Calories vs. Fat and Sodium Help/Question

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fultzjaf
fultzjaf Posts: 141 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok, I have gained weight the past 2 days from exercising and not eating all of my calories back. But my question is how can I eat back 500-600 cals and still have fat and sodium left, or at least not go over on them? I am at a loss for this, I have gained when I am actually trying to do better and exercise mroe and it stinks. I also feel like the past week or so my belly is getting biiger instead of smaller, and I'm not sure why. I drink anywhere from 14 to 20 glasses (8 oz) of water a day everyday! Please help, any suggestions or advice is greatly needed and appreciated. :smile: Yes I know I shouldn't weight myself everyday but that's how I like to do it, and I can tell if I have gained or lost in a day or 2.

Jill

Replies

  • Michelle9939
    Michelle9939 Posts: 291
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    That is a lot of water!! How much of weight gain are talking about?
  • fultzjaf
    fultzjaf Posts: 141 Member
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    A few lbs. but that is on top of the other 3lbs or so I've benn trying to get rid of for 2 months now. Nothing is working! I still want to be around 150lbs and am stuck at around 178, it's driving me crazy too cuz 174 is a healthy bmi and "normal weight"!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    That amount of water is high. Most people shouldn't get more than 12-14 glasses per day.

    If you cook your own food and don't rely on processed or prepackaged foods you can keep your sodium and fat very low.
  • fultzjaf
    fultzjaf Posts: 141 Member
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    That amount of water is high. Most people shouldn't get more than 12-14 glasses per day.

    If you cook your own food and don't rely on processed or prepackaged foods you can keep your sodium and fat very low.

    I didn't think there was such a thing as too mich water, lol. Thanks! Also, what kinds of food do you make? I'm not much of a cooker so what can I buy/make that isn't processed or prepackaged?
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    That amount of water is high. Most people shouldn't get more than 12-14 glasses per day.

    If you cook your own food and don't rely on processed or prepackaged foods you can keep your sodium and fat very low.

    I didn't think there was such a thing as too mich water, lol. Thanks! Also, what kinds of food do you make? I'm not much of a cooker so what can I buy/make that isn't processed or prepackaged?

    Too much water over an extended period of time can be dangerous. Here's a handy water calculator that I use to figure out how much I need: http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm.

    As far as food goes, it depends on what you like to eat. Anything you can get in a restaurant or grocery store you can make at home.

    Right now I'm making green chile chicken enchiladas for dinner. I simmer chicken breasts in water with garlic powder, poultry seasoning and a little green chile. (I live in New Mexico so we get it freshly roasted but you can also use canned.) I grate some cheddar and pepper jack cheeses. Once the chicken is fully cooked I shred it. I take a 9x13 glass baking dish and pour some green enchilada sauce in the bottom, just enough to cover and keep the enchiladas from sticking. Then I heat corn tortillas over low heat to soften them and I fill them with a little chicken, a little cheese and a little more green chile. I roll the tortilla up and place it in the pan. I repeat that until the pan is full and then I cover the enchiladas with sauce and a little more cheese on top. I bake for 15ish minutes.

    If you want to send me a private message with foods you like to eat I can try to give you some easy recipes that you can make.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    A small answer to your big questions:

    Too much water is possible, like NoAdditives explained. I just wanted to share that I was drinking about 20cups a day for many months, and started fainting and being dizzy constantly. I happen to have low blood pressure, and just happened to have cut out a lot of sodium from my diet, so I was eating less than 1,200 mg of sodium a day, drinking a ton of water, and still exercising/working and eating at a deficit. This did not bode well with me, I did not lose any weight, and I felt drained of energy and like I said, kept passing out.

    I started drinking far less water (about 12 a day) and actually made an effort to eat MORE sodium (2,000mg at least) and nearly immediately, I felt less dizzy and stopped falling down.

    I think this has more to do with my low blood pressure than the water consumption, but I just wanted to inform you of what happened to me- so you can make any correlations to yourself and go from there. :)
  • fultzjaf
    fultzjaf Posts: 141 Member
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    A small answer to your big questions:

    Too much water is possible, like NoAdditives explained. I just wanted to share that I was drinking about 20cups a day for many months, and started fainting and being dizzy constantly. I happen to have low blood pressure, and just happened to have cut out a lot of sodium from my diet, so I was eating less than 1,200 mg of sodium a day, drinking a ton of water, and still exercising/working and eating at a deficit. This did not bode well with me, I did not lose any weight, and I felt drained of energy and like I said, kept passing out.

    I started drinking far less water (about 12 a day) and actually made an effort to eat MORE sodium (2,000mg at least) and nearly immediately, I felt less dizzy and stopped falling down.

    I think this has more to do with my low blood pressure than the water consumption, but I just wanted to inform you of what happened to me- so you can make any correlations to yourself and go from there. :)

    Thanks for the info! I will try to drink less water for sure now!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    A small answer to your big questions:

    Too much water is possible, like NoAdditives explained. I just wanted to share that I was drinking about 20cups a day for many months, and started fainting and being dizzy constantly. I happen to have low blood pressure, and just happened to have cut out a lot of sodium from my diet, so I was eating less than 1,200 mg of sodium a day, drinking a ton of water, and still exercising/working and eating at a deficit. This did not bode well with me, I did not lose any weight, and I felt drained of energy and like I said, kept passing out.

    I started drinking far less water (about 12 a day) and actually made an effort to eat MORE sodium (2,000mg at least) and nearly immediately, I felt less dizzy and stopped falling down.

    I think this has more to do with my low blood pressure than the water consumption, but I just wanted to inform you of what happened to me- so you can make any correlations to yourself and go from there. :)

    Drinking too much water definitely affects your electrolyte levels, which sounds like what you were experiencing, especially with low sodium consumption. I'm glad you figured things out before you had more problems!

    Also, I love your ticker! Full Metal Alchemist is one of my favorites!
  • hayescarmen364
    hayescarmen364 Posts: 43
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    Mhmm I drink about 1 gallon of water a day. Thats about 8-10 glasses a day and I have about the end of the day I drink about 11-12. WOuld that even be bad for me? I sweat a lot and I work out a lot when I get the chance.
  • BrewerGeorge
    BrewerGeorge Posts: 397 Member
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    The way you're weighing is tricking and probably demotivating your. Weight doesn't matter. Fat matters, and fat is a function of thermodynamics - energy in vs energy out. If you're counting your calories properly, you're not gaining fat (absent something that's screwing drastically with your metabolic rate), you're losing or at the very least staying the same. With as much water as you say you've been drinking, your body is probably struggling to get rid of it and you just happen to be weighing yourself when it hasn't had a chance to get rid of some more yet. That's why so many recommend not weighing yourself every single day. I still do that, but I also know that if I happen to weigh more any given morning, it's no big deal as long as I'm certain that my calories have been correct. I know I'm still losing fat. Similarly, if I happen to weigh one morning and it says I've lost 2 or 3 pounds since yesterday, I don't get too excited because I know that's not really possible either. It's water weight either way. If you can train your mind to think like this, you can stop obsessing over these little one-pound-two-pound swings.

    Try this experiment to help break the emotional association to weight:
    Weigh yourself first thing in the morning. Now immediately drink 16 oz of water and weigh yourself again. You'll be a pound heavier. Do it again (if you can stomach that much water) and you'll weigh another pound. Obviously you've not gotten fatter in the time it takes to drink 2 cups of water. Weigh yourself before and after taking a pee and you'll see weight drop.

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