So Frustrated with Water Weight Gain

[NotCoolEnough]

I'm starting to feel at a loss of what else I can do. Six weeks ago, I started a new exercise routine. Within just a few days I gained five pounds. I realize that this is water weight and not fat weight, but it won't go away. Diuretics helped but as soon as I stopped taking them it all came back.

I went to my doctor thinking there must be some sort of a reason for this, and my bloodwork came back 100% completely normal.

During this period I have been tracking my food and making sure I end each day with at least between a 500 and 750 calorie deficit. I am drinking plenty of water - usually at least 80 oz a day. I am trying to limit carbs but not eliminate them - usually around 100 g per day. The scale has not budged at all - except for that extra five pounds. My clothes are no looser. I keep telling myself to just keep going and eventually it will start working, but... six weeks in and still five pounds heavier than when I started? Has anyone had any experience with something like this?

[SunsetRunner]

Happy to try and help!

Might suggest as a starting point, do a little calcuating. 

First, find out what your BMR is (The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy you need while resting in a temperate environment during the post-absorptive state, or when your digestive system is inactive.).  Roughly how many calories you burn just laying on the floor doing nothing...here's an easy one:

http://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

Then, figure out your Harris Benedict Equation Number, which The Harris Benedict Equation is a formula that uses your BMR and then applies an activity factor to determine your total daily energy expenditure (calories). The only factor omitted by the Harris Benedict Equation is lean body mass. Remember, leaner bodies need more calories than less leaner ones. Therefore, this equation will be very accurate in all but the very muscular (will under-estimate calorie needs) and the very fat (will over-estimate calorie needs).

Fill this out, and you'll get a better idea of how many calories you need to maintain, gain or lose weight.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

Have to run to meeting....sounds like you're on a good meal plan, cannot eliminate carbs...body needs them for energy, but you should eliminate or minimize processed carbs.  Lots of fruit, veg (leafy greens are nutrient rich and the fibre keeps you full!)....will check back later....

[NotCoolEnough]

Thanks for the links. That was actually very interesting, but it just confirmed what I have already been doing - burning about 2400 calories per day, consuming about the right amount to be losing. I would probably be a little less frustrated about not losing if it weren't for the swollen knees and feet. I have the Aria scale and it shows my body fat slowly decreasing. I do kind of question the accuracy of the body fat percentage it gives me. My BMI is 27.5 and the Aria measures my body fat at around 36-37%. It does this every day, and when I bought the scale a month ago it had me around 39%. Seeing an improvement there is great, it'd just be nice if I could see any sort of improvement in my body. Maybe all the fat loss has just been replaced by water. If I could figure out how to get rid of the excess fluid I think the scale would probably be more kind to me.

[kaelarenee7]

The way that the Aria scale measures body fat is not the most accurate way and can be affected by how hydrated your body is. It's not the best for knowing your exact body fat percentage, but good for seeing the trend over time.

What's your sodium intake like? It's possible that if you are consuming a lot of sodium that your body could be holding onto more water.

[AtomHF]

When you start a new exercise routine, it is very normal for you to gain temporary water weight. You get delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and DOMS brings water retention with it. I'm sure it will balance out over time but I understand it can be very annoying. Have you increased your water intake with the new exercise? More water = less water retention 🙂

[NotCoolEnough]

For the first couple weeks I reassured myself it was just DOMS and would clear up. It's been six weeks now and the swelling is just increasing while my muscle soreness is pretty much gone. I have been drinking a lot of water - at least 80oz a day, often more.

[NotCoolEnough]

Looking back, it looks about about 2000 mg a day, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. I will probably try to cut back to 1500 a day starting this weekend just to see if it helps.

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[Heybales]

While you will gain water weight starting any exercise program, the type of workouts specify what type of water weight.

If intense cardio, burning mainly carbs - the body's response is to store more carbs, which have attached water. 500 cal worth is 1 lb.

But at most that would explain 1-2 lbs, plus in a true diet the body doesn't store as much as it would like to.

Of course, you do workouts that burn carbs high, it's an extra stress on your body.

You got over 60 lbs to lose so that the 750 deficit is reasonable?

Too big a deficit is also a stress, recovery is slower, and working an unrecovered body more just leads to more stress.

Stress elevates cortisol, that causes water retention, upwards of 20 lbs. Could that be stressful?

If this was just the effects of workout water weight, you wouldn't want to drop it either.

Your blood volume also goes up with increased exercise, more water.

Hopefully you wouldn't want to drain that blood just because it's more water.

You are exercising a certain way and asking your body to make changes - biggest ones are always regarding water. If you don't want it - don't do the workout.

Or perhaps your workout isn't as intense as you think, especially if diet is aggressive and you don't recovery.

Oh sure it'll feel the same, giving it your all and such. But on tired muscles means you aren't really doing as much.

So examine that too.

I don't think it's diet, because you'd have to have some almost dishonest logging to accidentaly overcome a 750 cal deficit and wipe it out. But always possible if something you eat has many more calories per weight than the per volume you do it.

Are you logging the workout manually based a calorie burn from somewhere else?

Perhaps that estimate of burn is wrong. Could be very low, meaning your deficit is even greater and causing more stress. Could be very high, meaning you have little deficit and bad food logging wipes out the rest.

Just throwing out some common issues, perhaps one or several apply to your reason.

[NotCoolEnough]

Thanks for the good suggestions. One thing - I only have 30 pounds to lose (it was 20 when I started, but...yeah,I'm now at more than 9 pounds of water or other weight gain in the past six weeks.) 

