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New exercise -How long does water retention last?

jelleigh
jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I've just completed week one of SL 5x5 (woohoo!) and I have a weigh in coming up. Ive read that when you start a new exercise routine, your body will retain water for a bit. And also that this happens while muscles are repairing. How long does this sort of water retention last? Or will I always be retaining more water now as each work out I'm increasing the weights and I'm sore after so I would imagine there is some repair going on?

I know ultimately the water rentention doesn't matter to my weight loss. Its just that I haven't been losing for a little while and so I've recently really tightened up my logging and started regular exercise and it would make me feel a lot better if I could see SOME reflection of that on the scale. And if I don't, then I want to know if I reasonably could be just retaining water. ;)

Edited for my bad spelling. Lol

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,055 Member
    edited September 2017
    The big spike late Oct/early Nov was when I started weightlifing.

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    It came off really quickly for me, but I had gotten sick shortly afterwards and was drinking a lot of tea and eating a lot of soup but less regular food.

    The rest of the spikes are likely related to ovulation or being premenstrual. Since I have these fluctuations all the time, I don't worry about them while the overall trend is down. I find it useful to compare myself to last month, not last week.
  • Tried30UserNames
    Tried30UserNames Posts: 561 Member
    If I start a new intense exercise program, I will gain a couple of pounds the first day or two. The initial fluid gain will remain, as best I can tell. Then, if I'm dieting to lose weight at the same time, I'll continue to lose weight at my normal rate

    If I'm doing something like heavy weight lifting every third day, for example, there will be a small increase in weight each time I lift weights and it will slowly decrease as the sore muscles go away over the next day or two. If I'm doing an exercise program that causes sore muscles every day, then there isn't really that up and down.

    Basically, all of it is just minor fluctuations of a pound or two, but if I'm dieting also, there's an overall downward trend over time and I just ignore the daily fluctuations from lactic acid and other fluids.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,588 MFP Moderator
    For me, typically about 2 weeks. Tends to be worse (more retention and longer time) with weight lifting than running.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    I started running during the summer and had a 2-3 week stall, then a hella whoosh.
  • Kwoconnor
    Kwoconnor Posts: 39 Member
    From my understanding - the more carbs that are in your diet the more water you'll hold. 1 gram of carbs will hold 4 grams of water.

    I noticed when I was losing my main portino of weight (logging and weighing all my food) the water retention balances out for me after 3 or 4 days. I can drink as much water as I wanted, but the carbs were what was retaining the water, at least that was my understanding. It felt that way to me, too anyhow.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    Just watch your calories and keep working out. All the rest will take care of itself.
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
    Thanks for the responses everyone. And ya I know I need to be patient and wait it out. I guess I'm just afraid it won't really work and I will feel like I've wasted (more) time.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,055 Member
    jelleigh wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses everyone. And ya I know I need to be patient and wait it out. I guess I'm just afraid it won't really work and I will feel like I've wasted (more) time.

    Getting stronger is never a waste of time :)

    I wish I had the strength I had in 2004 when I was a full time yoga teacher and working out regularly.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    jelleigh wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses everyone. And ya I know I need to be patient and wait it out. I guess I'm just afraid it won't really work and I will feel like I've wasted (more) time.

    Why would it be wasting your time? It will work if you make it work, but please don't panic over every little blip in the process.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,932 Member
    If I do a relatively long bicycle ride on the weekend, it usually takes 3 days for the water retention to clear.
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
    No your right @kshama2001 and @lorrpb . It's not that lifting is a waste of time. It's more that I have been stalled at this weight (give or take) for 6 months and I don't want to spend more time doing something that's actually ineffective. So I've been weighing my meals at home now for a month the first time since I've started losing. And I've started this new exercise routine. And I'm trying to more accurately estimate what I'm eating out (long story but I have to eat probably one meal a day out and live in a country with no nutritional info available and a language barrier so I can't ask so I really just have to guess). So I figure that if the scale finally starts to move, than I'm doing enough to make progress. But if it doesn't move, then I need to estimate higher on my meals out.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Weights will be effective for what they're intended to do, just as a calorie deficit is effective for what it's intended to do. Weights probably won't make you lose pounds if the nutrition is out of whack.

    I'm sorry that you have such a challenge getting nutritional info, and it sounds like you probably need to estimate higher. I've found portion control to be very important when eating out. Cut your servings in half and eat only one half. Take the rest home or leave it on the plate if you need to. Excess food will either go to "waist" or "waste". There is no merit in eating more than you want to just so you don't "waste" food. It's a hard mental shift, but often necessary.

    With the eating out you are surely retaining a lot of water, which masks true weight loss. Nonetheless, if you're losing true weight, you should see it in spite of normal water retention because after a few weeks the water weight levels out, more or less. It just takes a bit longer, but not 6 months.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    jelleigh wrote: »
    No your right @kshama2001 and @lorrpb . It's not that lifting is a waste of time. It's more that I have been stalled at this weight (give or take) for 6 months and I don't want to spend more time doing something that's actually ineffective. So I've been weighing my meals at home now for a month the first time since I've started losing. And I've started this new exercise routine. And I'm trying to more accurately estimate what I'm eating out (long story but I have to eat probably one meal a day out and live in a country with no nutritional info available and a language barrier so I can't ask so I really just have to guess). So I figure that if the scale finally starts to move, than I'm doing enough to make progress. But if it doesn't move, then I need to estimate higher on my meals out.

    Need to separate diet for hopefully just fat loss.

    And exercise for heart health and body transformation, side effect usually water weight gain.

    Exercise can effect just fat loss (or lack thereof), diet can effect good workouts and fat loss.

    Don't weigh on invalid day with known water weight fluctuations - or weigh every day and use trend weight - you sound like the former is needed.
    Morning after rest day eating normal sodium levels, not sore from last workout.

    If that valid day doesn't apply - don't even get on the scale - you sound like you'll get stressed out.


    When you correctly log Weight Lifting as a workout from the database, that is for SL5x5 type lifting, don't count any cardio warmup or cooldown of course, first lift to last lift time only, rests count in the time though.
    And that's why the calorie burn is low compared to cardio, which is true.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    jelleigh wrote: »
    No your right @kshama2001 and @lorrpb . It's not that lifting is a waste of time. It's more that I have been stalled at this weight (give or take) for 6 months and I don't want to spend more time doing something that's actually ineffective. So I've been weighing my meals at home now for a month the first time since I've started losing. And I've started this new exercise routine. And I'm trying to more accurately estimate what I'm eating out (long story but I have to eat probably one meal a day out and live in a country with no nutritional info available and a language barrier so I can't ask so I really just have to guess). So I figure that if the scale finally starts to move, than I'm doing enough to make progress. But if it doesn't move, then I need to estimate higher on my meals out.

    I have discovered that in addition to improving health and conditioning, my weight training program (which includes some interval work) makes me more mindful about fueling my body, which in turn causes me to make better choices (eat this, not that). And I like your plan - gather data, and if the results are not what you would expect, make a targeted change. Good luck!
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