Scale up after exercise

katied75 · January 2012

Over the last few years I have slowly lost about 30 pounds. I am now at the very high end of my "healthy" weight range. I would like to drop another 25 pounds ideally. I am using myfitnesspal and logging every calorie and bit of exercise. I'm a jogger. I run a few times a week usually. About a week ago I decided that I would start waking up at 5:30am to try to get in a 3 mile run 5 days a week. Yesterday morning my weight was up a pound and a half. I went for a 4 mile run yesterday and today my weight is up another pound. At this point I weigh more than I did the beginning of the week despite hitting my calorie goals.

I can tell that it is water weight gain. After my workout yesterday I drank 32 ounces of water to replenish fluid. I held on to the fluid and when I woke up this morning I looked bloated.

This happens every time I start eating well and exercising, and it is what causes me after a couple of weeks to give up exercising so much. I love running and feel great when I'm eating healthy, but I can't stand walking around looking bloated when I should look and feel great. I end up eating badly for a few days, cutting back on running, and eventually my body seems to release the fluid. Then I'll go another week or two of maintaining before I jump back into trying to get into a food and exercise routine.

Does anybody have any advice? Am I the only person this happens to? I see other people (my spouse included) lose weight on the scale when they are on a diet and exercise program. I may lose a couple of pounds early on, but within a week or two my weight is higher than ever due to fluid retention. It is so frustrating!

dls06 · January 2012

I would talk to the Doctor just to be sure. If you are retaining water after exercise there could be a medical reason.
Do you track your sodium?

katied75 · January 2012

No, I don't track my sodium, although you make an interesting point. In general I eat very little sodium. I never use salt on anything and don't add much salt to the dinners I prepare at home. On Friday nights we order pizza. I eat one or two slices depending on how hungry I am. I stick to my calorie range that day but it's usually the next morning that I notice the scale way up. I always expect this because of the sodium in pizza compared to the amounts of sodium I eat the rest of the week. I think my issue is that once my body retains fluid due to the sodium I can't get rid of it. I can return to eating normal on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, etc. and exercise and drink water and the fluid is retained. I don't believe in dieting in a manner that can't be maintained long term, and long term I'm going to eat a slice or two of veggie pizza with my family on a weekend, so I don't want to just cut out all sodium. I'm just not sure why I hang on to fluid for so long unless it's because I eat so little sodium the rest of the week that my body is "shocked" by the one meal with high sodium that I do eat.

koosdel · January 2012

Water retention is necessary to recovery. Cutting out all sodium isn't a good idea (or possible) as sodium is required to metabolise water.

katied75 · January 2012

Is it possible that I'm not eating enough sodium to metabolize all of the water I'm drinking? I know I am losing sodium when I work out too (isn't that why sweat is salty)? I have never been one to add salt to anything. I just assume that I get more than enough sodium through whatever I'm eating during the day. I guess I should try tracking sodium during the week and make sure that I do get enough. My husband never seems to have this issue after exercise but he eats more salt than me. I will try tracking sodium intake and water intake and see if that makes a difference. Thanks to both of you!

Scale up after exercise

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