So here's what happened: I was down to 176 lbs four days ago. I ate (or tried to eat) a muffin and it made me sick which made me wonder about the way my body is being reprogrammed. I decided to do a raw food diet as an experiment and went two days eating just raw fruits and veggies. Then I went out for a nice dinner with friends and ate a biggish meal: turkey (white meat), a serving of potatoes and gravy, cranberry jello, a dinner roll, and a small piece of pumpkin pie - yes it was some starchy, salty, sugary food but it was within reason and not over my calorie limit for maintaining. Then I went back to raw fruits and veggies for a day (yesterday) and today when I weighed myself I had gained 5-6 pounds! I don't understand what happened, I know I'm not bloated because I measured myself and have lost half an inch in my waist and a quarter inch in my hips in the past week. Did the raw food experiment totally screw me up? Maybe the salty food is just messing with me until it leaves my system? Anybody have any input? I'm just so confused - Thanks so much for reading

Salty restaurant food is to blame. Give it a few days and lots of water and fresh whole foods and you should be back to normal. Also don't forget the actual weight of the food.

No matter how you try and avoid it restaurants SALT all of there food.(Trust me I work in one)...Your just retaining water. Keep drinking alot of water to flush out your system, and in a few days your weight should be back to normal Don't worry about it to much. I find when I go off plan I avoid the scale for a few days so everything gets back to normal...helps me from getting discouraged Good luck

Salt/"off" meals always hit the scale for me two days later. Then I "lose" 1-2 pounds a day and am back to my regular weight within a few days. Don't stress; I'm sure it'll be gone fast.

Another thing to keep in mind is doing a diet of fruits and veggies, they are usually lighter foods, and high in fiber. They keep things moving. One larger, or just heavier meal may add some bowel weight. Your intestines can have 8-10 pounds of poo in there! All those friuts and veggies should help clean things out!

Salt and carbs..... make you retain water. But FIVE pounds worth? Yup. Give it a few days. You'll be back down to where you were pretty quick.

I've had this happen too when I eat restaurant food, and also if I over indulge on the carbohydrates (cough, Halloween). I was pretty surprised at how many pounds I can pack on as a result of this water retention!