20 pounds in a week?

So this last week i took off from counting, because i was getting overwhelmed with it. So i ate whatever i wanted. Plus i didn't exercise because i was sick.  
Well i just weighed myself and i went from 165 last friday to 185 today. Please tell me that it almost all water weight. I hear about people gaining 3-5 from water retension but never 20 lbs. I think that its water weight because my body feels pretty firm at 165 and now it feels very loose. I also relize to actually gain 20 lbs in a week i would have to eat 70,000 calories more than what i burned throughout the week, but i just need some reassurance.

There is something wrong with your scale

i have also been drinking a ton of water today to try to flush out the sodium. i weighed myself just recently after a full day of drinking a lot of water

nursemeow is right. Even water wouldn't explain it. You'd have to retain almost 2 1/2 gallons of water to gain 20 pounds from it.

I gained about 10 pounds in 2 months with not even eating that much think maybe 1,700 calories.  Maybe im just predisposed to being a cow.

theblex3, could be water weight or muscle weight if you increased exercise?

Original Post by thebledx3:

...Maybe im just predisposed to being a cow.

Dido.

it isn't possible. Don't worry, there is something wrong with your scale. I would buy a new one or, better yet, just throw it out.

Hmm that's really really wierd. It'd be soo hard to gain 20 lbs in one week. If you know for a fact your scale is accurate I'd go see the doctor, because that is no where near normal

Original Post by hockeygirl44:

it isn't possible. Don't worry, there is something wrong with your scale. I would buy a new one or, better yet, just throw it out.

I weigh 185 right now, down from 215. That's 20 pounds more than nomad_27. If we had a contest to see who could GAIN the most weight in a week, I wonder how much I could gain if I tried. I don't know, but I bet I couldn't gain 20 pounds in one week even if I worked at it and drank as much water as I could just before weigh-in!

 

i seriously ate whatever i wanted though, like a bowl of ice cream like everyday, and a atleast one pb&j everyday, plus i ate whatever looked good in the dining hall.

It could be a combination of weight gain and water retention...I suppose the question you have to ask yourself is does your body look/feel any different. If you gained 20lbs in a week you would see and feel it on your body.

Otherwise there must be something wrong with the scale... 

this also happened to me about two weeks ago. Then I splurged all weekend and ended up at 180. But by Thursday i was down to 165 again. I can feel a difference in my body right now. I feel like my skin/fat around my belly is more flabby like when i walk or go up and down stairs especially. Generally i feel a lot more tight.

20 pounds is 70,000 calories ON TOP of what your body needs. Which means it would have been more than 80000 calories in a week? Did you consume that? I don't even think most people can eat that much physically unless they eat like nothing but jars of peanut butter or something.

get a measuring tape from a sewing section in a store and use that instead- the scale is an evil entity made to make those who look at it feel inferior like and a total failure...

log your measurements and get a body fat test at a gym and keep updating that- also, guage your clothes fit...

i HATE teh scale but can't stop looking at it - mine only moved 7 lbs in 6 weeks yet i have put on close to 14 lbs in muscle... the scale doesn't tell the full story just as calculating your BMI based on height & weight only doesn't tell your story - you need a true caliper/computer based test at a gym/fitness center to get your full story!!!

Good luck! 20lbs in one week is nearly impossible (unless you swallowed a small 18 month old child, which I doubt!)

Original Post by iamme1270:

calculating your BMI based on height & weight only doesn't tell your story

It not only doesn't tell the whole story, I find it completely useless. Six months ago, I didn't need to know my BMI to realize I was overweight. All I had to do was look in the mirror.

Here's my current favorite example of a guy who, according to his BMI, is overweight. He's 6' 4" and 224 pounds. His BMI is 27.4. Anything over 25 is overweight and anything over 30 is obese. His name is Tom Brady and he's the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots. Click the link to see his picture.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z61/SouthC arolinaGuy/Tom_Brady_2.jpg

I'm 5'11". At 185 pounds, I'm nearing my goal weight of 180 pounds. Even then, I will STILL be considered overweight with a BMI of 25.1.

One thing you said offered a clue: you said you did this two weeks ago, rose to 180, but got back down to 165.

So my question is, how LITTLE are you eating when you are "on track"? When I get stupid and decide to skip meals, I lose "weight" so fast -- I can step on the scale multiple times during the day and happily see the scale go down each time...but as soon as I eat, it'll rebound 5 pounds in a matter of hours -- and then more the next day. This is of course why I should never get stupid and skip meals, but we're not talking about me here :)

So to sum up -- if you are eating too few calories on your "on track" days, I can see how the "rebound" weight combined with water weight  could MAYBE go up 10 or more pounds...even if this is the case though, I'm still not sure about 20 pounds...

What do you think?

i eat a lot. i think. I eat three meals a day. a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, and some scrambled eggs. for lunch i have a grilled chicken breast and some cooked veggies and some raw veggies and some fruit. or i may have a turkey sandwich instead of the chicken breast. For dinner i usually have the same thing for dinner but a different lower calorie type entree. i ussually end up around 1500 calories.