Weight gain....wtf????

Now at early peri I get, I believe the technical term is 'bat *kitten* crazy', when I DO ovulate....which I did last night. But inexplicable weight gain?

Yesterday I ate a lot, exercised even more, stayed within all my limits...which are low to begin with, including keeping my sodium under 1500 and my water at 12 cups.

Yet this morning I found I gained 1 1/2 lbs!!!! Yes I get this has to be water weight if I am still keeping my calories down. But how can this happen if I am watching my sodium and water?

I am refusing to log it too, simply because I find it unfair. Yes I am acting like a petculent child, but seriously??

Can someone explain this to me? Could it be some weird part of peri to begin holding water all willy-nilly like this? A normal period thing in itself that I didn't notice before since I wasn't weighing/logging before this?

Replies

  • And yes, I was well hydrated before yesterday already. So it isn't like I just gained from rehydration itself.
    And I burned 1888 calories working out yesterday.
  • kimiel51
    kimiel51 Posts: 299 Member
    I'd like to know the same thing!!
  • katejkelley
    katejkelley Posts: 839 Member
    Been there! Isn't it maddening? I also refused to log a 2-pound overnight weight gain. I've been through menopause for some time now, and it still happens. I don't know why. Just keep doing what you should, eventually the weight will go down.
  • *sigh*
    While my boyfriend is annoyed that I would let this affect me I like the daily weigh-ins because they draw my attention to small stuff like too much sodium or not enough water.

    Is other point is that I must have to hold fluids if my body's 'girly parts' are working. It's a good point, most of that lining is water..yet I thought that fluctuation was from my menstrual carb cravings.

    Maybe not. I logged the weight gain anyway. I will drink my water and try to let it go.

    Thanks!
  • Annec0911
    Annec0911 Posts: 48
    sooooooooo frustrating!

    1888 cals burned in one day is fantastic!!! not sure how often you do that but I find that after running longer distances - eg: 15 kms (similar 'burn') - I also 'gain' the next day!!! Talk about serious pouting!!! I get so mad!! I don't normally run that far...so I wonder if my body is just in shock and holds on to whatever it can?? I don't know....drives me nuts...

    TOM probably has a lot to do with it too...

    Hope you see a 'drop' on the scale soon!
  • Wow, really? It was more than I usually do, but I am pretty active almost every day. I do eat more when I workout like that though. Hopefully it'll just lurch back the other way. I am relieved to hear that it isn't just me though.
  • tamfarr
    tamfarr Posts: 3
    Hi Tanya:

    I feel your pain. The weight gain is cruel punishment. I look pregnant from the bloat.....I just want to cry. It's got to get better. Let's hand in there.
    T
  • Finally lost the water weight. Wow that was awful!!! Thank you ladies for your support!!!
  • shadow3829
    shadow3829 Posts: 103 Member
    I'm glad it came off. There are so many different reasons you can gain "water" weight. Lack of sleep will make you retain water or the temps. I will bloat up like a toad when it is hot and humid or if I don't get enough sleep.
  • Really??? I will try to watch my sleep as well then...I don't always sleep well anymore. Hormones I guess. But during the week I have to get up at 3am for work. I put myself to bed at 9 weather I want to or not but still wake up for my boyfriend's 'goodnight' because it is important to me. I will try to chart my actual sleep and see if I see changes with my water retention with it. :-(
  • tamfarr
    tamfarr Posts: 3
    UGH.....I just got up today and had a two pound over night weight gain. I have been working soooo hard. I started crying. My husband felt sorry for me and told me it was just "sleep weight". He didn't want me to go into melt down.
  • alladream
    alladream Posts: 261 Member
    I only get a chance to weigh myself every few weeks, so I don't freak out about a little--or lot--up or down. The only thing that was remarkable to me this week was that I weighed myself at the acupuncture lady's before a treatment (not for weight loss but for general health balance), and then right after (same clothes, hadn't gone to the bathroom or even sweated or anything) and had lost four pounds in the hour I was lying there. She thought it was 'energy moving'. Now I want to do acupuncture every day! ahahaha!
  • @ tamfarr you know it isn't real weight in your head. Just keep reminding your feelings of that. I know I hate it too, but if you are on the right track the weight will go away. Just a reminder...feel free to remind me when the shoe is on the other foot as well.

