So we are almost done with week 1 of phase 2. And he just called me and is upset that he has gained 5 pounds since last week. Now, his diet change from p1 has been a piece of fruit and a little bit of starch, he had 2 hot dogs but we hollowed out the buns, and he had 2 cupcakes for his birthday. BUT, he has ran 14 miles on Friday, and he did some intense training on Saturday. It was all stuff like push ups, burpees, running, some crazy stuff in training like for a tough mudder but harder....And that was a total of 16 miles. So he's been working out, and still eating healthy, the stuff that he has eaten he should have totally burned off, he should have lost weight we think, not gained...but confused.....what could it be?

Hotdogs are full of sodium = water weight gain.

Then, all that working out = holding water while the body repairs muscle.

Cupcakes (if he's not used to simple carbs - not sure if he is or not) = replenishing glycogen stores = water weight gain.

that's kind of what I thought, that it would be water weight. No, we are slowly re introducing carbs, but Friday was his birthday, so he had them. But hopefully it will come off soon, as he was pretty discouraged this morning.....

Poor guy! And we can't even suggest that it's TOM! It defintiely must be water retention.

The only good thing about water weight gain is that it seems to come off quickly so the reverse side is that he'll great about a sudden drop in weight over a couple of days. Personally, I've found that any time I've been on a very restrictive eating plan that the slightest deviation causes immediate weight gain, primarily from water. Hope by this time next week, he's in a much happier place.

Why isn't he doing a clean Phase 1? It's the only way to really get rid of cravings for all the things you mentioned!

Good luck.

we did do a strict phase 1. We are now on phase 2. While yes, the hot dogs and the cupcakes were not on phase 2 list, that was only 1 day. The fruit is allowed on phase 2. So, that's why it doesn't make sense. he only had 1 day and it wasn't like it was horrible horrible food...

One thing I'd like to add, especially if he plans on keeping up the exercise regime, is that building muscle mass will effect the number on the scale. Even if he is losing weight, the scale may not show it. He will need to go by how he feels, as well as his measurements to get a more accurate assessment of how he is doing... just a thought.

Yea that's true too! Question tho, could he be not eating enough caloires? Would that make it happen??