Ok Im kind of confused. They say it takes 3500 EXTRA calories on top of what your body burns to actually gain a pound. So my question is: When the occasional bing happens (like last night) why does the scale go up when I know I havent eaten 3500 EXTRA calories? It also takes me like a week or more for my weight to go back down to the before binge weight.

WHY???!!!!

Depending on what you had, could it be water weight you're retaining? I don't know... just a thought.

Salt, sugar, and all kinds of badness.

That's why I currently list 209 and I am waiting for the average at the end of the week. I have been since coming back from vacation
207.6
205.8
and this morning 206.0

I don't lose 3 lbs a week, its just recovery and eating cleanly again. So don't sweat the small stuff You know its just a scale trick. The truth is always in how we feel and how our clothes fit. I am feeling fantastic since my exercise is back on track and my food is being cleaned up.

The extra food that is being processed will add weight until it is eliminated. Extra salt and carbs (I assume you didn't binge on grilled chicken breast) will increase the amount of retained water.

I think when it's that close to the binge, the actual weight of the food in your body counts -- you have pooped anything out yet or fully processed it. And chances are there's salt making you retain water and other things throwing your system out of whack.

You know you didn't eat 3,500 cals but it'll probably take a day or two show up.

At the risk of TMI, I ate a whole bunch of McDs around 11:30 p.m. last night and noticed more than a one pound difference between before and after visiting the loo this morning.

Get the water in Mug, try and clear some of it out.

Salt perhaps? Makes you bloat. After a salty meal the scale can go up 3 pounds at times, even thought I KNOW I didn't even consume 3500 in the said meal, let alone the whole day. Don't fret, drink water, pee it out.

1. Water retention
2. Weight of food
3. Water retention
4. Some fat gain, depending how far over your daily burn you went.
5. Water retention.

Jay

Just an observation but do you all notice we never ask 'why' when the scale drops by a pound when we know our efforts weren't sufficient to justify the drop? The reasons are, of course, the same reason as a gain I just thought it was kind of funny. I tend to freak out over the sudden ups but never question the sudden downs.

It usually takes a little time for things to adjust when there's been a big change up or down in intake.

I hate water weight! Its evil and I hate it! Frustrating stupid idiotic dumb water weight!

I think I need to just calm down, put the scale up in the top of the closet for a week, and just keep on keepin on. Why are we so set on seeing scale results quickly? I must stop this! Im stressing myself for no reason, and Ive been doing wonderfully, just two binges in the month of June so far. Hopefully that will be the last one for a long time to come. I can do it! Sigh.............

Plus........I have to remind myself, just because Ive been losing weight for six months now and doing the healthy lifestyle for six months now, doesnt mean I am perfect and without faults. Ive been binging on food for over 17 yrs now and I cant expect to be perfect after only six months. I WILL continue to work on the binging aspect of my problem with food and Imust just keep moving forward and dont look back. Self pep talk here.......

YES!! Bang on, Mug. Keep truckin'

1 cup of water weighs about half a pound.

That's the wisest thing I've read all day!

Yes PLEASE don't beat yourself up over a little and likely temporary gain. Keep doing what you know is healthy and works and the rest will take care of itself.

Water weight doesn't have to be evil. I don't hate it nearly as much as I did, when I was younger.

I love chinese food, but would avoid even low-cal option out of fear of the dreaded water weight, but I realized that it's fat I need to lose the most. A little water here and there isn't making or breaking my weight loss.

The "exact" number on the scale isn't as important either. It's not my daily weight that is critical, it's the long-term progress.

Part of the stress of weight loss is making the number all-important. If the scale is up it's a day to mourn, and if it's down it's a day to rejoice. Not necessarily.