Gained five pounds overnight
capriqueen
Posts: 974 Member
I haven't been working out properly in about two weeks, owing to work. Up until then I had been strength training and noticed some gains at 193 lbs.
During these last two weeks, my diet went haywire. I was under a lot of stress and I've been eating a lot of junk, but until yesterday morning, my weight hovered around 193lbs. However, I felt some of my clothes were tighter than they used to be. Yesterday I had a really bad binge and my weight skyrocketed to 198 lbs. Could the weight gain have caught up to me?
During these last two weeks, my diet went haywire. I was under a lot of stress and I've been eating a lot of junk, but until yesterday morning, my weight hovered around 193lbs. However, I felt some of my clothes were tighter than they used to be. Yesterday I had a really bad binge and my weight skyrocketed to 198 lbs. Could the weight gain have caught up to me?
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Replies
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Overnight it's unlikely.
Presumably the binge was more sodium and carb laden than your normal way of eating?
It's far more likely that you are just retaining a lot of water.
My own weight goes up and down as much as 5lbs each day depending on diet/where I am in my cycle (usually particularly high during both my PMS week and Ovulation and then drop lower during my actual period).
A pound of fat roughly equates to 3500 calories so if you're set in MFP to lose weight to gain a pound you'd need to be eating your normal deficit back every day of the week and then eat a further 3500 calories.
For example if your maintenance intake is 2500 calories and you're set to lose 2lbs per week (1000 cal deficit per day). To gain a pound in that week you'd have to eat around 3000 calories per day or 21000 calories over the whole week.
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It’s mostly or entirely water weight and undigested food. You didn’t gain five pounds of fat overnight. Just get your eating back on track and give your body a week or so to deal with the water/waste.8
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Did you eat 17,500 calories above maintenance yesterday? My guess is even with a "really bad binge", no where even remotely close to that. So if not, you didn't gain 5 pounds of fat overnight. Rather do to the binge you put on a lot of water weight from your body retaining the excess food and sodium and not fully digesting it yet. That is not real weight gain and you will lose it after a few days back to normal.3
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You'll pee it out, not to worry. Fluctuations and plateaus are a normal part of the process.2
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If you've consistently been eating above maintenance for the past two weeks of "haywire" eating, then some of it is probably actual gain. Still likely that most of it is water, though.
I find that my stress eating mechanisms don't care if I'm eating masssive amounts of produce or "junk." They just want the food shoveled in. Maybe that could work for you until you're back on an even keel?3 -
Unless you were dehydrated for 2 weeks there is no "catching up". You gain and lose weight everyday it just does not show up on the scale that way. Read this:
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
In order for your weight gain to be "masked" you would have to be dehydrated during every scale reading so that your water weight as abnormally low. This is typically not going to happen unless you are sick.
More than likely you gained maybe a third of a pound yesterday and the rest is water retention.2 -
Unless you were dehydrated for 2 weeks there is no "catching up". You gain and lose weight everyday it just does not show up on the scale that way. Read this:
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
In order for your weight gain to be "masked" you would have to be dehydrated during every scale reading so that your water weight as abnormally low. This is typically not going to happen unless you are sick.
More than likely you gained maybe a third of a pound yesterday and the rest is water retention.
Thanks a lot, does going to the bathroom in the morning before stepping on the scale count as being "dehydrated"? Or are you referring to severe dehydration?0 -
capriqueen wrote: »Unless you were dehydrated for 2 weeks there is no "catching up". You gain and lose weight everyday it just does not show up on the scale that way. Read this:
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
In order for your weight gain to be "masked" you would have to be dehydrated during every scale reading so that your water weight as abnormally low. This is typically not going to happen unless you are sick.
More than likely you gained maybe a third of a pound yesterday and the rest is water retention.
Thanks a lot, does going to the bathroom in the morning before stepping on the scale count as being "dehydrated"? Or are you referring to severe dehydration?
It does not count. That is normal and should be the way you weigh yourself for consistency.
Dehydration is best noted in the color of your mid morning (second trip to the restroom) and later urine color. If is straw yellow or lighter you are fine. If it is dark you are dehydrated and need to drink more. I only mentioned it as an extreme example.1 -
Just a fun example. A couple weeks ago, I weighed about 221. Got an infection, couldn’t eat or drink much for 3 days. Down to 216. Antibiotics did their job. Swelling went down. I was RAVENOUS. I had nothing cooked, so ate cookies, candy bars, whatever I could find. Next day 227. Ate closer to normal a couple of days. Back to 221. All in one week.
