I think it's a combination of the two. Yes, salt will cause water retention, which is why my weigh in went up... BUT when your body knows it will get water consistently, it's willing to let some of that go, AND with that water goes some of the salt. So yes, drinking lots of water will probably make me gain more water weight, but if I keep doing it... WHOOSH!

Thats the way I understand it anyway.

LA and Linds, if I remember correctly, water retention happens for a lot of reasons, but commonly because of high sodium intake. I get very swollen and puffy after eating a lot of high sodium foods. Drinking water helps if you could be dehydrated also, like you would be after drinking too much alcohol or soda. When you are dehydrated, even a little, your body will hold on to water. When you are properly hydrated, you urinate more because your body doesn't have to store water. It also stimulates the kidneys. There are a lot of different herbs you can take, but I'd rather just watch my sodium intake. Which I didn't do today...

I had an epiphany today. Now, I'm all for a diet soda every once in a while as a treat, however, I realized today that I've been drinking them without even thinking about it. It's gradually, over the past couple of weeks, gotten more and more frequent that I'll crack open a can. I've gone through a 12 pack in the past day and a half, and didn't realize it was all me drinking it until I got to the last can and said, "Dang! Who's been drinking all the Coke?!" Hubby said he's been drinking a different pop (soda) so it's been all me. He said in the past week or so, I've gone through 3 12 packs, one of them being the one I just finished off. He was just putting more Coke in as they were being taken out so he could get rid of the boxes, so I never realized how many I was drinking. THAT explains my cravings for carbs and sweets. AND it explains why I'm retaining so much water. I thought I was doing fine since I wasn't super thirsty, but it turns out that I've been drinking pop every time I'm thirsty, which leads to bloating and water retention for me. One or two diet sodas a day won't hurt me, but as much as I've been drinking?! WHEW!!! I didn't even realize. At least now I think I know why I've been craving all that chocolate. BLECH!!! So from this day forward, I'm going on a soda-fast and sticking with a cup of coffee in the morning.

I totally over ate at dinner. Hubby actually made a healthy dinner, but like I said, the cravings have had me going totally nuts, and I ended up eating something like 3 1/2 cups of rotini noodles w/ marinara, a grilled chicken breast, 1 cup of salad and (and this is the really awful part, lol) the better part of a cantaloupe. Prolly 3/4 of the melon all by myself. I'm definitely going to regret that later...

Pint- Thanks for the info. I wonder how it works with TTOM...? Can you drink more to lose water weight in that case? I wonder if it would help with bloating/water weight around TTOM. It is easy to drink too much soda and lose track of just how much you've drank. I don't even drink it any more...I am boring and just drink water.

I have no clue why we retain water during TTOM. I've always just had to wait until after so the weight comes off. I know Midol and other PMS-helping OTC drugs have diuretics in them to help, although I'm really iffy about using diuretics in general.

Hi Everyone!

Total Approx 1440 + Morning Joe

Breakfast (365 Calories + coffee)
spritz oil in pan
egg 70 cal
egg whites from carton 60 calories
Handful of spinach
2% Reduced Fat Cheese 40 calories
high fiber English muffin 100 calories
1 teaspoon jam 20 calories
juice 75 calories
coffee w/sugar and cream

Lunch (375 Calories)
Earth Grains Thin Bun 100 calories
3 Slices Hormel Natural Choice Deli Turkey 60 Calories
Mustard/Lettuce 25 Calories
Oikos Strawberry Greek Yogurt 4 ounce container 90 calories
1 Apple 100 calories

Dinner (700 Calories)
Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos w/steamed veggies & new potatoes 550 calories
Shared salad 150 calories

Exercise
TF HIIT 15
Cathe Travel Fit (standing section)
Tae Bo Turbo Charged Fat Burner (with weighted gloves)

Gwen, I agree with what others have been saying: rewarding yourself with food usually only perpetuated the cycle of binging. You continue to see food as something other than fuel for your body that way. I am very familiar with this pattern...


