Can someone please help me understand this???

ajcmoran2005
ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
edited November 23 in Health and Weight Loss
Yesterday was my husband's birthday so so did indulge a little bit. I had two cupcakes, two spoons of frosting and three sugar cookies. I logged everything and added it to what I already ate so I had a total of 4000 calories. I ran nine miles and according to my Fitbit I burned 2900 calories. I always knock 500 off of that though so that would have left me with being 1500 over. I thought that at the most I would have been up about half a pound this morning but I was up 1.5 pounds! There is absolutely no way that I ate 5100 calories on top of what I had already eaten. Just no way at all. So, what's going on? Why the big gain when I know that I didn't eat that much?

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Water weight
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Food weight as well. Takes a while to digest that much food.
  • ajcmoran2005
    ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
    I've already gotten in a six mile run and have drank 60 ounces of water so hopefully the scale will be much kinder tomorrow. I'm sticking to the plan today. That was a special occasion but no sweets today!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    you should do a little research on how the human body works...

    body weight isn't a static number...it fluctuates all of the time...not every Lb or ounce on the scale is fat...you have water retention/release...more/less inherent waste in your system, etc. If you ate more, wouldn't it make sense that you would have more inherent waste in your system? Waste has mass and thus weight that would obviously show on a scale.

    Beyond that, you ate more than usual...you have this stuff called glycogen...when you're cutting you deplete your glycogen stores...when you eat more, you fill them...glycogen is basically water...it has mass and thus weight...and thus would show on the scale.

    you don't gain or lose fat over night...that's not how the human body works. you have to consistently under eat or overeat to gain or lose fat...it doesn't happen in a day.

    Do yourself a favor and start doing a little research on how your body operates.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    ajcmoran2005 wrote: »
    I've already gotten in a six mile run and have drank 60 ounces of water so hopefully the scale will be much kinder tomorrow. I'm sticking to the plan today. That was a special occasion but no sweets today!

    Relax. This is not a healthy mindset to get into. You know you didn't eat enough to gain 1.5 lbs of fat. It was simply water weight. It will go away on it's own in time.
    I am a daily weigher, but I understand what affects the scale for me. I highly do not recommend weighing everyday if you are going to be alarmed by a lb or 2.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited August 2015
    ajcmoran2005 wrote: »
    I've already gotten in a six mile run and have drank 60 ounces of water so hopefully the scale will be much kinder tomorrow. I'm sticking to the plan today. That was a special occasion but no sweets today!

    Agree with 3dogs...this kind of mindset is a slippery slope to a bunch of disordered thinking and *kitten* relationships with food and fitness.
  • steph2strong
    steph2strong Posts: 426 Member
    Yesterday was my husbands birthday too! I ate a giant piece of cake and ice cream... my total calorie count was only about 200 calories over. I weigh myself every day, today I was 2 lbs heavier. This always happens to me after I indulge. The number usually goes back down to normal in 2 days (not usually the next day). Tonight we have celebration #2 for his birthday, and even though I would like to eat sparingly today I know that's not going to happen and will indulge again today. I exercise intensely 5-6 days a week and eat healthily on a regular basis but I have splurge days probably about once a week. I have weighed myself daily for a long time now and have gotten used to the ups and downs. I've learned that these blips mean nothing in the long run, my weight always stays within the same range. (except I should say now I'm 20 weeks pregnant, so it's slowly going up, but in a very modest fashion). Don't be too upset if the scale isn't perfect tomorrow, give it 2 days, for some reason thats just the way it works for me.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Weight loss is not linear. Some weeks you do everything right but maintain, or even gain. Others you lose a whole lot in a "whoosh." Sync your Fitbit with Trendweight (it's free) to see the trend without the "noise" of water weight.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Scale fluctuations are normal. Don't sweat it. Get back on track and continue with the plan. :)
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    The scale does not go up as soon as you eat or in direct proportion to the calories consumed. It does not go down as soon as u exercise or in direct proportion. It just doesn't. As noted above undo grated food has weight that affects the scale. Weigh self when getting up in am then again right after breakfast and u will see what I mean.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    As others have said, scale fluctuations take into account not only fat that your body burns and whose byproducts are exhaled, but also water and solid waste, including water that is released from stored glycogen when you exercise. To take one example: I went cycling today for 40 miles including some hilly stretches. I estimate that it burned about 1300 calories. Presuming half the calories came from fat, and half from stored carbs (mostly glycogen) here's what I would have lost: 3 ounces of fat, 5.7 ounces of muscle and liver glycogen, and about 20 ounces of water stored with the glycogen, for a total of about 28 ounces, or 1.75 pounds, the vast majority of it water that will be stored again when my glycogen stores are replenished as I chow down on dinner.

