Frustrated with water weight
 

I have been bloated with water weight for 11-12 days now. Thats a long time to carry water weight. I've upped my water intake which seems to only make it much much worse and ive lowered my sodium and my calories. Ive tried upping calories for a few days to trick my body, that didnt work. So ive done all this:

-upped calories
-lowered calories
-low sodium
-more water

Nothing is working. I'm a good 3-5lbs bloated every day , its not even going down like it should with my calorie deficits for example when I was first bloated I was 204-205ish up from 202, and I still am 204-205ish with the bloat and its been almost two weeks so you'd think it would at least lower cause I'm sure I'm probably not 202 anymore after almost two weeks

I can't increase exercise as I have a list of medical issues preventing me from anything especially lifting or aerobics. I'm not on any medications. I'd say its pre-tom cept its been almost two weeks thats not a normal amount of time for pre-tom.

Like whats going on here? and water is making it worse???

Also allow me to add in before anyone asks about my calories, I am on a doctor imposed low calorie low fat diet for my health issues . I eat 800-1000 calories a day. Please do not bark at me about it. I have a list of medical issues that losing weight is hopefully fixing. I know 1200 is the lowest you're supposed to go but this is a medical thing.

Not sure what medical issues you have or why it happens but something else that helps me when I'm bloated is an Epsom salt bath. I usually add baking soda or ACV too. If you search online there are tons of detox bath recipes. I usually keep it simpler and just use the basics already mentioned. Minimum 30 min soak before bed and I can feel a big difference in tummy bloat by morning.

Originally Posted by mariposssa:
Not sure what medical issues you have or why it happens but something else that helps me when I'm bloated is an Epsom salt bath. I usually add baking soda or ACV too. If you search online there are tons of detox bath recipes. I usually keep it simpler and just use the basics already mentioned. Minimum 30 min soak before bed and I can feel a big difference in tummy bloat by morning.

I haven't tried epsom salt yet, I do have a hot bath every day

Epsom salt is magnesium...good for bloats, constipation and sleep issues. If you are diabetic or have high blood pressure your meds could already have magnesium. Those are the main ones I have heard to watch out for in the articles I've read. Good luck. :)

Originally Posted by Jez:
I would try cutting carbohydrates and/or wheat.

don't really eat them much on my diet , as much as I would loveeee to just eat and eat carbs.

Today I had...water...coffee...erm. a rice krispie square...and a blueberry muffin. ok so maybe I do eat carbs :P My diet is so limited tho so I mean what else can I cut out? I can't eat any fat or meat or much sodium. not much dairy..at this point I'm pretty much living on water and those muffins and krispies and the odd fruit or vegetable. I'll be glad when they diagnose me and get whatever it is i'll need to fix me lol this is pretty bad.

If you are being medically supervised (by a REAL doctor, not a medifast coach) I'd talk to them about it. There could be a medical reason for retaining water (high blood pressure, etc)

Originally Posted by seagirl:
If you are being medically supervised (by a REAL doctor, not a medifast coach) I'd talk to them about it. There could be a medical reason for retaining water (high blood pressure, etc)

my blood pressure tests are usually higher than they should be. And yes its a real doctor. Im not even sure what medifast is :P

Originally Posted by Jez:
Obviously I don't know the situation, but if you're having digestive problems I wouldn't be surprised if it's courtesy of wheat/grain overload. Especially now that you mentioned them being your entire diet. If you don't eat meat, I'd say load up on the vegetables. No healthy diet has processed carbohydrates as the base. :-/

Yea I know it isn't healthy , I've just been sooo limited I've been at a lost as to what to do. But tomorrow I'll be heading to the store for some veg and fruit. Its pretty hard to fill out my calories on vegetables and fruit tho :(

You know, if you've tried everything you can think of and still have the bloat/water-weight, my advise is to speak with your doctor, to see what's going on. I know that it could take a week for me to re-coup from a salt binge, after which I usually drop the water weight plus some. But you know yourself better than anyone, so if you're concerned that your efforts haven't worked, see your MD :)

I would be SO bloated on that diet. Can you eat eggs, nuts, peanut butter, protein powder/bars, quinoa, lentils, beans? Even if meat is out your body still needs a source of protein!

