Water weight--always with us?!

lorrpb
lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
People are always stressing out about excess water weight and how long it will take you to lose it. But if you eat out once a week or more, and you do challenging workouts, or new exercises, several times a week, then aren't you always likely to be carrying several extra pounds of water weight, in addition to the "normal" water in the body? You might get rid of one batch just in time to gain it back from another meal or workout! It does not bother me, but I wonder sometimes what all the hoopla is about.

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,260 Member
    lorrpb wrote: »
    People are always stressing out about excess water weight and how long it will take you to lose it. But if you eat out once a week or more, and you do challenging workouts, or new exercises, several times a week, then aren't you always likely to be carrying several extra pounds of water weight, in addition to the "normal" water in the body? You might get rid of one batch just in time to gain it back from another meal or workout! It does not bother me, but I wonder sometimes what all the hoopla is about.

    IMO, at a certain point you can't really call it excess water weight. For me, excess water weight is what I get when I eat a lot of sodium and/or carbs and my weight spikes for several days/weeks because of it. I don't see an increase in weight after a heavy workout but I know that my body carries some extra water weight due to working out because when I take a week off, I see a decrease of a couple of pounds and then it goes back up when I start back up. Since that water weight is something I have 99% of the time, I consider it part of my normal weight and not excess water weight.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    edited February 2016
    Worrying about water weight is foolishness, a human's weight fluctuates for many reasons. The adult human is normally about 57% water and it ranges normally between 50% and 65%.

    Makes about as much sense as worrying about one's weight going up between eating and defecating.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    you have to learn what your normal is for your lifestyle.

    right now, I am carrying about 3 pounds of water weight because TOM is coming up.

    because i eat out and drink often, water weight from that isn't noticed on the scale, since its kind of a 'rolling average' LOL im not so caught up in numbers that it bothers me. the trend is downwards, thats all i care about. i imagine if i cut it out, id lose (based on TOM gain) about 3 pounds.

    but i am not sacrificing those things LOLOLOL
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    There was a thread here the other day and the OP thought you could completely rid your body of "water weight". :D
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    strong_curves wrote: »
    There was a thread here the other day and the OP thought you could completely rid your body of "water weight". :D

    ummmmm considering our bodies are made of MOSTLY water.....maybe not LOLOLOLOLOL
  • MamaMc3
    MamaMc3 Posts: 213 Member
    I think it freaks people out when they do have some extra water weight on their bodies, and the scale jumps a few pounds in the wrong direction. It's normal, though, to carry some extra water when you eat a lot of sodium or your muscles are repairing themselves after a workout. It's just knowing what is "normal" for you and what isn't.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    People obsess far to much over some arbitrary number on the scale that is comprised of numerous things...people obsess about the scale rather than focusing on being healthy and fit...from my observations being here over three years, being healthy and fit barely even registers with many...it's all about some number.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    People obsess far to much over some arbitrary number on the scale that is comprised of numerous things...people obsess about the scale rather than focusing on being healthy and fit...from my observations being here over three years, being healthy and fit barely even registers with many...it's all about some number.

    yupyup
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    Arbitrary relationship with gravity is arbitrary.
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    Scale weight is just a tool to use for motivation, measuring caloric burn, and estimating adequate caloric intake. It's not any better or worse than one's height. It's just a number in a math problem. But to be fair, people freak out about water weight a lot of the time because they simply aren't aware of it. Think about it. The diet industry makes billions convincing people their program works because their "study" showed a decrease in ten whole pounds over two weeks!

    If they let people in on the fact that weight fluctuates and their "study" participants were only losing water weight, people wouldn't buy their crap anymore. More often than not I see people panicking because they gained 2 lbs instead of losing and just no one ever told them they're gonna retain water around their period. My mother never let me in on that little pearl of knowledge, I had to find out from google. Clearly I'm not alone.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    CoffeeNCardio wrote: »
    Scale weight is just a tool to use for motivation, measuring caloric burn, and estimating adequate caloric intake. It's not any better or worse than one's height. It's just a number in a math problem. But to be fair, people freak out about water weight a lot of the time because they simply aren't aware of it. Think about it. The diet industry makes billions convincing people their program works because their "study" showed a decrease in ten whole pounds over two weeks!

    If they let people in on the fact that weight fluctuates and their "study" participants were only losing water weight, people wouldn't buy their crap anymore. More often than not I see people panicking because they gained 2 lbs instead of losing and just no one ever told them they're gonna retain water around their period. My mother never let me in on that little pearl of knowledge, I had to find out from google. Clearly I'm not alone.

    yeah, but there are a lot of posts asking specifically how to lose water weight...so they know it's water weight, but they're so wrapped up in the scale that it doesn't matter.
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    It is also different for each person. For many people water weight is "normal"

    For me it is dangerous ( a dangerous indication i ate too much salt for my medical condition) ...so yes i try to "lose" it as fast as i can.


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  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    CoffeeNCardio wrote: »
    Scale weight is just a tool to use for motivation, measuring caloric burn, and estimating adequate caloric intake. It's not any better or worse than one's height. It's just a number in a math problem. But to be fair, people freak out about water weight a lot of the time because they simply aren't aware of it. Think about it. The diet industry makes billions convincing people their program works because their "study" showed a decrease in ten whole pounds over two weeks!

    If they let people in on the fact that weight fluctuates and their "study" participants were only losing water weight, people wouldn't buy their crap anymore. More often than not I see people panicking because they gained 2 lbs instead of losing and just no one ever told them they're gonna retain water around their period. My mother never let me in on that little pearl of knowledge, I had to find out from google. Clearly I'm not alone.

    yeah, but there are a lot of posts asking specifically how to lose water weight...so they know it's water weight, but they're so wrapped up in the scale that it doesn't matter.

    I'm aware. But those people are the fringe. Not the majority. It's hardly fair to lump them in. Those people who know it's water weight and want to "lose" it are the same people who want forum wide permission to eat 800 calories a day.
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    CoffeeNCardio wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    CoffeeNCardio wrote: »
    Scale weight is just a tool to use for motivation, measuring caloric burn, and estimating adequate caloric intake. It's not any better or worse than one's height. It's just a number in a math problem. But to be fair, people freak out about water weight a lot of the time because they simply aren't aware of it. Think about it. The diet industry makes billions convincing people their program works because their "study" showed a decrease in ten whole pounds over two weeks!

    If they let people in on the fact that weight fluctuates and their "study" participants were only losing water weight, people wouldn't buy their crap anymore. More often than not I see people panicking because they gained 2 lbs instead of losing and just no one ever told them they're gonna retain water around their period. My mother never let me in on that little pearl of knowledge, I had to find out from google. Clearly I'm not alone.

    yeah, but there are a lot of posts asking specifically how to lose water weight...so they know it's water weight, but they're so wrapped up in the scale that it doesn't matter.

    I'm aware. But those people are the fringe. Not the majority. It's hardly fair to lump them in. Those people who know it's water weight and want to "lose" it are the same people who want forum wide permission to eat 800 calories a day.

    Well not me i eat 2000 calories a day :)
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