Water Weight or Actual Weight Gain Question

Have you eaten excessively for that time? It would be impossible to determine what percentage, if any, of your gain was something other than water weight.

Any chance you are approaching that time of the month? That could account for it. Hormone based weight changes are very common. Other possibilities are high sodium, constipation, or even a change in sleep habits. It's normal for weight to fluctuate several pounds over the course of a day due to water intake, and if you weigh yourself once after a full night's sleep and the next time after hardly any sleep, you may see a huge scale difference.

It's extremely unlikely you have gained 4 lbs of fat in 5 days. You would have to eat about 3000 calories per day over your maintenance calories, and if you did that you would know it. It's almost certainly water weight.

Log all your calories after weighing your food accurately, meet your calorie goals, and try to trust the process.

Last month I gained 5 pounds in 4 days while still staying in my calorie range. I kept at it and it finally went away after a couple weeks. Keep at it!

I find one meal of Chinese take out is three to four pounds of water gain ... overnight! It might take 48 hours for it to crest and then 3 or 4 days to go back down. Why is this? Sodium, pure and simple. It's water. That's why it's important to understand that weight loss is not linear. A chart of daily weight while you're losing looks like an unbalanced ball bouncing down uneven steps.

fuchsias wrote: »

I have eaten more than usual, maybe 200 to 300 calories above limit. This has occurred within the last week or so.
Weight and food issues are my Achilles heel. I feel like I will never get a handle on this but will keep going - no choice.
Thank you for the advice I will drink a lot of water and move on.

If it's 200-300 above your deficit, assuming your deficit is set at 500, then it's water weight.

I'm currently on a diet break, and am up 1 kg (2.2 lb) since starting. I know full well I haven't eaten above maintenance. I also know that this is my ovulation bloat week...(and maybe a little glycogen replenishment and extra food in my system). Ovulation should conveniently coincide with end of diet break, and I'll drop back to where I was.

What I would do is start taking measurements of how many inches are around the waist and thighs, especially if you're at a surplus and are on a routine exercise program. Sometimes the weight gain is muscle that's getting stronger from the extra calories and exercise.

Ever since I've started a supervised gym class three days a week, my weight hasn't budged much but my inches have slowly been going down (down to 42" at last measurement), which shows my body's recomping from fat to muscle a bit.

Tacklewasher wrote: »

HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »

I find one meal of Chinese take out is three to four pounds of water gain ... overnight! It might take 48 hours for it to crest and then 3 or 4 days to go back down. Why is this? Sodium, pure and simple. It's water. That's why it's important to understand that weight loss is not linear. A chart of daily weight while you're losing looks like an unbalanced ball bouncing down uneven steps.

Hah. I can do that with a sashimi lunch. Way too much soy sauce involved and boom, 3 lbs the next morning.

Perfectly normal and why I like tracking my weight daily.

This makes me feel so much better I had chinese the other night and even measured the house fried rice lol and i gained 2 & 1/2lbs! It's crazy how much sodium affects the body