I am going to predict how Monday morning is going to go for you.
You wake up, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, and then step on the scale.
You are going to yell some profanity because you see a 2lb weight jump from your weekend…
“DON’T PANIC!” Please!
Let’s talk about the logic here!
There is no way you gained 2lbs of PURE body fat in two days. Remember you would have to eat 7,000 calories over what your body burns to gain this. Highly unlikely that you actually did this!
So where does that weight come from? Water retention! Also known as “Bloat”!
Water retention happens for many reasons but there are three main ones I see happen with people over the weekend.
- They eat more carbohydrates (desserts, snacks, restaurant food, etc.) Carbohydrates LOVE water. When you eat more carbohydrates, they are stored in your muscle as “glycogen”. For each gram of glycogen stored, we hold on to 3g of water weight. This leads to the scale going up.
- They eat more sodium through processed food items (restaurant foods). For our bodies to function properly, we need to have the right ratio of sodium to water in our system. Your body is constantly trying to balance this out to manage blood pressure. So, when you increase your sodium intake over the weekend through more processed food items like restaurant meals, your body is naturally going to hold onto more water weight.
- They drink more alcohol. You have a couple glasses of wine and hard seltzers on a Saturday night with some friends. You wake up Sunday morning dehydrated and you do not take the time to hydrate well the rest of the day. When your body is dehydrated, it wants to hold on to as much fluids as possible to counteract the dehydration. This causes water retention/bloat to occur and the scale to go up.
These are not even all of the reasons the scale could be moving upwards. We also know that hormones, medication, stress, and bowel movements play into what the scale is saying to you. So please, do not give up on your goals. You have not failed!
The only way to get this 2lbs off is to jump right back on track with healthy eating, hitting your protein goals, hydrating, exercising, and sleeping! Remember one meal doesn't make you gain fat just like one meal does not make you lose fat! It is the inconsistency before and after that!
Do you feel better after reading this post? I hope it eases some of your anxiety tomorrow morning and you go out and conquer your week!!!