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Forgive me for being blunt, but before you weighed in - had you pooped out all the binge? Probably not. Eating more food yesterday (in terms of the quantity of food or food mass) means that when you got on the scale this morning, you had more food in you. A bit like stepping on the scales w/ a few extra snacks in your pockets.
That and sodium...capriqueen wrote: »I haven't been working out properly in about two weeks, owing to work. Up until then I had been strength training and noticed some gains at 193 lbs.
During these last two weeks, my diet went haywire. I was under a lot of stress and I've been eating a lot of junk, but until yesterday morning, my weight hovered around 193lbs. However, I felt some of my clothes were tighter than they used to be. Yesterday I had a really bad binge and my weight skyrocketed to 198 lbs. Could the weight gain have caught up to me?
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Each gram of carbs holds 3g (or is it 4g? I can never remember) of water until your body's done processing it.
Eat more carbs than normal (even if a perfectly sensible amount, even within calorie goal), retain more water.
Eat more sodium than normal, retain more water to help with electrolyte balance.
Per research I've read, full digestive transit can take more than 50 hours. Eat more volume than usual, and that stuff is still extra weight in the pipes somewhere, until it's excreted.
Further, if you're female & premenopausal and hit your hormone cycle just right (exact timing varies among women), and you'll retain water. Get a sunburn, or a cold/allergy spell, or a minor injury of some sort, and you'll retain water.
The water weight and digestive contents will settle out in a few days to a week, and you'll see how much fat you gained . . . but it's highly unlikely to be 5 pounds. Mean time, eat sensibly (don't try to "make up for it"), hydrate adequately (no water binges), and wait.
This thread might amuse you:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10603949/big-overfeed-ruins-everything-nope
And do read the site Novus linked.5 -
I gained ('gained') 4 kg (about 10lb) between last night and this morning - drank a small bottle of water in between, didn't eat anything, weighing myself on the probably wonky scale in this tiny hotel gym. Fluctuations are weird, scales are weird, don't worry about it. It's all about the long term trend - weeks, not days.2
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It used to freak me out too, I could gain 2lb overnight, but as the others have said it's one of those things (water/undigested food/not going to the toilet) when you weigh yourself regularly you can see patterns. Learn not to panic, look at the figures over the weeks, averages are much better for your state of mind!0
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The only times I've seen an overnight gain of as much as 5lbs is when I've gone hiking all day the day before, or something similar. The next day, I sometimes see a large gain that goes away in another couple of days. It's basically due to swelling.
A big gain due to inactivity and eating seems more likely to build up over a few days. Sodium is a big factor. But, get in some cardio and perhaps do a fast day, and it can go away almost as quickly.
Best of luck!0 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »The only times I've seen an overnight gain of as much as 5lbs is when I've gone hiking all day the day before, or something similar. The next day, I sometimes see a large gain that goes away in another couple of days. It's basically due to swelling.
A big gain due to inactivity and eating seems more likely to build up over a few days. Sodium is a big factor. But, get in some cardio and perhaps do a fast day, and it can go away almost as quickly.
Best of luck!
A fast day is a terrible idea for someone who is struggling with bingeing. It is likely to lead to further bingeing and is a very bad mindset to get into.6 -
Is there a particular food that "makes" you gain weight without actually eating a ton of calories? For some reason, my body hates it when I eat jujubes....I know even if I have a handful, I'll gain at least a pound and maybe 2, then lose it by the next day.1
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It sounds like you may be eating too much sodium and sugar. I feel that sodium is most likely the cause and you are probably putting on water weight. Try eating more whole foods. I think if you cut the junk food out for a few days (processed meals), you will see your weight go back to normal.0
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Is there a particular food that "makes" you gain weight without actually eating a ton of calories? For some reason, my body hates it when I eat jujubes....I know even if I have a handful, I'll gain at least a pound and maybe 2, then lose it by the next day.
Weight gain on the scale as you are describing above has nothing to do with calories, your body retains more water when you eat more carbs and/or sodium, this is a totally normal process in which your body is regulating itself.
Water retention can also be caused by:- Alcohol
- Illness/Injury
- Certain Medications
- New or more intense exercise
- Hydration level
- Hormone changes (particularly for women)
You can also feel more bloated from food intolerances/allergies and if constipated.
ETA: For the vast majority of people there is no need to do anything about it, except have a little patience and let the weight come off, the only reason it's a concern is if you have a medical condition. If you're seeking to lose weight, you are trying to lose fat, not water.4 -
Fluctuation happens. For all the reasons others have written.
From my progress bar: the top graph is one year of weight logging and the bottom is 3 months.
I lost half my goal in a little under a year and have been four months trying to keep it off and make a real dent in the remaining half.
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