I have no idea what my body has been doing the last couple days, but yesterday I got on the scale and I had gained 3 pounds for no apparent reason. I was perfectly on plan so I figured maybe it was water retention. Then, yesterday was a high day (1800 cals) and I overdid it quite a bit (2500 cals), but I was still in the maintenance range for my activity level. Today I got on the scale and I gained 5 additional pounds on top of the 3 pounds from yesterday. Merlin, I almost fainted right there. Is this really just water weight? I drank 2 times the amount I normally do yesterday to try and flush out my system and yet I'm more?! Can you really gain 8 pounds of water in 2 days? Please help guys, I'm freaking out majorly.

A gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds. And you really can retain that much. But you definitely can't gain 8 pounds of fat on 2500 calories a day for a few days. I do understand, though, it's no fun to see 8 pounds . But you still just have to wait it out.

Well not sure what you ate- but if it was salty it can make you retain water... I'd definitely get back down on calories and see what happens in the next few days

Yeah, I'd look more at *what* you ate than *how much*. No way did you eat 8 pounds worth of calories - but if I eat certain foods (Chinese food and popcorn are the biggest offenders for me), I'll be up 3-8 pounds overnight, easy.

I can pile on eight pounds of water in two days very easily. Did this week, as a matter of fact. Hit the scale on Tuesday. Today is the first day it is back down all week.

ETA - if I eat sugary foods I tend to hold more water than salty food in the last few months, too.

I once made a ham and a stir-fry with lots of soy sauce and very fibrous veggies the day before my weekly weigh day. I was up like 3 the next day, (after a week of very serious calorie counting were I should have been down at least 2!) I about fainted too. By the next weigh in I was down that 3 plus about 4 more. I also noticed I hold on to pounds when I eat cabbage...but it doesn't last long

I can easily go up 6 or 7 pounds in a single day (one of the reasons I now limit use of the scale to a couple of times a week). No worries!

There's no way you gained eight pounds in two days. Chances are the numbers will resolve themselves soon.

I know I've had days where I've gained a few pounds, they seem to be sticking around, and then all of the sudden that and more comes off.

Thanks so much girls! You've eased my fears. I was really worried because my friend ate a lot of food for about 4 days and she gained 10 pounds. And it wasn't water weight. She even had to buy a bigger size pants. Maybe because she's really thin to start ans she ate nonstop fast food for 4 days? Who knows? Weight is a strange thing sometimes.

Well what did she eat in four days- I've heard of people eating like over 10,000 calories in one day- so it IS possible, but if you only had one day of 2500 and normally you eat less than 1800 I doubt it's actually 8 lbs.

About that friend of yours... to gain 10 pounds of fat in 4 days, you'd have to eat 35,000 calories more than you need to maintain. Even with fast food, that's tough.

35,000 calories is 84 medium Frostys from Wendy's... or 67 quarter pounders from McDonalds... or 71 large orders of fries from Burger King... or 175 soft beef tacos from Taco Bell.

She certainly could have gained a few pounds, and sometimes on really skinny people just a couple pounds will ruin the way your clothes fit. But I doubt she really gained 10 pounds in 4 days... some of it had to be water, or extra waste she was carrying around (eating nothing but fast food doesn't exactly help your *regularity* if you know what I mean).

did anything you eat have MSG in it--like chinese food--also lots of broth bases (for soups and things) have it in there

Holy moly! I just reviewed my sodium intake for the last 2 days and the day before yesterday I had 3 times the recommended salt intake and yesterday I had 4 times the recommended salt intake and that's not even counting when I slather salt onto my meat/veggies. I never really thought about watching salt intake. Looks like I'll have to start.

That was it. Don't worry, it will flush back out. Up your water some for the next few days.

Oddly, salt and sugar didn't make me start to retain water like crazy until after I had already lost most of my weight. Or, maybe I just didn't notice it before.

I was up 11 pounds on the third day after Easter, when I let my eating get a bit out of control. I am temporarily taking a break from the scale so I don't give myself an excuse to give up permanetly.

If you cut down on the processed carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes), you may see some of that come off pretty quick.