Gained 9 pounds in one day?!?!

I was 241 on Monday and feeling great, then suddenly jumped to 250 the next day. How does this happen? I haven't changed my exercise regimen and eating habits (although Monday was a rest day for me), and I'm weighing myself at the same time every day (just when I wake up). Could water weight really account for such an increase? I'm lost quite a bit of it today (248); should I expect the trend to continue?

me thinks you had a cat standing on the scale with you...

Ya there is definatly something wrong there... You know how people say the scale doesn't lie.

the Scale Totaly lies.  It lies all the time.  If there was something under the scale, if it wasn't sitting level, if your batteries are low... you get a false reading.  Take a deep breath buy some batteries and keep in mind that even if you DID put on 9 lbs in one day... that would be 31,500 Calories consumed OVER your normal daily limit.  I can't even think what that many calories would look like!!!  That would be a week of a 3 or 4 extra fast food meals supersized every day on top of what you normaly eat.  lol...

you didn't do that did you?

So it's not a real gain.  Probobly water, probably your scale is a little wacky right now.  make sure it's sitting flat, change the batteries.

You actually shouldn't weigh your self every day.    It will never be accurate.

You  have the right idea by weighing in at the same time,  but instead of every day, weigh in once a week, and then make changes based on the weight you want to lose.  

Don't worry yourself too much, ladytron. Water weight can TOTALLY account for 9 lbs. of weight gain! Your body will retain water for all sorts of reasons -- exercising too much, dehydration, menstrual cycles, caffeine intake, anything diuretic in your system, etc.

When I first started dieting I had that happen to me more than once, it would normally go back to the weight I was before about three days later. Also, downdeep is right: pick a once-a-week weigh-in day. It'll give you a better average and won't make you so obsessive!

Were you wearing the same exact thing when you weighed yourself? I also don't recommend weighing daily - I'm trying to break that habit myself!

I always weigh myself every single morning right after I go potty, and naked.  My weight varies a lot day to day, but I enter it on CC every day and I pay more attention to the green trend line than I do the daily numbers. 

Eating salty food, hard exercise, alcohol, and a huge numbr of other things make my weight fluctuate, but I just don't let it bother me. 

Some people do better weighing once a week, once a month, or letting a tape measure tell the story. 

As for me, I would be pissed if I weighed once a week and it just happened to be the day the scales were unkind (up several pounds).  Then have to wait another week to see if it shifted... 

The scale does weird and unholy things. I would look at the trend line rather than the day to day weight or else you'll drive yourself batty with bizarre fluctuations like that

Original Post by karozel:

.....As for me, I would be pissed if I weighed once a week and it just happened to be the day the scales were unkind (up several pounds).  Then have to wait another week to see if it shifted... 

Same for me, so I compromise, I weigh every Thurs, Frid, Sat but only log the Sat morning weigh in. The Thurs / Frid acts as a "sanity check" and would show me if my weight "spiked" on a Saturday due to a water fluctuation..it usually doesn't.

I totally agree with what everyone has said.  Water weight is a big one and also make sure to weigh yourself at the same time everyday.  I can vary 4-5 lbs morning to night.  The other thing is if you ate very little two days previous (way under calories recommended) and then ever ate normal or slightly over ate the next day.  Your body can think that you may be going into starvation a bit and will hold onto every calorie.  That is why it is important to not only eat under your calorie goals but especially not to eat way under.  Your body needs food to burn fat and tell your body that it is ok to let your fat go. 

Weighing yourself everyday is the problem. Try weighing once evry two weeks at the same time but keep the exercise and good eating habits going

A gallon of water weighs about eight pounds, hence wrestlers trying to sweat to make weight, or conversely, eating disorder patients attempting to waterlog in order to make weight.  (A friend in IP used to do this till her nurses caught on.)  What everyone has said already in this thread is pretty spot-on.

Also, don't forget that depending on what your intake has been like, you could be carrying a lot of extra weight in your bowels.  Really.  One movement can make a two or so pound difference!

Everyone here is right on.

Just a word of caution: This happend to a friend of mine and it ended up being water weight related to a medical condition. If you ever think something is wrong, be sure to run it by your doctor as well.