For those of you who experience weight bouncing: Plz remain calm!

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  • I know I see a lot here people who say they increased their exercise, or started exercising, why are they gaining?

    Someone a long time ago had posted a link that I no longer have, but it was about exercise induced water retention.

    When I first started exercising a couple months ago, I had a pretty consistent patter of loss: I"d lose on my weigh day (I weight every day but have a day I consider weigh day) and bounce all around during the week.

    Anyhow, if I exercise, my weight will bounce up anywhere from 2-4 lbs overnight. Now, we all know if I'm eating On Plan that that isn't actual fat. It's pretty much a physical impossibility.

    Anyhow, this thing I had read that someone posted here was about glycogen and water weight post exercising. Any time you add/increase exercise, your muscles need to heal, and how they heal themselves is packing themselves in glycogen.

    1 lb of glycogen is generally packed in anywhere from 1-3 lbs of water.

    I stopped exercising for a few weeks because of a pain flare. My losses were steady downward when I wasn't exercising.

    I started again last night and of course I woke up to find that predictable almost 4 lb gain.

    I'm not upset about this anymore, it happens every time. I exercise, I gain, it bounces around all week and then on weigh day I"m generally down below where I started.

    Try not to freak out people. It's normal.
  • YES, I've experienced this...almost freaked until I read about it somewhere too! BTW, the added glycogen storage (water weight) should go away after 2-3 days.

    Also, if you want to make sure it's glycogen stores from exercise, make sure to monitor your sodium...it should be below 2000mgs. You'll experience waaaayyyy less weight fluctuations on a diet LOW in sodium (under 1500mg)

    Just wanted to add this.
  • Thank you so much for this post! It could not have come at a better time. After 11 weeks of being on plan with WW, I lost 32.4 pounds. I started exercising this week and I gained 1.4 back! ugh! I was really upset so I weighed again the next morning instead of waiting for my weekly weigh day and 1.3 of it was gone. Your post helps my feelings a lot!
  • Good, I"m glad!

    Keep up the exercise! Also congrats on the weight lost!
  • Thanks for the post! When, do you estimate, the bouncing around stops? Does a sudden whoosh come along, and then you consistently lose?
  • Ha, no.

    I exercised for about a month before I had to stop.

    I bounced every time I would not exercise for a few days and then start again, or I'd bounce every time I increased intensity.

    Honestly it never used to help me but this time around weighing daily has been great because I'm so numb to the bounces. (For one, I'm 100% On Plan so logic prevails!) ha.
  • Thanks for sharing!
  • I don't think there is an answer that's true for everyone. For me, no matter what changes I make, my "bouncing" doesn't stop. Some of it is predictable (TOM always yields about an 8 to 10 lbs gain of water weight gain). If I switch from low-carb to high carb, I gain about 3 to 5 lbs (which disappears within a day or two of switching back). Exercising more than usual (whatever my usual is) tends to add up to 2 to 3 lb (which I also suspect is mostly water, just by how fast it comes on, and how fast it disappears once I get used to the new level of exercise).

    High sodium foods also result in temporary weight gain. I don't eat a lot of high sodium foods, but I do have a weakness for asian food. Rather than avoiding it, I accept the temporary weight gain and drink extra water. As long as I track the calories, the day or too of extra water weight isn't a big deal to me.

    Eating a lot of bulky watery food (fruits and vegetables), also results in temporary weight gain (just from the weight of the food as it's digesting). Also not something I worry about.

    By keeping and reviewing my food journal, I've learned what to expect, and I'm fine as long as I don't panic and think any weight gain justifies "giving up" or indulging in a big binge so I can "start fresh," at some point in the future.

    The only way to understand how your body reacts, is by watching it and documenting it (because impressions can be misleading).

    Above all it's important to realize that it takes months to see true trends and not just coincidences.
  • Wait, so you haven't lost any weight at all during exercise periods? You only lost when you stopped exercising? Sorry if I'm confused, but now I'm trying to figure out if I should wait until goal to exercise.
  • just remember. Sore muscles are swollen muscles.
  • Quote: Wait, so you haven't lost any weight at all during exercise periods? You only lost when you stopped exercising? Sorry if I'm confused, but now I'm trying to figure out if I should wait until goal to exercise.
    Nonono.

    DO NOT WAIT!

    ha. Not what I was saying.

    It will bounce up but it'll go back down when I get used to the current level of exercise after a couple days and I lose. Then when I increase my intensity it'll bounce up and down again.

    I have lost 28 lbs since oct 19th and I exercised most of that time.
  • Quote: I don't think there is an answer that's true for everyone. For me, no matter what changes I make, my "bouncing" doesn't stop. Some of it is predictable (TOM always yields about an 8 to 10 lbs gain of water weight gain). If I switch from low-carb to high carb, I gain about 3 to 5 lbs (which disappears within a day or two of switching back). Exercising more than usual (whatever my usual is) tends to add up to 2 to 3 lb (which I also suspect is mostly water, just by how fast it comes on, and how fast it disappears once I get used to the new level of exercise).

    High sodium foods also result in temporary weight gain. I don't eat a lot of high sodium foods, but I do have a weakness for asian food. Rather than avoiding it, I accept the temporary weight gain and drink extra water. As long as I track the calories, the day or too of extra water weight isn't a big deal to me.

    Eating a lot of bulky watery food (fruits and vegetables), also results in temporary weight gain (just from the weight of the food as it's digesting). Also not something I worry about.

    By keeping and reviewing my food journal, I've learned what to expect, and I'm fine as long as I don't panic and think any weight gain justifies "giving up" or indulging in a big binge so I can "start fresh," at some point in the future.

    The only way to understand how your body reacts, is by watching it and documenting it (because impressions can be misleading).

    Above all it's important to realize that it takes months to see true trends and not just coincidences.
    LOL. I"m starting to get convinced that you follow me around in threads just to disagree with me. :P

    Anyhow, I was giving info that is generally accepted to be true about exercise. Not about salt, or TOM, or anything else that I did not mention.

    I also used the word "I" many times in my post, relating MY experience and nowhere did I say that it applies to every single person in every single scenario and that NO OTHER THING can cause the scale to bounce.

    You make me sweat sometimes. ha.
  • Lottie and Kaplods -just so you know - I appreciate BOTH of your posts -always informative and helpful and full of reinforcement which I sometimes REALLY need -Thanks - L.
  • Whew! Thanks for the clarification. Off to the gym!
  • totally agree, Last Saturday I ran for almost 2 hours non-stop for an 11 mile run, the next day I was up 4 pounds, still up those 3.....still running and sticking to my routine and I'm patiently waiting, lmao!

    Stick with it people it will all balance itself out and what I love is when I finally do drop those stubborn post Big exercise pounds I go well beyond my last low!

    184.5 all the way to 188.5 in one night, I know when it all balances itself out I'll probably be at 182-183~!