The scale was ugly this morning, meh!

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ko4q
ko4q Posts: 46 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I'm really curious about the water weight phenomenon with increased exercise. First a little about myself, I'm 5'5 and hit my target weight of 120 last June and have been happily maintaining in the 122-123 range including the holidays. My total weight lost was only about 20 pounds, but was something I committed to in a pure vanity-induced effort to initially lose 10 lbs for my 20th college reunion last spring. I hit that goal and kept on going, feeling about as good physically as I ever have in my life! Like many, if not all of you, that was achieved by diligent logging & exercise. Over the course of losing and maintaining I feel like I learned a tremendous amount about the types of food that keep me satisfied and happy, as well as the fact that that while not everyday is perfect food-wise or exercise-wise, the next day is a clean start.

In December of last year I resigned from my long time position at a local university. My most recent boss was a complete (insert profanity) and resigning was the BEST Christmas present I have ever given myself. Thus, I have been at home (hubby works and is totally loving having a non-stressed out wife/mom-ager). There are so many projects around the house and garden not to mention kids' sports practices that have kept me very occupied, and best of all I have all the time I want to work out! I'm a workout-junkie; the motivation to get to the gym or head out for a run has never been a problem. Even when I was +20 lbs, I was still working out (I just ate too much, LOL). I consider myself a fairly serious runner at about 40-50 miles a week and as I'm not working, I also have the opportunity to take some fun gym classes, usually athletic conditioning (cardio + lightish weights/high rep intervals). Hard days for me are 30 minute (3.5 mile) run to gym, 60 minute conditioning class followed by 30 minutes EZ jog home. On non-class days, I like a longer 70 minute easy paced run. I figure I have probably bumped up my total exercise hours from 7 per week (while working) to about 11-12 hours pretty much from mid-January though now. I'm generally a little sore but not in a painful way, I sleep like a log and most importantly I feel like I have kept on top of nutrition. In general, I eat about 800 calories for breakfast and lunch and an additional 800 +/-200 for dinner and snacks. This has been very consistent and over the last 10 days I have been especially diligent about logging and weighing food.

My weight has done nothing but gone up! Back in January I was consistently 124-125, more recently I've been in the 126 range. With the last 10 days of really good logging, I was still 126 as of this wednesday and this morning I was 129. UGH! And this worst part is, I really feel it. I look a little puffy, clothes are a little tighter-Meh! So If I haven't completely bored you with this long post, my question is, can I be holding on to 7 lbs of water weight? For 6-8 weeks? I admittedly do not pay much attention to my sodium intake although apart from a bowl of pretzels now and again, I don't think its out of control. I know one thought is "she's not working, staying at home, more opportunity to watch TLC and eat and eat despite working out more, she's delusional about food intake, etc." I get that which is why I tighten up my recent logging. I'm just a little frustrated right now with my obnoxiously tight skinny jeans that I worked so hard to fit into and would welcome any advice from the very respected MFP crowd! I could also cut back on the exercise, but I feel like I'd be missing out on this once in a lifetime chance to take classes whenever I want, if you know what I mean.

Replies

  • swim777
    swim777 Posts: 599 Member
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    It sounds like you are logging faithfully and accurately. If the only thing that has changed is increased exercise, I would suspect some water weight from that and possibly some extra sodium in snacks or meals. I’m not an expert but sodium can definitely up your weight temporarily. Others say changes in working out can also increase water weight. Congratulations on being home and able to try so many new things!
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    TLDR ;my scale has gone up 0.5 per day every day for the last 10 days, 5 lbs in a week! I'm in maintenance and I know it's all water weight, but this is one of the most dramatic fluctuations I've experienced, aside from when flying. I know it will drop off in another week. BLEH.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,721 Member
    edited March 2018
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    Have you increased your intake at all given the additional exercise? On re-read you're eating between 2200 and 2600 which at first glance seems reasonable.

    At least two consecutive rest days together with a carb heavy re feed at your predicted maintenance given your activity may trigger a whoosh.

