Can someone please help me understand this???

Water weight

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.

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.

Scale fluctuations are normal. Don't sweat it. Get back on track and continue with the plan.

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.

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:-)

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

There is no way in hell you burned 2900 calories unless you are morbidly obese.