    @ alladream wow! Makes me want to have an acupunctuist on call for when I feel fat...like last night. Then this morning I found I'd dropped .2 lbs. And today I bought a new shirt that is a medium!
  • Kellysmom78
    Kellysmom78 Posts: 81 Member
    This weight thing is driving me crazy! Going into my third month at the gym, and have only shed 3 lbs....while my friend has dropped 20...... Seriously??? And looking at that 0 lb lost ticker is driving me crazy, can anyone tell me how to remove it?
  • To include (or exclude) your ticker in your MyFitnessPal Forum posts, change the setting at this link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/settings.

    When I started boxing I lost almost no weight. And I was training 3 hrs a day. Take your measurments, keep in your calorie limits and know that even if the scale isn't moving like you want it to your body is improving. You are becoming healthier, stronger and more co-ordinated. Your metabolism will warm up in it's own time.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    This weight thing is driving me crazy! Going into my third month at the gym, and have only shed 3 lbs....while my friend has dropped 20...... Seriously??? And looking at that 0 lb lost ticker is driving me crazy, can anyone tell me how to remove it?
    I hear you. I'm at 2 months and 7LBS down, BUT, 3 of those "extra" pounds I was hoping to lose were from a holiday. So I'm really down 4LBS from before the holiday.
    This is hard stuff. Perhaps, at least, I won't gain much during these years...

    Best of luck.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    For what it's worth: When I actually ovulate I always "gain" two pounds with ovulation (water). Just like I do with my period.
  • Yes I gain with ovulation as well...the same pattern!

    As to losing weight faster, I think that when we work out harder we are losing less weight. 60-70% heart rate is fat burning...think a painfully slow stroll. In over 2 hrs I only burned 186 calories but that is in the fat burning zone.

    Boxing is heavy work, made my body strong and my cardio conditioning tight...but I didn't lose much weight at all. And that was heavy training for 3 hrs a day with a professional trainer. While I wasn't counting calories I avoided sugars, refined carbs and fat.
  • Jomalone2
    Jomalone2 Posts: 129 Member
    I am 6 years post-hysterectomy. Several months ago I actually had a meltdown at my doctor's office when I got on the scale and proved to my husband that after my MONTHS of working out and eating right I had only lost ONE (1) pound. The doctor told me I had to get my sleep straightened out before I would see any weight loss and he ordered me to get 8 hours of sleep a night. No excuses. He was right, the weight started coming off when I got my sleep straightened out. However, it is now creeping back on and I haven't changed anything. Still getting good sleep, eating right (most of the time, except when the cravings win out), working out 6 days a week. I HATE MENOPAUSE!!! If I had to do it all over again, I can't say with confidence that I would have another hysterectomy. I can't honestly say that it was worth it most day, but I didn't have much of an option. Glad to know I'm not alone, but wouldn't wish this on anyone.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Yes I gain with ovulation as well...the same pattern!

    As to losing weight faster, I think that when we work out harder we are losing less weight. 60-70% heart rate is fat burning...think a painfully slow stroll. In over 2 hrs I only burned 186 calories but that is in the fat burning zone.

