Chineese Food & weight gain!

SulisVioletWings
SulisVioletWings Posts: 33
edited September 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Ok I have never started a post before so I am hoping I have not repeated something everyone knows all about.... I had gone out to dinner on Sat with my husband to Mandarin. We had not been there in years and needless to say the food was very good and of course we ate wayyyy too much. I knew going in that I was going to have a way over day! Now I since have had 2 1/2 good days of staying in my limits but my scale still says I am 8 pounds up from Sat morning... Is there that much sodium or stuff in "The Mandarin" food that my body has been put out of wack this badly? I am concerned as I feel very bloated and my eyes feel like they are sunken and something does not feel right but I cannot put my finger on it. Oh yeah and I have been very tired for the last few days too.... I am concerned about what I am eating (lots of watermelon) and if that might also be doing something?
I am so confused!

Does this sound fammiliar to anyone? What should I be doing? Please help me... :sad:
Thank you

Replies

  • Fieldsy
    Fieldsy Posts: 1,105 Member
    there is a ton of salt in chinese food

    You didn't gain 8lbs of fat, it is pretty much all water weight.

    In order to gain 1lb of fat in a day you will have to consume an extra 3,500 cals....

    to handle water weight better.....drink lots of water every day and exercise
  • Magenta15
    Magenta15 Posts: 850 Member
    There is so much sodium in the food that it makes you bloat for sure, even if I eat a "healthy" home made soup but say the broth was canned broth with full sodium, i gain 2-3 pounds the next day.... also there is usually a lot of msg as well :smile:

    i remember being all proud once i had made this super healthy veg soup but used some canned broth to intensify the flavor a lil --- i couldn't for the life of me figure out what was going on when I was up the next day, til it happened again and i put 2 and 2 together.

    drink lots of water to flush your system and eat clean :)
  • Meags23
    Meags23 Posts: 98
    I have a friend who is allergic to MSG, and gets headaches and bloating for days after eating a meal with a lot in it. You may be having a reaction of some sort if it's lasting that long.
  • hungrybear
    hungrybear Posts: 45
    I totally feel you, especially when I have to go eat at a birthday dinner at a Chinese or Ramen restuarant. Chinese food has a lot of salt and oil. I agree with Fieldsy that it takes 3500 extra cal to gain 1lb. I am guessing that 8lbs are from water weight...since you had so much salt, your body tends to retain water to balance it. Watermelon has a lot of water too, so that's probably where you get the water from. Don't worry about the water weight, water is good for you!
  • twilight1542
    twilight1542 Posts: 403
    Ok I have never started a post before so I am hoping I have not repeated something everyone knows all about.... I had gone out to dinner on Sat with my husband to Mandarin. We had not been there in years and needless to say the food was very good and of course we ate wayyyy too much. I knew going in that I was going to have a way over day! Now I since have had 2 1/2 good days of staying in my limits but my scale still says I am 8 pounds up from Sat morning... Is there that much sodium or stuff in "The Mandarin" food that my body has been put out of wack this badly? I am concerned as I feel very bloated and my eyes feel like they are sunken and something does not feel right but I cannot put my finger on it. Oh yeah and I have been very tired for the last few days too.... I am concerned about what I am eating (lots of watermelon) and if that might also be doing something?
    I am so confused!

    Does this sound fammiliar to anyone? What should I be doing? Please help me... :sad:
    Thank you
    Think of your body as a machine. It reacts to bad things (huge amounts of sodium) put into it the same way a car would react to sugar in it's gas tank. For a car you'd need a very expensive flushing. Your body can't be opened up & flushed so it takes time for all the sodium to work it's way out. The best thing you can do is to drink lots of water to help your body equalize all that sodium. You have to remember that chinese food is bathed in sodium so if you haven't had it in awhile & have been good with your daily sodium intake your body will freak out when you eat it because it's no longer used to it.

    Don't get discouraged, just drink a lot of water & don't get on the scale for a few days :)
  • xXmimiXx
    xXmimiXx Posts: 564 Member
    Uh oh, that doesn't bode well for my weigh in tonight...I had chicken chow mein on Sunday! :sick:
  • margaretthedevil
    margaretthedevil Posts: 215
    Do you feel really thirsty? That's probably why you're eating a lot of watermelon. MSG and sodium will make you extremely thirsty and bloatedddd! Only solution drink WATER! Cut your sodium intake for a few days should also help.
    Btw just to clarify for you guys "Chinese food" at your local fast food Chinese joint is not real Chinese food. Real Chinese food made at home has very little sodium and little oil. Beware of going to Chinese restaurants, they always put in too much oil always! The cheaper and worse the quality, the more they load up on MSG and sodium (cheap flavor enhancers).
  • Nelski
    Nelski Posts: 1,607 Member
    there is a ton of salt in chinese food

    You didn't gain 8lbs of fat, it is pretty much all water weight.

    In order to gain 1lb of fat in a day you will have to consume an extra 3,500 cals....

    to handle water weight better.....drink lots of water every day and exercise
    What he said ^
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 17,202 Member
    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
    ditto to what everyone said about Chinese food in restaurants.

    I try to stay out of restaurants and when unable to refuse, I eat as little food as possible and drink a ton of water before, during, and after

    :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
  • SulisVioletWings
    SulisVioletWings Posts: 33
    Thank you so much everyone..... I don't feel so panicked about this now...
    I have NOT had chinese food for about a year or so and I do not add any extra salt to my basiclly whole food diet... I have been trying to drink over 10 glasses of water a day and yes I am very thirsty!!

    Again thank you!!:happy:
  • hasiangirl
    hasiangirl Posts: 1,613
    this reminds me of when i was a kid my dad and i went to an authentic korean resturaunt in Houston which i love to death and miss.....but anyway i was eating and I think i drank about 12 glasses of unsweetened iced tea...by the 12th glass the waiter who was somewhat joking said, "Oh my god you're a hippo" (Because I drank sooooo much iced tea) lol boy was i thirsty tho
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