Can someone tell me why.....

Lisa1971
Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am up 1-2lbs the next day after eating a cookie or 2 the day before when I did NOT go over my calorie goal? I've been REALLY trying to "eat clean" and I limit my sugar and carbs as much as possible. Well last night I slipped and had 2 of my daughter's cookies before bed. No big deal since it was within my calories goal, right? Well, that's what I though until I got on the scale this morning and found out I was UP 2lbs! It's NOT TOM and my sodium was low, so what gives? Is it a true fat gain even if I budgeted the cookies into my total calories?

I don't understand!!!!!!!!! HELP!

Replies

  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Weight fluctuates. If you're going to weigh yourself every day you have to get used to that fact.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Weight fluctuates. If you're going to weigh yourself every day you have to get used to that fact.

    ^^^^ This.

    I weigh myself daily. I also accept that my weight will fluctuate by up to a pound or two based on how much undigested food is left in my colon, my sodium intake, and the foibles of my cheap bathroom scale. And I weight myself very deliberately first thing in the morning as soon as I'm off the toilet from my "morning throne seating."

    Daily weigh-ins are for trends, and should NOT be considered accurate enough to judge yourself over a couple of pounds.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,972 Member
    Weight loss isn't linear. You could have "stressed" and secreted more cortisol, which may have been the reason. Whatever it is, if you live and die by the scale (especially if you weigh daily) your weight loss journey may be short lived.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ChoccyHobNob
    ChoccyHobNob Posts: 2
    Daily fluctuations should be expected, you may be retaining a little extra water, the time of day will affect the scale, how long you've been out of bed for, etc. etc.

    If you weigh every day (like I do) you have to get used to that and only pay attention to the trend, not the actual number. I also read somewhere that it takes about 48 hours for the calories you consumed to be converted into energy. If you go mad and eat way over your cals on Monday, don't expect to see that on the scale until Wednesday.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Weight loss isn't linear. You could have "stressed" and secreted more cortisol, which may have been the reason. Whatever it is, if you live and die by the scale (especially if you weigh daily) your weight loss journey may be short lived.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    This! Cortisol is a *****! If you were beating yourself up about the cookie, then your body probably reacted to those emotions.
  • leannems
    leannems Posts: 516 Member
    It can't be fat gain if you are eating at a caloric deficit.

    Weight fluctuates as much as 5lbs. Keep on keepin on and look at monthly progress.
  • wtdia
    wtdia Posts: 68 Member
    Oh how I can relate. I too weigh in everyday...it's just my style. Since I fluctuate, I just know if I only did weekly weigh ins, that would be the day with the spike, ha ha.
    I have noticed a pattern.....I gain a couple pounds at my monthly cycle's mid point and then during the end where I bloat a few pounds. I don't weigh myself during the end of my cycle because I know that it would be futile, but I'm intrigued with the whole mid cycle gain....I know hormone fluctuations can do this, but it is frustrating when you are working so hard to reach goals.

    I also find that no matter how much or little salt I take in, I can never gauge what will happen with the scale. Some days I drink a lot and had a bit more salt and am expecting the scale to rise, but instead it's the same. Other days...I think surely it will do down based on my intake/exercise....and no budging.

    Basically...I think it comes down to hormones wreaking havoc on us....and we have to just step away from the scale, take a deep breath and know we are doing the best we can and put it out of our mind. The net long term results are all that matter!
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    If you've been cutting your carbs and then eat sugar, you're going to store that sugar as glycogen to fuel your workouts later. Its the basic principle of carb loading before a race or big event. You haven't gained fat at all. It's simply the body doing its job to store what it needs to fuel your workouts. When it stores glycogen it is stored in 3 times as much water so it can show up on the scale. If you're working hard with your workouts, it's actually a good thing.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    Basically every time anybody freaks out about fast weight gain, it has nothing to do with fat and everything to do with sodium (water weight) or glycogen (water weight).

    The body cannot store sugar as fat unless you go on a ridiculous binge. After a carb heavy meal you always gain a lot. Then the next time you run, you run like the breeze and lose all that weight. Fat was not part of the equation one bit. You will know that you burned a ton of glycogen when you have to pee while running or immediately afterwards. It is not unusual for me to lose 3-4 lbs over the course of a 10K run. Obviously very little of that weight is fat. It is all water weight that was previously locked up in glycogen.
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    If you've been cutting your carbs and then eat sugar, you're going to store that sugar as glycogen to fuel your workouts later. Its the basic principle of carb loading before a race or big event. You haven't gained fat at all. It's simply the body doing its job to store what it needs to fuel your workouts. When it stores glycogen it is stored in 3 times as much water so it can show up on the scale. If you're working hard with your workouts, it's actually a good thing.

    Thank you. That makes perfect sense. I usually try and keep my carbs 80-100g a day so it's not too low but I'm sure those cookies put me waaaaaaaaay over my carb limit. Thanks again!
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Basically every time anybody freaks out about fast weight gain, it has nothing to do with fat and everything to do with sodium (water weight) or glycogen (water weight).

    The body cannot store sugar as fat unless you go on a ridiculous binge. After a carb heavy meal you always gain a lot. Then the next time you run, you run like the breeze and lose all that weight. Fat was not part of the equation one bit. You will know that you burned a ton of glycogen when you have to pee while running or immediately afterwards. It is not unusual for me to lose 3-4 lbs over the course of a 10K run. Obviously very little of that weight is fat. It is all water weight that was previously locked up in glycogen.

    Thank you!
  • fishergreen
    fishergreen Posts: 109 Member
    More important, how was the cookie? Delicious right? I dont' weigh everday because I would lose my mind. I see you lost 60lbs so far so you must be doing something right, give yourself a break. :)
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    More important, how was the cookie? Delicious right? I dont' weigh everday because I would lose my mind. I see you lost 60lbs so far so you must be doing something right, give yourself a break. :)

    LOL! Yes it was delish except the guilt just sets in and kills it. :( I actually was down 70lbs, but gained 10 back so now I'm trying to get back to where I was. Ugh!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I don't understand the relationship between guilt and food. Why would you feel guilty for eating a cookie? Who do you think you're hurting?
  • adiesilver
    adiesilver Posts: 13 Member
    More important, how was the cookie? Delicious right? I dont' weigh everday because I would lose my mind. I see you lost 60lbs so far so you must be doing something right, give yourself a break. :)

    LOL! Yes it was delish except the guilt just sets in and kills it. :( I actually was down 70lbs, but gained 10 back so now I'm trying to get back to where I was. Ugh!

    Try not to feel guilty about it! You're clearly on the right track since you've lost so much (WTG by the way!).You can't expect to restrict yourself so much for the rest of your life, right? There will be other cookies! Having them once in a while won't affect your weight loss in the long term.

    Also I totally get the food guilt, and it's something I've been working on too, but it's something you *can* overcome! We shouldn't ever feel guilty for how we choose to eat one day, since there are so many other days to balance out.

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