Water retention rant
SisterSueGetsFit
Posts: 1,211 Member
Hi all! Apologies in advance, this is more of a rant than anything else. Quick backstory. five years ago I successfully lost about 55 pounds. In the last 3 1/2 years I slowly put on about 20 (plus another 15-20). I’m back to lose them for good this time. In short, I know what I need to do to lose the weight (weigh food, log consistently, be patient).
So, since quarantine I would say close to half of my calories were coming from alcohol (food was also in excess). I knew this was something I needed to correct. I’ve been participating in dry January and so far have not been drinking at all. On February 7th I started with a personal trainer two days a week. This week I’ve ramped it up to three times a week. In addition, last week I bought a rebounder and have been getting in about 15,000 steps a day. I was previously averaging a whopping 4,000. So, quite a shock to the old system. I started meticulously tracking my calories on February 11. I’m averaging around 1,4000.
I started at about 168 (5’ 5” female, 43 years old) and within 2 weeks was down 5.3 pounds, which I expected due to initial water weight loss. Issue? I’ve only gained since then. I’m up to 165.5 this morning.
Now, I KNOW this is normal. I KNOW I’m doing things right and I KNOW it’s 99% likely to be water retention due to my muscles repairing themselves from the new workout routine.
I guess I’m just frustrated and ranting. One of my best friends is doing some crazy airbonne diet (I know the spelling of that is incorrect) and she’s lost 15 pounds this month by restricting a ton of things. She has admittedly said she always gains the weight back when stopping. I understand different things work for different people and this wouldn’t work for me. I guess it’s just defeating. (Side note, I’m happy for her and her success)
I know the weight will drop off. I know I’m doing things right and I have no intention on quitting. I guess I’m just ranting because I understand the people here know what I’m going through and just want some reassurance and support. Anyhow, happy Saturday to all.
So, since quarantine I would say close to half of my calories were coming from alcohol (food was also in excess). I knew this was something I needed to correct. I’ve been participating in dry January and so far have not been drinking at all. On February 7th I started with a personal trainer two days a week. This week I’ve ramped it up to three times a week. In addition, last week I bought a rebounder and have been getting in about 15,000 steps a day. I was previously averaging a whopping 4,000. So, quite a shock to the old system. I started meticulously tracking my calories on February 11. I’m averaging around 1,4000.
I started at about 168 (5’ 5” female, 43 years old) and within 2 weeks was down 5.3 pounds, which I expected due to initial water weight loss. Issue? I’ve only gained since then. I’m up to 165.5 this morning.
Now, I KNOW this is normal. I KNOW I’m doing things right and I KNOW it’s 99% likely to be water retention due to my muscles repairing themselves from the new workout routine.
I guess I’m just frustrated and ranting. One of my best friends is doing some crazy airbonne diet (I know the spelling of that is incorrect) and she’s lost 15 pounds this month by restricting a ton of things. She has admittedly said she always gains the weight back when stopping. I understand different things work for different people and this wouldn’t work for me. I guess it’s just defeating. (Side note, I’m happy for her and her success)
I know the weight will drop off. I know I’m doing things right and I have no intention on quitting. I guess I’m just ranting because I understand the people here know what I’m going through and just want some reassurance and support. Anyhow, happy Saturday to all.
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Replies
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You know the right things! Stay strong!!!3
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Thanks! SO dang frustrating sometimes. 😊quiksylver296 wrote: »You know the right things! Stay strong!!!
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I hear ya! My scale is up too, likely due to me ovulating, having started a new exercise, and having some Asian meals with higher sodium. I know it's likely water retention, but it is so annoying!4
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Given the increase in exercise, water retention is very normal. Especially since the initial 5 lbs was probably at least half or more water weight. You can either weigh every day, and use a program to average it out, or not weigh yourself at all for a while so you can ignore the noise of water weight ups and downs.0
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I have used HappyScale for years and am used to daily weighing. I always enjoyed seeing the trends, but this time around I’m having a harder time with it. I think it’s time to just put the scale away for a bit. Easier said than done.spiriteagle99 wrote: »Given the increase in exercise, water retention is very normal. Especially since the initial 5 lbs was probably at least half or more water weight. You can either weigh every day, and use a program to average it out, or not weigh yourself at all for a while so you can ignore the noise of water weight ups and downs.
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I hear you! Hang in there.2
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Good things come to those who wait, are patient, log carefully, weigh and all that other good stuff.
I know it’s hard to see- and hear about. I’m sure you’re getting an earful that she’s found the magic bean.
