I AM SO DONE!

Posts: 12
8/31/11 10:52 A

In addition to eating salty, water-rention-boosting foods like food from Taco Bell, exercising can also cause a bit of temporary water weight - when you work out your muscles get flooded with fluid and combine that with Taco Bell and you end up with +5 TEMPORARY pounds.

Weigh weekly - same time - same clothes - be aware of what you ate a day or so prior if you don't want to have a water weight freak out

SparkPoints: (592)
Fitness Minutes: (275)
Posts: 16
8/31/11 8:38 A

It's always good to know the foods that cause us to retain water. I constantly feel bloated all day long. I stay so thirsty all the time I constantly have a drink in my hand. I never weigh myself at the end of the day only first thing in the morning after my walk so I can shed that excess water first.

Posts: 1,173
8/31/11 7:07 A

OMG - water weight is awful, good news is it's practically predictable with certain foods and alcohol. SO be prepared and don't let yourself freak out, just add lots more water and add in some food that are notorious diuretics!

The following foods and herbs are know to have diuretic properties:

■Celery
■Parsley (TEA!!)
■Dandelion (Salad)
■Asparagus
■Artichoke
■Melon / Watermelon
■Watercress
■Aim to eat small amounts of starchy carbohydrates (such as breads, rice, etc)

ALSO:
■Avoid salt and salty food products.
■Drink plenty of water and herbal teas.
■See herbs above.
■Avoid sugary foods.
■Eat fruit and vegetables.

Sample Menu:

Breakfast
Low fat natural yogurt with fresh fruit

Lunch
Asparagus soup
Slice of whole grain bread
Orange
Dinner
Serving of baked chicken (with garlic and lemon juice)
Steamed broccoli and carrot
Small Banana and slice of melon


This stuff helps me!! Basically WHOLE Foods, no processed junk. Good Luck!

Posts: 1,261
8/30/11 1:25 P

I agree with everyone else it's water retention - I had a similar situation recently - I had asian food with additonal soy sauce and the next day I was 4 lbs heavier. The best solution for me is water rich foods and lots of water to push the retention away. Don't give up or give in, if you don't already track your sodium for a while or always. It's amazing how much sodium we can consume without ever shaking salt onto anything. Soups, processed foods, fast food, cheese. The list and the sodium goes on and on.
Wishing you the best as you go forward.

SparkPoints: (58,789)
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Posts: 5,709
8/30/11 11:49 A

What everyone else said, and then find a way to make healthy pizza and mexican food options at home. I do that all the time. Check out sparkrecipes or www.cleaneatingmag.com.

I've lost 95 lbs and for sure the scale was not always my friend. I only weigh about once a week now, always in the morning, and before breakfast. That way I just have a consistent idea of what is going on.

Journal what your healthy goals are and see if it helps you with your vision for what you really want for your life.

SparkPoints: (112,699)
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Posts: 17,383
8/30/11 11:19 A

Jessica,

As others have already noted, what you're experiencing is nothing more than a temporary water weight fluctuation. I can easily "gain" 3-4 pounds in a day ! Is that a fat gain ? Nope, it's nothing more than a temporary water weight gain that passes in a few days.

In order to truly gain five pounds of fat, a person needs to eat an extra 17, 500 calories on top of their normal intake. So, if you know you didn't eat at least an extra 17,500 calories, then you know you didn't gain fat. Water has weight and not to get TMI, but so does your POOP !

If you didn't do a poop this morning on top of retaining water, that too would cause the scale to go up. Remember, the food you eat has weight. the water you drink has weight. If you don't go to the bathroom, the weight of the food, water and waste in your intestines has weight that will cause the scale to go up. It's not a real gain. It's nothing more than a temporary fluctuation.

Don't believe your poop or water has weight ? I can prove it. BEFORE you go to the bathroom in the morning, weigh yourself. Then, go to the bathroom. Once you're down, get back on the scale. Did you "lose" weight ? YES ! Did you lose fat ? NO !

Fluctuations of this kind are normal !

SparkPoints: (6,636)
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Posts: 107
8/30/11 10:09 A

One thing that I do like about those huge jumps up -- you know it's not true gain! You'd have had to eat a whopping 17,500 calories. Those jumps are so easy to throw out. They're fluctuations, they are what they are and you need to tell yourself it'll go back down as your body flushes the sodium.

