Can anyone help me understand this?

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nationalvillage3215
nationalvillage3215 Posts: 78 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been on MFP for one month and have lost 4lbs. I have been faithful to my 1200 calorie plan (weigh all solid foods, measure all liquids). Last night went to friends for dinner and did pretty good, but guesstimated I went 600 calories over my plan. I get on the scales this morning to see the results and had gained 2.2lbs! How is this possible? My strategy is to reduce my calories by 600 today then resume my 1200 calorie plan- just hate the fact just from one night that it has set me back 2 weeks in my weight loss!!

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  • LowCarb4Me2016
    LowCarb4Me2016 Posts: 575 Member
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    Sounds like sodium. If you get back on plan and drink plenty of water you should see the weight come back down.
  • runlikeagirl1985
    runlikeagirl1985 Posts: 178 Member
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    Unless you ate 7000 calories over your maintenance you didn't gain 2.2lb overnight. It is just water weight and probably leftover food in your stomach since you ate more than usual. It will be gone as soon as you get back to normal, no need to reduce your calories by 600 today, just get back on track and it will come off again.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    nationalvillage3215 wrote: »
    I have been on MFP for one month and have lost 4lbs. I have been faithful to my 1200 calorie plan (weigh all solid foods, measure all liquids). Last night went to friends for dinner and did pretty good, but guesstimated I went 600 calories over my plan. I get on the scales this morning to see the results and had gained 2.2lbs! How is this possible? My strategy is to reduce my calories by 600 today then resume my 1200 calorie plan- just hate the fact just from one night that it has set me back 2 weeks in my weight loss!!

    sodium/water retention/TOM

    I wouldn't worry about it...you did not eat 7000+ more calories than you should in one day.

    I wouldn't even worry about reducing today...just look at weekly numbers and make sure you are in a deficit.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    More sodium = water weight. Plus poop. Don't worry about it.
  • Blitzia
    Blitzia Posts: 205 Member
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    No no no. Weight fluctuations are normal. You did not gain 2.2 pounds of fat overnight. (That would mean you ate more than 7000 calories over your maintenance. Please don't cut out 600 calories if you're only eating 1200 - that would put you at 600 calories and that's starvation.

    This is a marathon not a sprint so don't take shortcuts. Some days your weight will be higher than normal - it doesn't mean anything, and it really really doesn't mean you need to starve yourself.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Depends on what you ate. If it had a lot of salt, your body compensates by holding onto water. Plus if you haven't pooped, that weight is still in there.

    600 calories is 0.172 lbs. 3500 calories is 1 lb. Keep that in mind.

    If I go for sushi, I use too much soy sauce and am pretty much guaranteed to go 1-2 lbs the next day. Takes 2-3 days to flush out the extra sodium and water and I'm back down. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop going for sushi though. And it doesn't mean I gained 2 lbs of fat.

    Don't cut back that much in one day, spread it out over 2-3 days. Also try not to focus on what the scale says today, but focus on the trend of your weight. Use a trending app to keep track of it.
  • Charabz69
    Charabz69 Posts: 52 Member
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    The scales are dicks, honestly! So many variables when it comes to weight. Water retention/high sodium/TOM etc.
    Weigh yourself (if you must) once a week, first thing in the morning after you have been for a wee, in the same place. You have done brilliant losing the 4lbs, don't beat yourself up over those numbers.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    It's frustrating, I know. About a month ago, I registered a close-to-five pound gain after getting significantly more exercise than usual (and eating a bit more, since I try to eat back 50% of my exercise calories). The thing is, hanging out in these forums in the preceding weeks had helped. Because once I recognized that to put on 1 lb, I'd have to be eating 3,500 calories above maintenance... well, there was absolutely no way that I'd ingested 17,500 over maintenance overnight. Therefore it had to be water weight.

    Not going to lie. I was still upset seeing that 5-lb jump. Imagine that you're driving somewhere on the highway and you hear over your radio that, due to construction, a stretch of the route you're driving on has been reduced from four lanes of traffic to two and it's bumper-to-bumper. Nothing you can do about it. No way to get off the road now. And, sure enough, a minute or two later, you're stuck in an unmoving line of cars. It's frustrating. It's annoying. But you also know why it's happening and that you aren't going to be stuck in that line forever. You'll get there. It's just going to take a little longer.

    The water weight will pass. Unless you ate more than 7,000 calories over maintenance yesterday, and it doesn't sound like you did, it'll drop soon.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    Salt and the bulk of the food. )
  • skinnymam
    skinnymam Posts: 21 Member
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    You need to get out of the mind frame of weighing yourself after an evening out.
    For gods sake go out, enjoy the food, enjoy the company then get back on plan the next day. Weigh once a week, once a month whatever but stop holding yourself to ransom with the weighing scales! You understand about Cico and needing a deficit of 3500 to lose 1 lb of weight? Well think about it then, how could 600 calls put up 2.2lbs? Weigh yourself tomorrow and you will see your down already. Plus alcohol, alcohol,always causes you to carry excess fluid especially the next day.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Drink some extra water today and move on with life. Do not try and cut 600 calories today. No need to punish yourself for having a nice dinner out.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
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    It'll be gone in a couple of days!
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    You are already eating at a deficit. There's no reason to make up for the 600 calories. Assuming that your deficit is 500 calories per day, 600 calories means you only overate by 100 calories. That would equal a weight gain of 0.03 pounds. But if you really must make up for it, go walk an extra mile.
  • nationalvillage3215
    nationalvillage3215 Posts: 78 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I am taking everyone's advice and sticking to my 1200 cal/day plan today.

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