    I am sure you have excluded silly things like bowel movements and peeing on a stick...
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,978 Member
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    I know when I have dramatically increased exercise, my weight has shot up, sometimes in the 4-7 pound range, and it takes a solid 5+ weeks (or more) to drop off.

    As an example, after coming back from an injury, I was finally able to workout again starting in late November. The scale jumped a couple pounds. Then, I increased my workouts and jumped up again, like another 3 pounds. It pretty much sat there, with only a very, very slow loss, until less than 2 weeks ago when I had my scheduled deload week, and in the past less-than-two-weeks, I'm back down 3-4 pounds again.

    The big difference though was that my measurements and photos showed very noticeable changes, even if the scale didn't.

    If your clothes are fitting worse, and you're still going up, could be you're just eating a bit more than you really need. Or, maybe the change in routine has you missing some things that you're consuming that you didn't before? Just throwing ideas out there :)
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    You're doing a whole lot of exercise. It wouldn't surprise me at all if your body is hanging on to some extra water as your muscles repair themselves. I once gained eight pounds of water weight after a half marathon, but I lost it all over the next four or five days. I also lose a couple of pounds if I go a few days without running. So I think taking the weekend off and giving your muscles a break would probably help.

    And congrats on the new job! Speaking as someone who graduated from the other major university down in southwestern Virginia, and is now on the tenure track, I'm very glad that you're finally getting time for yourself.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
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    My scale keeps putting back on the same 1 lb it takes off, over and over again!!
  • amlelas68
    amlelas68 Posts: 69 Member
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    I had some weight gain myself but not for the same reasons as you do. I am not a doctor by any means. I do know we can eat super healthy and all and dont realize certain things can hold on to weight and cause gain even if there is no sodium in it. This is why I also do measurements to know not to totally count on the scale. Beef products can cause weight gain and not exit your body for 3-5 days. I also do a day of fasting twice a month which tends to help. I believe what goes in must come out. Im learning a whole lot of different things when it comes to gains. I totally when on this other plan and finally down 21 pounds. But congrats on all the exercise you do. I just started back at the gym on Monday. So we will see how this goes with the scale.
  • goatg
    goatg Posts: 1,399 Member
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    I can't possibly imagine that you're working out as much as you are, eating 1800-2000 (even 2100) calories per day, and gaining weight. It simply does not make sense. Is this really accurate?
    You're experienced with logging and it has worked for you in the past. Despite the fact that your weight gain has been steady and over a couple months' time, given the numbers, I would consult a professional nutritionist.

    Bear in mind: It's not 7 pounds of water weight. It's 3, since you have consistently been 126.


    If you really want more thorough feedback from us, list out the hours of hard run per wk, hours of easy jog per week, hours of long and easy run per week, hours of strength training (with a description of exercises you perform) per week, and we can provide you with more accurate feedback.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    ko4q wrote: »
    I'm really curious about the water weight phenomenon with increased exercise. First a little about myself, I'm 5'5 and hit my target weight of 120 last June and have been happily maintaining in the 122-123 range including the holidays. My total weight lost was only about 20 pounds, but was something I committed to in a pure vanity-induced effort to initially lose 10 lbs for my 20th college reunion last spring. I hit that goal and kept on going, feeling about as good physically as I ever have in my life! Like many, if not all of you, that was achieved by diligent logging & exercise. Over the course of losing and maintaining I feel like I learned a tremendous amount about the types of food that keep me satisfied and happy, as well as the fact that that while not everyday is perfect food-wise or exercise-wise, the next day is a clean start.