    Now, during the same time I took in about 50 fluid ounces of water, which weighs about 52 ounces, and one Dove ice cream bar with milk chocolate, which has a net weight of 74 g (2.6 ounces). That's almost twice as much weight taken in as the amount I lost directly to the energy I consumed, but again, it's mostly water (and 250 calories worth of ice cream and chocolate—yum!).

    However, at the end of the ride I had lost about 4 pounds (64 ounces). Why? Sweat and urine. I stopped once to pee (undoubtedly getting rid of some of the water that had been bound to glycogen, as well as liquid from my morning coffee and lunchtime soda), but most of that water was lost as sweat, probably half a gallon or more. It was hot—90°F—when I started, and though the temperature up in the hills was a more reasonable 75-80°F, I was pedaling fairly hard and generating a lot of body heat that had to be dissipated.

    To sum up, a calorie burn that would ultimately result in a loss of 6 ounces of body fat (if I didn't eat any of the calories back) was associated with a loss of 4 pounds on the scale. The potential fat loss is only 10% of the scale loss. Conversely, when you eat and drink more than usual, the potential fat gain is only a small percentage of the temporary scale gain.
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    edited August 2015
    You can't let a pound and a half on the scale make you crazy like that, you'll go mad. Think long term, chill out. And cut back on those cupcakes! haha jk
  • happyfeetrebel1
    happyfeetrebel1 Posts: 1,005 Member

    ajcmoran2005 wrote: »
    I ran nine miles and according to my Fitbit I burned 2900 calories. I always knock 500 off of that

    I don't know your height and weight stats, but nine miles is about my average running trail.I am 5 foot 11 inches tall woman and I weigh about 165 pounds. In that nine miles my Fitbit HR and my MapMyFitness apps both tell me I burn about 1200 calories. To say that you burned 2600 in the same amount of time seems extremely over exaggerated.

    There are a number of hardcore running sites that will calculate the calories burned for a length of time or a certain pace based on your body stats. Maybe try plugging your stats into there for a more accurate burn number:-)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Water retention and such (waste materials).
  • barryplumber
    barryplumber Posts: 401 Member
    The stuff you where eating is also high on sodium which will cause water retention. Give it a day or two and it will be gone
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Bwogilvie, that was a fascinating read. Thank you.

    OP, my birthday is running over 2 weeks of parties with an over abundance of everything. My scale is working like a roller coaster. Do I care? No. Everything will slot back right into place in the week or two post celebration, and my weight will return to normal.
    Yes, right now you are working hard to lose weight, but remember this is ultimately a lifestyle change, and as such you have to accept that events will put you over your scale comfort zone temporarily.
    As others have said it is not a fat gain, only 'water'. Relax and look at the big picture.

    Cheers, h.

  • ibnfaqir
    ibnfaqir Posts: 139 Member
    There is no way in hell you burned 2900 calories unless you are morbidly obese.
  • flaminica
    flaminica Posts: 304 Member
    3dogsrunning wrote: »

    Relax. This is not a healthy mindset to get into. You know you didn't eat enough to gain 1.5 lbs of fat. It was simply water weight. It will go away on it's own in time.
    I am a daily weigher, but I understand what affects the scale for me. I highly do not recommend weighing everyday if you are going to be alarmed by a lb or 2.

    Daily weighing is a dual-edged sword. If a person is inclined to be obsessive it can lead to really unhealthy behaviours. It can also be a tool to understand how one's body works and how to spot and predict the patterns of fluctuation from water or food weight.

This discussion has been closed.

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