But, In six months you’ll be where you want to be, and she’ll be pissing and moaning that she put it all back on already.3 -
👍🤗😘1
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You started balls to the wall.. .and that always makes the body stagnate as it adjusts. If you would have started just by nixing the alcohol, hydrating ...and eating at a deficit.. you'd be down more in pounds.. but your fitness would not be where it is headed now.
So you know the answer to your own rant.. your body will adjust to the working out...and start dropping the weight as you tone up.. in even up to six weeks from now. And it sucks when you want to see proof your making headway this stinking minute! I feel you.3 -
SisterSueGetsFit wrote: »
I have used HappyScale for years and am used to daily weighing. I always enjoyed seeing the trends, but this time around I’m having a harder time with it. I think it’s time to just put the scale away for a bit. Easier said than done.spiriteagle99 wrote: »Given the increase in exercise, water retention is very normal. Especially since the initial 5 lbs was probably at least half or more water weight. You can either weigh every day, and use a program to average it out, or not weigh yourself at all for a while so you can ignore the noise of water weight ups and downs.
Are you losing at a slow rate intentionally at this stage, as I'd assume/hope with a fairly small total to lose? For sure, the weight trending apps are less useful in that kind of scenario, if you ask me. I've been losing ultra-slowly (very likely more slowly than you'd be considering yourself), and Libra's routinely confused. (It doesn't bother me, but I get why it could.) I did lose very slowly toward the end of my initial weight loss 5 years back, and didn't notice it that much then, perhaps just because of the difference in context (intentionally slowing, vs. intentionally losing slowly, which for me - bizarrely, maybe - is a different psychological state).
But: I hear your rant, and empathize. You know you're on the right track, so I don't have to tell you that.
Your Arbonne friend is doing what she's always done, presumably: Sounds like losing fast, expecting to regain. That's probably the most unhealthy course, probably worse than staying a bit overweight; and in practice each round of regain seems to bring pounds with friends. I hear what you're saying about the frustration in the moment, because of inevitable comparison, and it's nice of you to support her despite. You're on the better course, of course.
Hoping the water weight whooshes soon: Hang in there!1 -
This is why I've always seen the primary purpose of CICO is forming new habits. Because the more ingrained the habits are, the less likely anything will interrupt them more than momentarily. I've had unexplained water spikes, cheat meals, and just bad days, and they do piss me off. But I know from experience that my trend is downward and that the next days I'm going to do my morning walk and eat according to my habits and work back into that routine.
I will say that this is one reason I rarely ever look at the one week weight graphs and stick with one month and above. Because it shows a trend that lets me see past the outlier events.3 -
richardgavel wrote: »This is why I've always seen the primary purpose of CICO is forming new habits. Because the more ingrained the habits are, the less likely anything will interrupt them more than momentarily. I've had unexplained water spikes, cheat meals, and just bad days, and they do piss me off. But I know from experience that my trend is downward and that the next days I'm going to do my morning walk and eat according to my habits and work back into that routine.
I will say that this is one reason I rarely ever look at the one week weight graphs and stick with one month and above. Because it shows a trend that lets me see past the outlier events.
Yes 👏🏻 I’m 4 lbs up in a matter of days. Is it water, yep. Am I upset, nah. I know what it is so it doesn’t matter. The trend is where it’s at, and keeps me going. Because of long term tracking I honestly feel like my previous disordered relationship with food has been resolved. I know what to expect and what “normal” looks like now.3 -
Sometimes I don't even weigh myself when I know I'm bloated, had a carb-heavy dinner, or it's those times of the month. Sometimes I'm surprised, though. I knew I was bloated the other day, and decided to weigh myself anyway. My weight was the lowest it had been in a week, so go figure.
Bodies are weird, especially female ones, when it comes to weight.2 -
I'm far from an expert so this is only a question. How much sodium are you taking in per day? I ask because I had congestive heart failure and I have an issue with Edema where I retain water. The only way I really get around it is making sure my sodium in-take is low. I'm on a strict 1500mgs a day sodium diet. With that said, everyone else's needs/situation can be totally different.
