I'm not really sure where to post this, so I thought I'd go with here since last season there were so many issues with water loading.
How long does your body retain water after eating a lot of salt? I had a ton of sodium (about 200% of RDA) on Saturday, and I think my weight is high today. However, I ate a TON on Saturday (I did run for two hours, but I think I pretty much ate all the cals back), so it could be that and not water retention at all. I've heard varying reports on how long the effects last (anywhere from 30 hours to a week), and I've tried googling with no success. Does anyone know?
I SWEAR I am not trying to water load for the start of the Watch Me Bloom challenge!
I think it depends on a lot of factors. I've been able to get rid of water weight by drinking extra water and eating extra fruits and vegetables in as little as 24 hours, and as long as 3 to 4 days. If it's a TOM hormonal thing, it always seems to take the longest. Oriental food, somewhere in the middle, and other restaurant or processed foods or random events the shortest.
Mine is usually food-related and I can drop it in about 24 hours. I drink lots of decaf green tea after a salt episode (the other day it was Panera's French Onion Soup).
For me, this is one of the advantages of weighing daily. If it is salt, the jump in weight is immediate and fairly dramatic. I know I cannot put on a pound and a half in fat in one day, but can do that with of salt and water.
I do weigh in every day, but I ate all the salt (tortilla chips) on Saturday night at 3 AM, so I didn't necessarily expect it to show up Sunday morning at 9 AM. And I ate over my calories, so I thought it was possible that it was a real gain. It was just hard to tell! Looking forward to eating fresh and low-sodium this week
How long do you tend to gain as part of your cycle? I find I have two weeks up and two weeks down, but I've only been tracking my calories/weight for three months so it's not a great sample size...
What I read from Bob Greene's first series, and what I can attest to from tracking it, is that I go up about 3 days before the onset and by day 5 of AF my weight has dropped. If I'm good and exercising and eating well instead of using it as an excuse to blow it all to ****, I'll usually find that I'm down 5lbs on day 5! It's like I bloat up 3 lbs and then in 5 days can lose that 3 plus another 1-2 more. So if you just hold on, you will be rewarded.
I'm SO GLAD I found this thread!! I've always thought I was nuts but I start putting on water weight when I ovulate and it doesn't go away until AF. Two weeks up, two weeks down. So glad to know I'm not alone!!
Sodium and Water Retention
I am retaining water, as it's that time in my cycle...SO my weight is higher than last week at this time even though I KNOW I've lost! 
