So bummed....any thoughts?

I am 34, 5'9, and male. I don't get it. This is mathematically impossible.

On Friday, I weighed in at 205.6lbs and was elated. Loved it. Ran 6 miles on Saturday and 5 on Sunday.

However, I had visitors in for the weekend and didn't eat extremely well. Not extremely bad but not very well. I had way too much alcohol and was running around 3000 calories per day, maybe slightly more. I thought with the running that I would break even on calorie intake. I wasn't expecting to lose any weight over the weekend due to not having a calorie deficit. Today I weighed in at 210.8lbs and am devastated. I just don't understand how that works. I definitely didn't have a 5lb calorie surplus. I don't get the math here. 

Any thoughts? Has this happened to anyone?  

sodium? did you drink much water? It really is impossible to legitimately gain that much!

I was up 4 lbs on monday. similar weekend. Those 4lbs are gone today. (whew!)

It happens all the time! Frustrating. You just have to trust your plan and keep on pushing. :)

You said you drank too much alcohol, so chances are you are retaining water. I would say for the next few days stick to your diet..avoid sodium, drink water to flush out your system and you will probably lose most of it

Your body is probably holding on to water.  When I have been used to eating well and then go off my body seems to not know what to do with the extra calories, fat,salt etc...and it takes a couple of days back on track to assess the real damage, if any.

Drink a lot of water and carry on as usual (before the weekend!).  And I bet you'll see the bulk of it, if not all of the extra weight off in a day or two

I agree with the alcohol and salty foods causing water weight gain. 

I am on another forum, and one of the guys over there goes to happy hour on Friday,s and the scale always shows a big increase the next day sometimes as much as 10 pounds. 

He takes it in stride, and goes back to his diet and exercise and within a few days he has dropped the water weight and is back to losing.  He continues to lose weight each week, so while this may be slowing his losses down a bit.... it's part of his lifestyle change and he since he understands it, it doesn't freak him out.

As everyone else said, it's just water weight so don't worry.  This can happen when drinking and eating a lot of processed foods (most restaurant foods are).  Just stick with your exercise for the week, drink A LOT of water and eat some clean fruits and veggies with your meals.  You'll flush out all the excess water in no time.  Don't worry!  You're doing great.

Original Post by soon2befit:

I am 34, 5'9, and male. I don't get it. This is mathematically impossible.

On Friday, I weighed in at 205.6lbs and was elated. Loved it. Ran 6 miles on Saturday and 5 on Sunday.

However, I had visitors in for the weekend and didn't eat extremely well. Not extremely bad but not very well. I had way too much alcohol and was running around 3000 calories per day, maybe slightly more. I thought with the running that I would break even on calorie intake. I wasn't expecting to lose any weight over the weekend due to not having a calorie deficit. Today I weighed in at 210.8lbs and am devastated. I just don't understand how that works. I definitely didn't have a 5lb calorie surplus. I don't get the math here. 

Any thoughts? Has this happened to anyone?  

So many people make the mistake of assuming those pounds on the scale are indicating actual fat loss and gain.  They aren't.  It's your total weight, much of which is water, as the other posters have said.  Sodium absolutely causes the body to retain water.  If I eat a salty snack in the evening, it can reflect as much as extra 2 pounds in my weight the next morning, easily.  I see it all the time.  Don't stress over it...you'll see the water loss show in the scale in the next couple of days.   And I'm not saying that the sodium is a bad thing...I eat a LOT of salt, but I have great blood pressure and I do a lot of cardio, so my body just craves salt, and I never worry about the temporary gains.  Some people do, but I never do.

Thank everyone for the support and the collective guidance. It sounds like the group is pretty certain that I am retaining water due to sodium and alcohol intake and I should drink lots of water (coupled with normal diet and cardio) to return to my normalized weight.

Forgive the ignorant question but if I am retaining water then why should I drink lots of water? Wouldn't I just be retaining more water? Shouldn't I sweat and flush out the excess water first?