Also you know your body and the process, stay the course. Every time I've dropped a ton of weight based off a diet, I've always gained it back. As long as you're losing it healthy, you'll get there. You also might be at the point where you're turning fat into muscle (which is more healthy in the long run) and your weight is stalled. It's always the old advice of don't look at the scale, which I know is hard to do.2 -
Hang in there. You're in good company! Rant understood and appreciated
You can do this! 1 -
I hear you! It's so frustrating to do it all right and then not get the feedback we think we deserve (I feel like a little kid standing in the corner screaming "it's not fair!! 😢"). But you know all the right things so you're way ahead of most of the crowd. If you stay the course most of this is self-correcting.1
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You are also female. So hormone fluctuations. And honestly sometimes we still have food in our intestines, and food weigh something. I find I use the restroom a tad less frequently when I am in a slight deficit and that makes knowing when to weigh myself tricky1
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I'm finally down the 3# I'd retained during ovulation. Took a whole week >.<3
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kshama2001 wrote: »I'm finally down the 3# I'd retained during ovulation. Took a whole week >.<
Me, too, but menstruation not ovulation. New low, finally.0 -
My weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds a day, I totally feel you! I also just wanted to say:SisterSueGetsFit wrote: »
I guess I’m just frustrated and ranting. One of my best friends is doing some crazy airbonne diet (I know the spelling of that is incorrect) and she’s lost 15 pounds this month by restricting a ton of things. She has admittedly said she always gains the weight back when stopping. I understand different things work for different people and this wouldn’t work for me. I guess it’s just defeating. (Side note, I’m happy for her and her success)
Remember that in terms of weight loss, success means losing the weight and then actually keeping it off. So, no hate to your friend, but that’s not exactly what I would consider success!2 -
Argh, I am right there with you.
I did start a few weeks ago with diet changes/tracking and going okay (slowly, but fine).
Then I started a new exercise program...which I am loving. But now I've gone a few steps backwards in terms of weight.
But I am having fun, trying to make sure it's a sustainable change, and just assuming the other results will come with time.1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I'm finally down the 3# I'd retained during ovulation. Took a whole week >.<
Me, too, but menstruation not ovulation. New low, finally.
Yeah, menstruation is a *kitten*. I'm finally down about 25 pounds from what I put on since menarche 47 years ago.1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I'm finally down the 3# I'd retained during ovulation. Took a whole week >.<
Me, too, but menstruation not ovulation. New low, finally.
Yeah, menstruation is a *kitten*. I'm finally down about 25 pounds from what I put on since menarche 47 years ago.
Omg lol, this made me laugh. Your timing is perfect.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I'm finally down the 3# I'd retained during ovulation. Took a whole week >.<
Now I'm down 4.2 pounds in 5 days and I know very little of that is fat, probably a half pound - 0.75 pounds.
But it is hard to not feel good about it, just like it is hard to not feel bad about weight gain that is due to water retention.2 -
SisterSueGetsFit wrote: »I guess I’m just frustrated and ranting. One of my best friends is doing some crazy airbonne diet (I know the spelling of that is incorrect) and she’s lost 15 pounds this month by restricting a ton of things. She has admittedly said she always gains the weight back when stopping. I understand different things work for different people and this wouldn’t work for me. I guess it’s just defeating. (Side note, I’m happy for her and her success)
I know this feeling so well! My cousin is a yo-yo dieter. And, it can feel so defeating when I talk to her at the start of a new diet and she's lost 15 lbs in a month and feels great, and "sure, I really miss wine/cake/tacos, but I can still do this forever". But, I know in less than 6 months she'll hit her goal, or just decide to have a "cheat weekend", which ends in her quitting the diet for a while and gaining most of it back.
Every time I see her hitting "my" goal and seeming to do it so easily, I get really frustrated. But, then I realize over the last two years, I've only had to lose the weight once, whereas she's had to lose it 2 or 3 times, and not getting to enjoy tacos while doing it.1 -
MercuryForce wrote: »SisterSueGetsFit wrote: »I guess I’m just frustrated and ranting. One of my best friends is doing some crazy airbonne diet (I know the spelling of that is incorrect) and she’s lost 15 pounds this month by restricting a ton of things. She has admittedly said she always gains the weight back when stopping. I understand different things work for different people and this wouldn’t work for me. I guess it’s just defeating. (Side note, I’m happy for her and her success)
I know this feeling so well! My cousin is a yo-yo dieter. And, it can feel so defeating when I talk to her at the start of a new diet and she's lost 15 lbs in a month and feels great, and "sure, I really miss wine/cake/tacos, but I can still do this forever". But, I know in less than 6 months she'll hit her goal, or just decide to have a "cheat weekend", which ends in her quitting the diet for a while and gaining most of it back.
Every time I see her hitting "my" goal and seeming to do it so easily, I get really frustrated. But, then I realize over the last two years, I've only had to lose the weight once, whereas she's had to lose it 2 or 3 times, and not getting to enjoy tacos while doing it.
The health consequences of extreme yo-yo dieting can be worse than the health consequences of being moderately overweight, besides, IMU.0 -
msalicia07 wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I'm finally down the 3# I'd retained during ovulation. Took a whole week >.<
Me, too, but menstruation not ovulation. New low, finally.
Yeah, menstruation is a *kitten*. I'm finally down about 25 pounds from what I put on since menarche 47 years ago.
Omg lol, this made me laugh. Your timing is perfect.
Thanks.
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