Today has been going alright. I had a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares for breakfast (those things are SOOOO good, I find I have trouble stopping at one bowl) and for lunch I ate leftover vermicelli-vegetable-tofu stuff from my restaurant dinner a couple nights ago. I've gotta start focusing on getting more vegetables in again, so that's my plan for this evening. I just get so lazy about food that chopping up veggies feels like too much bother. I suppose I should get into the habit of preparing things ahead of time.

I've got three different calorie "limits" I try to follow. One is my goal of about 1500, which should yield about a pound lost each week. The second is 1800, my max for noticeable weight loss. Above all, I try to stay under. The third is the number I can eat to maintain my current weight, somewhere around 2000. These are all based off various computer calculator things, so I'm sure they're not entirely accurate. Anyway, yesterday I ate about 2200 calories. I saw some relatives, who put out a plate of cheese and crackers. This, couple with a Starbucks trip, was enough to do me in for the day. I beat myself up a lot about it at first, but I'm trying to remember that I haven't eaten over 1800 calories in over two weeks. Ugh, I hate my perfectionist tendencies.

Hey everyone!

Breakfast
Kashi GoLean Crunch
Kashi Whole Grain Puffs
Almond Breeze

Snack
Chocolate Vitatop + 2tb Cool Whip Free

Lunch
4oz chicken + Newmans Own Peach Salsa + Flat Out Wrap (Yum!)
Broccoli/Brussel Sprout/Snap Pea Mix

Snack
Adkins Chocolate Protein Shake (I was stuck at Walmart during my typical snack time so I bought these)

Dinner
4 Egg Whites + Salsa on 35 cal bread
Big Spinach Salad with veggies and low cal dressing

All that + 2 glasses of wine in a few minutes as my girlfriends and I watch gossip girl = 1350 cals

Exercise
Jillian Micheals 30 day Shred
30 minutes cardio
... skipped my usual strength routine because my arms were SO sore and I think my body needed a break.

Oh girls, I need to vent at the moment.

My wonderful, amazing, fruit of my loins DS absolutely, posotively REFUSES to go to sleep right now! He has been up there for almost an hour and a half and continues to come up with a friggin laundry list of reasons as to why he needs this or that! Yeah, it's almost 930...that kid is going to be SUCH a jerk in the morning!! I WANT TO SCREAM AT THE MOMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rather than scream and throttle him.....I came here and vented to you guys.

Thanks for that. I needed it.

That made me LOL. My DS is soon-to-be 6, my DD is going to be 3 next month, and they BOTH do this a few times a week. They share a room, so they FEED off of each other. One will ask for something, then the other will ask for something different. It gets rough, especially when I have things to do once they go to bed!

I am going to do some Wii and hit the sheets. My arms and abs are VERY sore from my workout yesterday, and today was my recovery day. Boy did I need it!! My abs hurt to cough!! Tomorrow I'm hitting it again, though. It feels really good!

Good Morning! Up and at 'em! Let's get the day started and make it a great one!

Weigh In: 162.8

No Change

Good Morning, all!

Down .4 down this morning. I finally have a new low!

Vixsen--Ugh, I'm sorry. I had the same issue with my 2 1/2 year old last night, too. I think it may be his two year molars, because he's been doing this for the last few nights. Hope you got some sleep.

Good Morning, Diana!

Shells Congrats on the new low!

Today was OK but there was a slight bit of candy panic. Still, calories low, lots of veggies, and a good workout!

Breakfast - 147
-Yogurt, 47
-Banana, 100

Lunch - 430
-Leftovers from dinner - kimchee, tofu, eggplant, carrot, spinach, egg all mixed up, 300
-Mini tomatoes, 40
-1 pc. cheese, 60
-Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk, 30

Snack - 375
-Candy, 375?

Dinner - 417
-4 "heads" mizuna (low calorie mostly water green), 40
-Mini tomatoes, 20
-1 pc. cheese, 60
-about 200g tofu, 180
-Sesame salad dressing, 70
-Yogurt, 47

Exercise
-50 minutes walking
-5 miles/8 km running (no walking breaks!!!!!)
-60 pushups, planks, bird dogs, squats

Calorie Total - about 1370

Wow! How the heck did this thread get past the 500 mark? Please start a new thread. Maybe go to a weekly?

Check out http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/gene...ose-500-a.html