When I first started working out six weeks ago, I was doing a Jillian Michaels 90 day program. I really never went past weeks 1 and 2. I started weeks 3 and 4 but found myself just turning them off after a few minutes. I was too exhausted or felt it was too hard - either way, I went back to weeks 1 and 2 so I would actually DO the workout. I am also training for a 5k and right now running is typically my main exercise. I am a very slow runner - about a 13 minute mile - so I don't think the exercise itself is too intense.

As far as it being extra blood volume, I don't think it is. My knees and ankles are very swollen. I took a picture (attached) of one of my ankles after my run last night. You can see the fluid pooling above the line where my sock was. It just keeps getting worse too. 

I am logging my workouts automatically with my Fitbit. I have the Surge HR so I just press the button when I start and press it again when I stop. Then later I can go in and label what that activity was.

I do try to make sure I'm eating enough. Today I have logged all my food for the rest of the day and I'm only at 800 calories but that's very unusual. I will definitely be adding some other food throughout the day to get more calories. I usually am around 1300-1400, or maybe more, depending on the day. I try to follow closely what the Fitbit app says I can eat for the day based on my activity.

Thanks again for the suggestions. I'm planning to do a low of low-sodium cooking this weekend to make meals for next week and hopefully that will help. I don't feel like I'm eating much sodium but I'm sure it can sneak in there if I'm not really watching it closely. I see your comments about stress too, and while I have not been feeling overly stressed I might get a massage. They always help a lot with stress relief for me and I have a feeling it could help with the fluid in my legs too. Thanks again for the help. Hopefully some of these things will start helping!

.

[josephz2va]

That would be lymphatic fluid buildup.

When you're doing any workouts lifting weights or aggressive runs, it's important to have 1) a cooldown done every workout and a stretch out every week (also known as yoga). 2) a massage to relieve any tensions you are feeling in the muscles. Which can be relieved either at your gym if they have a spa or what's called a Myofascial massage foam roller.

Myofascial release (or MFR) is a soft tissue therapy for the treatment of skeletal muscle immobility and pain. This alternative medicine therapy aims to relax contracted muscles, improve blood and lymphatic circulation, and stimulate the stretch reflex in muscles.

[bklynite]

Not Cool Enough: How much do you weigh? You might not be drinking enough water. 80ozs might be good for a 160lb person who is lightly active but if you are very active you will need more water and your body is probably holding on to what it can keep. I am 307 and I drink about 120oz a day and I know I need to drink more but it is difficult because I drive a lot and i can't keep running to bathroom. Just a thought. I hope something said in this discussion helps out

[NotCoolEnough]

Thanks for the idea. I booked a therapeutic massage for tomorrow night, which will hopefully help some!

[NotCoolEnough]

I am currently 179, and that's with the additional weight. I said 80 oz to be conservative. I have a 24 ounce water bottle at my desk that I typically fill up at least three times during the day, and another one I take from the house to the car and usually have 1 or 2 of those a day - maybe more. It just depends on the day. I would say the minimum I drink on any given day is 80 oz.

[josephz2va]

I generally carry 3 34 ounces bottles with me. Refills when they're drank up. and limit anything else not water. 1 for the Gym, 2 for Work AM, 2 for Work PM, 1 for Night Trainer Workouts, 1-2 of them for night relaxation. So that's 8 34 ounce bottles. 272 ounces of water. And no you won't drown from that. That's a water contest. Spacing it out won't hurt you. Half of my supplements below take 8-10 glasses of water per day or more.

[Heybales]

Just be aware that if you started cardio workouts - you did gain water weight.

That's not what's in your feet though, it's in your muscles and blood volume. So you'd never notice it - but you did gain it, and will keep gaining some as body makes improvements to blood vessels and carb storage.

Also, low sodium is only needed if you have problem with sodium.

You can eat low sodium sure, but it's only going to be an artificial water weight loss then, it doesn't stop or prevent fat loss.

May hide it on the scale if you started low and ate more and more though, but even that tops out.

So big weight loss with going to low sodium is merely water weight - again, not what you are attempting to lose as nobody could see that loss.

Also, that exercise may not be intense for the cardio system - hearts and lungs - but it still could be for the body in general, especially if not good recovery and eating level.

So yeah, don't let that 800 happen, that's not healthy at all.

Neither is that 750 deficit with only 30 to lose, should be 500 easily.

[Rhondagray75]

Did you ever figure this out?  I'm having the same problem.

[NotCoolEnough]

No, I really never did. Water pills helped a little, but the only thing
that made it go away was not exercising.

[Daveg22152]

@NotCoolEnough,

Just a thought, but how are you tracking your 500-750 calorie deficit?  Are you setting a your own calorie limit or are you going by the deficit reported by the Fitbit dashboard?

I ask because I started down that same path as you and became frustrated with initial weight gain.  I had been using the Fitbit dashboard to ensure I was in the "green" deficit zone, but I found the Fitbit was overestimating calorie expenditures which were exaggerating my calorie deficit.  In other words, the dashboard was recommending that I should consume more than I should to meet my weight loss goals.

After that I set a personal limit (in my case 1,500 calories per day) and found my weight started coming down.  I like the Fitbit and use it to make sure I'm keep pace with my activity levels, but I don't use it to guide my meal planning.

[Kris111]

Ugh I am with you I hate it. Do you exercise a lot ? I havea feelin could be something about overdoing it in my case. Especially ially around that time of month this all happens it drives me crazy.