Someone had an explanation that helped my wrap my brain around it.  I'm sure it's complete nonsense medically, but here goes.

Think of the cells in your bodies as little pools of water.  The salt dams up the pools causing them to get bigger and swell up.  When you drink lots of water it helps to wash away the salty dams and allow the pools to drain normally. 

Whatever... I just know when I'm retaining water (my fingers get pudgy and my rings don't fit) if I drink lots of water I lose the bloat and my rings fit normally again. 

Monday I was up 4 pounds higher than where I am today, and my rings fit again.  Mexican food Sunday night did it to me. 

Original Post by soon2befit:

Thank everyone for the support and the collective guidance. It sounds like the group is pretty certain that I am retaining water due to sodium and alcohol intake and I should drink lots of water (coupled with normal diet and cardio) to return to my normalized weight.

Forgive the ignorant question but if I am retaining water then why should I drink lots of water? Wouldn't I just be retaining more water? Shouldn't I sweat and flush out the excess water first?

 

 As the other poster said, I also can tell by the way my rings fit - it's an absolute that if I can't get my ring on first thing in the morning, then I'm up a pound or so of water.  That night, it's gone.  Water is GOOD for your body, and it really doesn't matter if you retain it - as long as you are progressing in your overall FAT loss, that is what counts.  Stop worrying about the water thing...keep drinking it, and get a body fat monitor scale.

Original Post by crazydiamondchrysalis:

sodium? did you drink much water? It really is impossible to legitimately gain that much!

I was up 4 lbs on monday. similar weekend. Those 4lbs are gone today. (whew!)

It happens all the time! Frustrating. You just have to trust your plan and keep on pushing. :)

God!! I am sooo relieved to read all the posts in this thread. I was experiencing the same lately. After 3 months finally i shed 3 kgs and after last weekend (when i had chicken (spicy and salty)) i had gained 1.5 kg by monday morning. And i was feeling devastated about it until i read this thread. I was scratching my brains hard thinking WHERE and WHEN did i eat fatty/high cal food on weekend that i put on 1.5 kgs, only to know it today that its rather sodium messing with my weigh scale. I learnd a LOT really. thanks everyone for posting.

Original Post by karozel:

Someone had an explanation that helped my wrap my brain around it.  I'm sure it's complete nonsense medically, but here goes.

Think of the cells in your bodies as little pools of water.  The salt dams up the pools causing them to get bigger and swell up.  When you drink lots of water it helps to wash away the salty dams and allow the pools to drain normally. 

Whatever... I just know when I'm retaining water (my fingers get pudgy and my rings don't fit) if I drink lots of water I lose the bloat and my rings fit normally again. 

Monday I was up 4 pounds higher than where I am today, and my rings fit again.  Mexican food Sunday night did it to me. 

 I LOVE this analogy!!! I knew that more water would flush out retained water but I couldn't really explain why. I know it really has to do with the balance of sodium levels in the blood vs in the cells - but this analogy really works well for me. :)

Definitely water retention!!! As everyone else has said, all the sodium/salt that you consumed from the not so good foods... causing you retain water which is why you may feel a bit bloated and weigh 5 + pounds more than you did... I fluctuate on a daily basis in terms of my weight (which is why I don't own a scale and never really weigh myself to begin with, ha ha)... but I know that if I average a certain number I am good to go. Drink loads of water, eat fiber rich foods & diuretic foods like asparagus & dandelion and you should be back to 205 pretty soon! Just don't splurge so badly this coming weekend! 

my weight fluctuates around 5lbs

This is totally water weight. Also, the food you eat also has weight, after all - mass is conserved. Drink a lot of water, and weigh yourself after you go to the bathroom (#s 1 AND 2). I'm sure you'll see a lower number on the scale.

Then again, this is why you shouldn't get too hung up with the numbers on the scale. Weigh yourself once a week, or if you HAVE to weigh yourself every day, then do it several times a day and take an average. Weight fluctuation is natural and normal, don't despair.