Sudden Weight Gain

Hi Editor,

 

I lost 3 pounds the first week on my diet plan but later over a short period of time, I had a sudden weight gain of 7 pounds. I'm doing everything right. I have not always been perfect about what I have eaten but when in that situation such as being in a restaurant or at a party I have tried to make the best choices and went back to the plan for the next meal.  I am exercising aerobic and resistance.  If you could give me any advice or suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

 

 

Dear Reader,

 

Body weight fluctuations are normal and depending on the time you weigh, your weight can vary as much as 3 or 4 pounds. It's always better to weigh in the morning when you awake.  Empty your bladder then weigh. This way you'll get consistent conditions and measurements. 

 

Based on your email comments, your weight gain may be related to the time of day you weigh and possibly the food / water taken in before weighing. For some reason, you may have been retaining extra water when you weighed.  Based on your activity level and the fact that you more or less have stuck to your diet plan of 1200 to 1400 calories, it's not possible to gain fat.

 

You also mention resistant training, which could be a factor. Because the scale is blind, it doesn't know the difference between fat, muscle and water weight. Resistance training is excellent because it increases your muscle mass and gives you that athletic look. The weight gain may be due to your training which may look bad from the scale's point of view but is actually good in terms of your overall health.

 

Muscle tone is always better. I'm not saying that the exact cause of your weight gain is extra muscle because it usually take several months of hard resistance training to gain 10 pounds of muscle. However, when your training routine with everything else I mentioned, there is a possibility of sudden weight increase.

 

Continue on your plan and weigh yourself in the morning after you awake and have empty your bladder. Weigh every 2 or 3 weeks and you will see a trend in your weight loss that will be a steady decrease. Sounds like you are actually doing a very good job of dieting and working out.

 

Like you mentioned, no one is perfect and there will be days when you DON'T follow the plan and THAT'S OK because that's realistic. There will always be days that don't go as planned but don't beat yourself up. Like you mentioned, just move on and plan for the next meal.

 

Don't worry about the sudden weight ... you got it together. Just give yourself time. Continue your exercise and diet and weigh yourself every few weeks under the same conditions (morning, after awaking ... empty bladder) and you'll be fine with your weight loss.

 

Dan