails. I also had several protein shakes (nutritionally good but calorically very dense and not filling at all). Well, I guess I'm paying the price now for all the partying. To my shock I'm back at 143 as of this morning. I also look at feel incredibly bloated. I feel my jeans fitting tighter than before. The miniscule amount of muscle definition I was gaining in my midsection is gone. What gives? Have I really gained back ALL the weight I lost, so quickly through my binges? Or is this just bloating from gas and water weight from all the processed foods and alcohol?

I know this condition is temporary and very correctable. I'm back to eating more sensibly now and saving the booze for the weekends. I'm just pretty discouraged.

Thanks for listening you guys!

Replies

  • piperdown44
    piperdown44 Posts: 958 Member
    I wouldn't worry about it too much if you have your diet in check again.
    Recent example:
    Several weeks ago on a Thursday I went waaayyyy higher on carbs than I normally do (family function). Looked at the scale the next day, up 4.5lbs. I just laughed and said "water weight". Back on track Friday, Sat., and Sunday. Monday weighing myself........right back down to original weight (well just a little less actually).
  • saraherren
    saraherren Posts: 59 Member
    It's water weight, trust me. I've been there before. Just drink more water, get back on track with your exercise and eating habits and it'll go away soon!
  • Omgpuppylol
    Omgpuppylol Posts: 11 Member
    thanks for the reassurances! :)

    Is it the carbs and processed foods that are the culprits of the water retention? High sodium foods?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Omgpuppylol wrote: »
    thanks for the reassurances! :)

    Is it the carbs and processed foods that are the culprits of the water retention? High sodium foods?

    In my experience, increasing carbohydrates, sodium, and alcohol can all contribution to water retention. Processing could mean anything -- some foods that are processed might contribution to water retention, others might not.
  • piperdown44
    piperdown44 Posts: 958 Member
    Omgpuppylol wrote: »
    thanks for the reassurances! :)

    Is it the carbs and processed foods that are the culprits of the water retention? High sodium foods?

    Carbs for me.
    The only variable that changed on that day was more carbs.
    Sammichs......mmmmmm but all that bread......

  • saraherren
    saraherren Posts: 59 Member
    piperdown44 wrote: »
    Omgpuppylol wrote: »
    thanks for the reassurances! :)

    Is it the carbs and processed foods that are the culprits of the water retention? High sodium foods?

    Carbs for me.
    The only variable that changed on that day was more carbs.
    Sammichs......mmmmmm but all that bread......

    Both carbs and sodium do it for me. For every gram of glycogen eaten/stored, 3 grams of water are stored with it.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    Omgpuppylol wrote: »
    thanks for the reassurances! :)

    Is it the carbs and processed foods that are the culprits of the water retention? High sodium foods?

    Both.

    Sodium causes cells to take in more water to maintain a certain salinity in the body. As the salt is excreted, the cells release water.

    A portion of the carbs replenish glycogen stores in the body. Glycogen molecules bind in about 3 water molecules; so as you go back into a calorie deficit and your body starts using up some of the glycogen you'll shed water from that, too.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    5 pounds is 17500 calories. So if you ate/drank that much over your maintenance calories, yeah most of it will be fat. If not, some of it will be fat, some will be water weight.

    Looking at your diary, I'm not sure what your maintenance is, but you could have gained 2-3 pounds of fat there.
  • petitehealth
    petitehealth Posts: 148 Member
    Don't let this slip up ruin your goals! It's not a complete reverse of all your hard work. I had a very naughty weekend and the scale shows it. I am petite and just a few extra pounds (water weight or otherwise) show on my body. I immediately stopped beating myself up and got right back on track! You can do this! We are only human so we will have the occasional slip up.
  • andympanda
    andympanda Posts: 763 Member
    on Saturday, i went way over on abooz and calories and was up between 4 and 5 pounds. today I hit a new low. Don't worry about. Biggest pain about it was spending full time peeing it out.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    It's water weight - drink plenty of water and it will go away in ~5-7 days.
This discussion has been closed.

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