    Boxing is heavy work, made my body strong and my cardio conditioning tight...but I didn't lose much weight at all. And that was heavy training for 3 hrs a day with a professional trainer. While I wasn't counting calories I avoided sugars, refined carbs and fat.
    I do both! Today I ran for 45 minutes. Showered, had breakfast, then walked the two miles to work with my husband (who likes to walk leisurely).
  • Awesome! I am more of an all-out kind of gal...I even brush my teeth with vigor. So coming down to that low heart rate is hard for me but taking more walks with my daughter helps. I get the higher heart rates on my own enough. Something is working though, I am getting a little definition in my belly even! Never had that before, even in my young skinny days!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Awesome! I am more of an all-out kind of gal...I even brush my teeth with vigor. So coming down to that low heart rate is hard for me but taking more walks with my daughter helps. I get the higher heart rates on my own enough. Something is working though, I am getting a little definition in my belly even! Never had that before, even in my young skinny days!
    I'm currently reading "South Beach Diet: Supercharged" which is basically a revamping of the south beach diet's "good carbs, good fats" stuff PLUS a whole new section on exercise. He says the whole "fat loss" heart rate is a myth. fwiw.
  • Really? So is the point that any increase in activity and decrease in calories will burn fat? There is an actual difference in strength building/muscle building vs. cardio/endurance training. What do they say is the line there? What is the difference between the two? Please share! I am learning here, as we all are. :-)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,392 Member
    The fat-burning zone is a minimum, what you should strive to get up to, not a "stay in" range. The harder you work, the more calories you are burning. Biology 101.

    As far as the weight gains after strenuous exercise, your muscles retain water after heavy use - to repair and recover. Haven't you noticed a watch or socks becoming tight after a strenuous workout? Retention.
  • amammaa4
    amammaa4 Posts: 176 Member
    I have read in a few different posts where people say after a big burn they next day the scale goes up. Espically runners. You said you ate all your calories, were you able to eat back some of the 1,888 you burned? I know a lot of people say that is really important. Good luck and stay strong.
  • I can't eat all those calories back...I did eat what I could though.

    Just today I tweeked my way of doing this though,used my heart monitor to figure out my actual BMR, cut the calories from there to meet my weekly weight loss goal and from there I will eat back as many exercise calories as possible.

    I am curious how I worked my body hard daily boxing and kept enough of my fat percentage to keep my 38DDs for over a year even as I gained fierce muscle, yet these more minor workouts have had me drop what seems (by my measurments) to be all fat (and water) weight.
  • hubkal
    hubkal Posts: 125 Member
    The first problem we all seem to have is the hell we put ourselves though for those 2 or 3....hell, even 7lbs we seem to play around with every month. We work so hard to hit a goal and then watch it disappear overnight. Myself and a good friend are doing this together and we have watched our weight go up and down like the moon cycle. In the end, it always goes back down.

    We know what we are doing is right, and we know that there is not a person in the world that can SEE those 2lbs on us, but we still put ourselves though hell thinking about them.

    Every time we do this our body is reacting to something, either we worked out harder and caused a fluid gain from muscle repair and reconstruction (which is fantastic!!) or we did not sleep enough or we went over on our sodium or its TOM. All those things are a natural cycle of our human bodies!

    When will we learn to embrace those things? They are all natural and wonderful because our bodies are working just like they should. I know I fall victim to this too. 4 days ago I was .5lbs from getting into the 160's again! something I have worked hard to do. Got on the scale two days ago and BAM I was back up to 172. Sad, made me frown. But I know that when I was trying to get into the 170's I did the same thing, I "toyed" with it for at least a week and then it came down.

    I started at 198, a weight I was at when I had my 3rd child 18 years ago! But this time I was not pregnant! How did I let myself get there? I just "let it go".

    This time NONE OF US is "letting it go" we are all here and supporting each other on this lifetime goal! You and I and all of us are doing great! We all are struggling to move past the numbers on the scale and realize that we are so much better than more than half the people we know! we are moving, we are thinking about what we put in our mouths and we are special for that!

    I have great confidence that you will not only lose those 2lbs when you figure out what your triggers are and you will look back at that weight and realize that you over thought it!

    Keep up the good work and the great calorie burns, you are AWESOME!! an inspiration to so many people for your struggles and triumphs! What works for others may not work for you but keep changing it up and you WILL figure out how YOUR body works!
  • Annec0911
    Annec0911 Posts: 48
    A very motivating post Hubkal! Thanks!!!!
  • *clap, clap, claps!!!* Thank you! Such a wonderfully supportive post! And one I will come back to re-read when I need to hear it again.
    :-D