will eating sugary snacks the night before weigh in cause the scale to go up/water retention

trulyhealy
trulyhealy Posts: 242 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i’ve been really stressed about weighing in tomorrow morning for like 2 days now to the point today i ate a lot of chocolate and snacks (not as bad as as i used to)

i think im stressed bc im close to getting within the 10 stones section (i’m 11 stone 2) i’m not normally like this

anyways will the scale go up due to water retention from eating lots of sugary things (i didn’t go over my calories today i had 1,300)

Replies

  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    If you do weigh a little more because of a few extra carbs so what? A bit of extra water weight makes absolutely no difference to the amount of fat you have lost as a result of being in a deficit. You are so much more than a random number on a scale. Also, stressing over what might be will also raise the amount of cortisol in your system. Guess what effect that has on fluid retention? Yep, it will increase the amount of fluid in your system and can also result in you stress eating.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,927 Member
    If you ate more then there's also bound to be a bit more poop weight in your intestines. Please don't panic! Weight fluctuations is part of life. You're just making things difficult for you.
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    It's really impossible to say, so many things can affect water retention and weight including salt intake, fluid intake, hormones, monthly cycle, bowel contents etc. You cannot control water weight. Agree with the others, there is no need to be this stressed about it.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited June 2020
    I agree with the above commenters that trying to manipulate water weight and/or being fearful of it is ... not good or healthy. Weight fluctuations just go with the territory of being on a diet and must be accepted.

    That said, my answer to your question is: yeah, snacking at night will cause some water retention, but it super-depends on the composition of the snacks. Sodium, which is plentiful in many snack foods, will cause some water retention. Carbs much moreso. For me, a sodium spike will usually cause a 1-2 lb bump in weight for the next 1-2 days, but major carb binging can EASILY cause an 8-10 lb scale jump that take 4-5 days to clear, and it's been as high as 12 lbs a few times.

    Since most snacks are either heavy in carbs or flat-out are carbs, you should expect some water retention from your binge. You need 4-5 days of being back on track to get a true lowest-weight reading.

    By way of comparison, if you snack on foods that are low in sodium and carbs, your weight increase the next day will pretty much be limited to the weight of the food itself. For instance, if you eat 4 oz of chicken or 2 oz of unsalted peanuts, you will only see a maximum of 4 or 2 ounces in scale weight the next morning. Such is not the case at all with a salty, carby snack.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,927 Member
    lgfrie wrote: »
    I agree with the above commenters that trying to manipulate water weight and/or being fearful of it is ... not good or healthy. Weight fluctuations just go with the territory of being on a diet and must be accepted.

    That said, my answer to your question is: yeah, snacking at night will cause some water retention, but it super-depends on the composition of the snacks. Sodium, which is plentiful in many snack foods, will cause some water retention. Carbs much moreso. For me, a sodium spike will usually cause a 1-2 lb bump in weight for the next 1-2 days, but major carb binging can EASILY cause an 8-10 lb scale jump that take 4-5 days to clear, and it's been as high as 12 lbs a few times.

    Since most snacks are either heavy in carbs or flat-out are carbs, you should expect some water retention from your binge. You need 4-5 days of being back on track to get a true lowest-weight reading.

    By way of comparison, if you snack on foods that are low in sodium and carbs, your weight increase the next day will pretty much be limited to the weight of the food itself. For instance, if you eat 4 oz of chicken or 2 oz of unsalted peanuts, you will only see a maximum of 4 or 2 ounces in scale weight the next morning. Such is not the case at all with a salty, carby snack.

    This. And added to that: if your diet is high in sodium then the sodium spike will be lower. Same if you eat lots of carbs already: don't expect a big bump.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    trulyhealy wrote: »
    i’ve been really stressed about weighing in tomorrow morning for like 2 days now to the point today i ate a lot of chocolate and snacks (not as bad as as i used to)

    i think im stressed bc im close to getting within the 10 stones section (i’m 11 stone 2) i’m not normally like this

    anyways will the scale go up due to water retention from eating lots of sugary things (i didn’t go over my calories today i had 1,300)

    AFAIK, unless you'd been eating very low carb and then returned to eating carbs, there is no correlation between sugar and water retention.

    Stress, however, can increase cortisol which can lead to water retention.

    What about this weigh in is causing so much stress?
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 499 Member
    freda78 wrote: »
    As someone who has lost a lot of weight and still needs to lose more, I am of the view that the actual figure on the scales (to a point) is neither here nor there.

    Water weight or not water weight - who cares? Might still have food in my body and of course wee and poo.

    None of that matters as I am trying to lose fat. That is what matters, not trying to fool the scales.

    Keep up with the calorie deficit and look for a downward trend over time - that's all.

    Yes, all of this!! Unless you are a boxer trying to get to a specific weight before an important match, who cares? Water weight is so variable and unimportant.

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