Originally Posted by Jez:
I don't know, I feel that if you aren't interested in watching carbohydrates or eating meat/fat, sweet potatoes and bananas are starchy and relatively calorie-dense. I don't know if you eat eggs, but eggs for breakfast, big salad for lunch with oil (or whatever you use if that's too much fat), sweet potatoes/greens/squash/veg/whatever for dinner. You should be able to reach your calorie range pretty easily.

ETA: It's hard to make suggestions without knowing why you're avoiding certain foods or keeping your calories low, etc. But maybe some of it helps.

The doctors aren't sure yet whats wrong with me but they are hoping the main issue is gallbladder stones and not something worse. I have a list of issues I had at 335lbs I am being retested for at my new weight including : poor liver function, low blood sugar, high blood pressure, anemia, chest pains and breathing problems. I hope thats it lol I probably forgot some. I also have chronic inflammation of the cartilage of my ribs or something but that doesn't affect my diet. I know I don't give the most scientific of descriptions I just get so much info thrown at me in the doctors office or surgeons office that I'm just mindboogled.

I can't eat anything high in fat or sodium or red meat . I never watched carbs but ifs thats causing me to bloat I may have to watch them too.

My calories are low because the weight needs to come off to improve the list of issues I have and my symptoms get worse if I eat too much (so they are figuring its something gastro..something or another I dont know medical terms )

Originally Posted by mariposssa:
I would be SO bloated on that diet. Can you eat eggs, nuts, peanut butter, protein powder/bars, quinoa, lentils, beans? Even if meat is out your body still needs a source of protein!

Can't eat eggs cause of the fat content or peanut butter . Haven't tried quinoa or lentils or beans

It sounds like you have costochronditis when you mentioned the inflammation of your ribs which SUCKS. I went to the ER twice last month for chest pains as well as pain around/under the rib area, got diagnosed with costochrondritis with first ER visit then with norwalk-like viral gastroenteritis (even though blood tests didn't reveal anything?) on 2nd ER visit. With follow up visit and more blood tests, ultrasound and barium swallow with my doctor, found out that I have severe acid reflux (was put on prilosec 2x a day.) My doc also thinks I may have gallbladder disease but wants to do a wait and see since I am not hurting right now. Lastly, the dr put me on bland food diet until the next appt on the 26th. It seriously sucks.

So my suggestion for you is to go with a soft bland and low-fat food diet for now which is usually soft mashed potatoes or baked with no butter (great if topped with cottage cheese), egg whites, bread, green beans, apples, bananas, applesauce, oatmeal, rice, lettuce, lowfat cottage cottage cheese (fatfree tastes icky), lowfat yogurt, plain grilled chicken and very lean meats.

Now, some food above may not agree with you so just take it one at a time and see how you feel. Hope that helps.

:hug:I don't have any advice for your bloating but just wanted to say I'm sorry you are going through this. I hope you find something that helps soon.

Originally Posted by amandie:
It sounds like you have costochronditis when you mentioned the inflammation of your ribs which SUCKS. I went to the ER twice last month for chest pains as well as pain around/under the rib area, got diagnosed with costochrondritis with first ER visit then with viral gastroenteritis on 2nd ER visit. With follow up visit with DRs, seems to point at severe acid reflux (was put on prilosec 2x a day) and possible gallbladder issues so the dr put me on bland food diet until the next appt to see what's going on. It seriously sucks.

I would go with a soft bland and low-fat food diet for now which is usually soft potatoes, egg whites, bread, green beans, apples, bananas, applesauce, oatmeal, rice, lettuce, lowfat cottage cottage cheese (fatfree tastes icky), lowfat yogurt, plain grilled chicken and very lean meats. Granted, it is somewhat carby but I need all the calories I can get and admittedly, I am bloated from time to time because of my higher carb intake. HTH?!

Sounds like we're body health twins, yes thats the name of it. The doctor was rather amused as he doesn't see it often and kept poking my ribcage to show his medical student :( Thats basically what happened to me. I already had the list of issues, then got pains in my chest and side, got diagnosed with the costolongword thing and now they think I have gallbladder and/or other gastro issues as well as I have to be retested for the old stuff so they are 'encouraging' me to lose a lot more weight and the sooner the better to improve my health and I'm not allowed fat, salt, red meat, anything tasty pretty much :P