    In December of last year I resigned from my long time position at a local university. My most recent boss was a complete (insert profanity) and resigning was the BEST Christmas present I have ever given myself. Thus, I have been at home (hubby works and is totally loving having a non-stressed out wife/mom-ager). There are so many projects around the house and garden not to mention kids' sports practices that have kept me very occupied, and best of all I have all the time I want to work out! I'm a workout-junkie; the motivation to get to the gym or head out for a run has never been a problem. Even when I was +20 lbs, I was still working out (I just ate too much, LOL). I consider myself a fairly serious runner at about 40-50 miles a week and as I'm not working, I also have the opportunity to take some fun gym classes, usually athletic conditioning (cardio + lightish weights/high rep intervals). Hard days for me are 30 minute (3.5 mile) run to gym, 60 minute conditioning class followed by 30 minutes EZ jog home. On non-class days, I like a longer 70 minute easy paced run. I figure I have probably bumped up my total exercise hours from 7 per week (while working) to about 11-12 hours pretty much from mid-January though now. I'm generally a little sore but not in a painful way, I sleep like a log and most importantly I feel like I have kept on top of nutrition. In general, I eat about 800 calories for breakfast and lunch and an additional 800 +/-200 for dinner and snacks. This has been very consistent and over the last 10 days I have been especially diligent about logging and weighing food.

    My weight has done nothing but gone up! Back in January I was consistently 124-125, more recently I've been in the 126 range. With the last 10 days of really good logging, I was still 126 as of this wednesday and this morning I was 129. UGH! And this worst part is, I really feel it. I look a little puffy, clothes are a little tighter-Meh! So If I haven't completely bored you with this long post, my question is, can I be holding on to 7 lbs of water weight? For 6-8 weeks? I admittedly do not pay much attention to my sodium intake although apart from a bowl of pretzels now and again, I don't think its out of control. I know one thought is "she's not working, staying at home, more opportunity to watch TLC and eat and eat despite working out more, she's delusional about food intake, etc." I get that which is why I tighten up my recent logging. I'm just a little frustrated right now with my obnoxiously tight skinny jeans that I worked so hard to fit into and would welcome any advice from the very respected MFP crowd! I could also cut back on the exercise, but I feel like I'd be missing out on this once in a lifetime chance to take classes whenever I want, if you know what I mean.

    How do we read this? 800 calories for breakfast and lunch combined? Or for each?
  • h1udd
    h1udd Posts: 623 Member
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    The extra workouts will cause your muscles to store more water, but not to the point your clothes dont fit.

    sounds to me like your NEAT calories are now less than they used to be and not covered even by the increase of exercise calories (are you eating these back ?)

    I personally would re-evaluate my calorie intake and reduce calories in until the weight starts dropping again
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited March 2018
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    When I had a career change, my weight crept up (not unusual) but didn't respond to my usual fat loss methods. Exact same exercise, same intake. Mysterious. I eventually realized my new job activity level was much lower. Adjusting for a lower TDEE and counting accurately got me back on track.

    It sounds like your exercise increased, but overall activity is a huge factor, too. Congrats on the new job. Hope you love it and the few pounds of fluctuations work themselves out.
  • amyf2000
    amyf2000 Posts: 44 Member
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    When I changed my routine and started working out differently and more, my weight and size went up and stayed up for almost six months - then suddenly both went down. I was not counting calories during this time. The amount of weight was not dramatic but the change in how lean I felt was. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 42 and I think maybe your body just needs to adjust to a new routine. You're exercising a lot. If I were you, I would not worry, give it more time, and maybe eat even more (you're exercising a LOT). The default advice on mfp is always to tighten up your logging and say you're probably eating more than you think, and while I think that's true in most cases it isn't the right advice in all cases. At any rate, it sounds to me like you're making awesomely healthy choices in terms of activity and stress level and sleeping and that is so much more important to your long term health, so GOOD FOR YOU!!!
  • amyf2000
    amyf2000 Posts: 44 Member
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    Oh, and protein. I started drinking a protein shake every morning before my workout, and it was after I did that that my weight dropped again. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Protein!
  • CaliMomTeach
    CaliMomTeach Posts: 745 Member
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    My weight has gone up by as much as 10 pounds in a week, and then come back down. This is usually due to me eating too much food with too much sodium. It happens when I stop tracking for a couple days and eat too much. Just this week, I have "lost" around 6 pounds. I am blown away by how much weight I can gain in such a little time. It sounds like you haven't changed your intake though, so I'm not sure. Any chance you are pregnant? The other thought I have was that you may have moved that much more in your job, and now that you aren't there you might be expending that many fewer calories.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,325 Member
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    :D:D:D

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