Gained big weight on the scale even though I didn't overeat by much

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waterweight130
waterweight130 Posts: 107 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone so let me introduce myself, my name is Will and I'm almost 28 years old when I was 21 I tipped the scales at 350 pounds and over the course of many years I have struggled to lose weight and keep it off,

I have achieved some level of success though as in my journey of many years I have weighed as low as 190 pounds and I have tipped up to 240 pounds going in the wrong direction

Right now I'm about 215 pounds and I'll get into why I'm posting this


so on Thursday "2 days ago" I woke up and the scale said I weighed 211 pounds, I was happy when I saw that and I told myself I should do my walk routine that I had stopped due to the cold weather.

After my walk I took all my clothes off and stepped on the scale and it said 209, I was elated when I saw that and I was convinced I was good as gold.

Friday morning I was 210 pounds and was pleased with that and I had a pretty good day

Friday night I was getting hungry and before bed I had 1 serving of pretzels for 140 calories and a piece on peanut butter bread...


My calorie load wasn't ridiculous it was about 2500 for the day but this morning I got up and Stepped on the scale and I was 213 pounds

I was highly disappointed with this because I felt like all my hard work of dieting that week was for nothing

So it's Saturday at the end of the day and I'm not gonna lie I ate today, I didn't go crazy but I did polish off about 3,000 calories of food
Or possibly a bit less


I'm like 216 pounds tonight which is about where I was last weekend and which is where I have been for probably the last 6 months

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    If you're in a deficit you'll lose weight. If you weigh yourself after a higher calorie/carb/sodium day-you will have a higher weigh in due to water retention. Weight fluctuates and weight loss is not linear.
  • PaytraB
    PaytraB Posts: 2,360 Member
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    Water retention from the sodium on the pretzels and in the peanut butter bread. Sodium will make you "gain" a few pounds overnight but it'll be gone in a few days. Drink plenty of water to flush it out and don't worry about it. As long as you're logging correctly, it's just water weight.
    Keep up the good work.
  • LushFix
    LushFix Posts: 303 Member
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    I wouldn't let it discourage yourself.

    I definitely reccomend weighing at the same time in the morning after you gone to the bathroom and naked or in the same clothing.... your last statement says you weighed at night. So the food and liquids you had would still be in your body adding weight.

    Many things can make you fluctuate 5 pounds. Water retention, salt intake, even if your back up in the bathroom department. Just keep up the good work your doing.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    It's normal. Weight fluctuates for a multitude of reasons. Don't become too fixated on the scale. Here are my crazy fluctuations for the past month:

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  • eeejer
    eeejer Posts: 339 Member
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    5lbs is normal fluctuation, don't get hung up on daily measurements.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    Yeah that's just water. Don't let it get you down. When my sodium intake is high I gain 3-5 pounds of water that stays for a few days or a week or as in the case of January... a month. It comes back off eventually. Drink lots of water to help the process along.

    And holy cow great work on your loss so far!! That's amazing. :)
  • lisamarie290
    lisamarie290 Posts: 6 Member
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    I agree with everyone who pointed out the sodium content of your late night snack and the fact that the gain is likely reflecting water retention. As long as you take in fewer calories than you need, you will lose weight. I have found that it's really important to keep a food diary (and be honest when logging!) in order to know when you're probably just retaining water rather than eating too much to lose weight. I also notice if I step on the scale every day/more than once a day, I can often show a gain of 2-3 lbs within one day, even when I'm staying within my calorie limit. So...I am trying to focus on healthy eating and logging what I eat and stepping on the scale once a week instead of letting the scale make me obsess over a water weight gain.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    Try a weight trending program like Happy Scale (iPhone) or Trend Weight (Android). It'll help you not freak out over the day to day crazy fluctuations and look at the big (but getting smaller) picture. :smiley:
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,241 Member
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    So you woke up weighed 211, later after a walk were down to 209, you do realize you did not lose 2 pounds of fat because of walking right? That was water weight, or if you went to the washroom in that time, waste weight. The weight you put on was also likely water weight. A normal range of weight fluctuation is 4-5 pounds. If you are getting upset by weight changes day to day to the point of overeating because of it, I would suggest lock the scale up for 4 weeks, log your food carefully, and then weigh yourself after those 4 weeks have went past.
  • DanSTL82
    DanSTL82 Posts: 156 Member
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    Weigh yourself at the same time of day once a week, not every day. Weight fluctuates up to 5 pounds in either direction throughout the day, based on whether you've eaten/drunk lately, whether you've gone to the bathroom recently, etc. Weigh yourself every Friday morning before breakfast, for example. That will give you a better view of your progress. If you stay at a caloric deficit every day, you will not gain weight. It is physically impossible.

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