I also agree with weighing every day. I know it's frowned upon but when I weighed myself weekly it was torture to see unexpected numbers on weigh day. By weighing myself frequently I get a good feel for how I'm trending. Am I stuck -- if so, I can do some things like cut back if I'm having too much fruit or carbs. If I've had a run of lower calorie days I can throw in a higher calorie day. It's so much better than going a whole week and realizing 'oh, the scale never changed from the other week, let me try this...' and have to go another week before you see if the tweaking in diet and exercise is working.

In the end, we do what works for us but by sharing experiences we make each collectively a little smarter about the journey.

Posts: 15,379
8/30/11 10:08 A

"I ate Taco Bell today but I did some exercising. Why in the world would it say 5 lbs more? "

Because of all the salt Taco Bell puts in its food.
Eliminating fast food will minimize your frustrations over large sodium/water weight swings.

Posts: 18
8/30/11 9:44 A

Jessca3- I know how you feel. You are working hard & then you see a gain like that on the scale (even if it is due to water retention from sodium), and it is just frustrating & you feel like you're taking two steps forward and three back. But you aren't!

I agree with the poster who said look up some alternatives to Taco Bell. We don't have Tbell on the island, so I'm not tempted- but when I first moved here I missed it so much. But it is easy enough to make your own Mexican Pizza or Taco Salad at home- and you can throw in so many extra veggies!

However- I don't agree with the common wisdom to not weigh yourself everyday. I weigh (and track) myself each day, sometimes the number is good, sometimes it isn't. But I only allow myself to get discouraged if I've gained for 2-3 days in a row. And if I do feel myself getting discouraged, I compare it to where I was a week (or two) ago- and that is always a loss!

Your mileage may vary- but the motivational boost I get from watching the scale move .2 or .4 lbs a day is HUGE. It is what convinces me to get on the treadmill when I'm feeling lazy. But if you continually beat yourself up over the number, then perhaps you should take the advice of only weighing once a week.

Just keep up the exercising & tracking!

Posts: 445
8/30/11 8:58 A

Stop weighing yourself daily! There lies madness. I have lost 40lb since last March slowly but steadily. Did I have weeks where the scale went up, rather than down? Probably, because that's how the human body normally works, but I don't know for sure because I only weigh myself once a month. I don't NEED to know about the little daily fluctuations. They would have made me discouraged and overly analytical of every little thing I did at a time when I needed that least. Hide your scale and bring it out once in a blue moon. Seriously!

Posts: 2,066
8/30/11 12:46 A

Yep, water weight. I track my sodium now, and it's shocking how much is in fast food meals (so I rarely/never do those anymore).

You should also consider stopping daily weigh-ins. They're not typically a realistic view of your weight loss progress, and can be a distraction. When I stopped and went to a weekly weigh in, it helped me focus on things more important than weight, like the behavioral changes. I could be proud of myself for doing well on a day without being influenced by whatever the scale said.

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8/30/11 12:07 A

agree with Zorbs- another reason I don't hang out in such joints.. We all know it does damage to motivation and moral.. Make decent substitutes at home look up sparkspeoples recipe central and try to find another way of making your favourites...

Edited by: REDSHOES2011 at: 8/30/2011 (00:08)

Posts: 58
8/29/11 11:34 P

I agree it's probably water weight. I know my own weight can vary by 5 to 7 pounds depending on what time of day I step on the scale, how much water I drank that day, how much salt I ate the day before, etc. I know it's obnoxious to see that higher number on the scale, but try to remind yourself it's not real weight gain and trust the process.

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Posts: 11,795
8/29/11 10:11 P

sodium. water weight.

Posts: 58
8/29/11 10:03 P

I am SO frustrated! Today I weighed myself and it says I weigh 216...I was 211 YESTERDAY! I ate Taco Bell today but I did some exercising. Why in the world would it say 5 lbs more? No way it was from that. I get so frustrated when this happens, it just makes me want to lay on the couch with something amazing like Pizza Hut. Grr...

I know I probably sound dramatic but it is so irritating!