5 pound weight gain after night out

undergroundvibe

Hi,

ive noticed lately after a night out my weight increases by about 5 pounds, it goes back to normal after about a week.

Im finding it hard to lose weight lately even though im eating fairly healthy and exercising every day.

Could it be water retention? If so what is the best way to fix it.

I was injured last year and put on a stone in weight approx 6% body fat and im trying to lose it, im training just as hard as before and eating the same diet but just cant seem to shift it.

Leeg17

When are you weighing yourself, the morning directly after the night out?

Zamboni

What is the rest of the story?
Are you eating a ton of junk after the booze and then eating a ton of crap on the hangover day?
I'm generally a lot lighter after drinking due to dehydration.

xgtdec

In fairness i wouldnt be fretting over 5lbs of a difference!!

as an example i can do 2 clean weeks, and then a cheat day and 10 lbs will register almost instantly:)

Your best bet is to look at these things over a course of say 6 weeks and see how your doing!!

and stop weighing yourself after a nightout..you will drive yourself crazy!!!

undergroundvibe

was out drinking on sat night and weighed myself this morning.
i probably ate more carbs than normal on the sunday by having a roll for lunch and a roll for dinner, but i still think 5 pounds is a bit ridiculous.

Stench Blossoms

undergroundvibe wrote: »

but i still think 5 pounds is a bit ridiculous.

Stop drinking then

huskerdu

undergroundvibe wrote: »

was out drinking on sat night and weighed myself this morning.
i probably ate more carbs than normal on the sunday by having a roll for lunch and a roll for dinner, but i still think 5 pounds is a bit ridiculous.

This happens me too, its quite normal, but 5lbs does sound excessive.

However, if that is what your body does, then I am not so sure you can do anything about it other than eat and drink less on nights out.

Weight fluctuates anyway, if you are the same weight every Friday morning, then you should ignore the fluctuations.

The issue of not being able to loss weight is completely separate.
You need to go back to first principles and keep a food diary and see where you can change your eating habits to reduce your calorie intake.

marathonic

Given the estimates of 3,500 calories equating to 1lb of fat, 5lbs of actual fat would be 17,500 calories. I doubt very much you're going that much over maintenance on a night out, regardless of what you eat.

Likewise, to go 'back to normal' after a week, you'd have to be in a deficit of 2,500 calories per day if it was actual fat you gained.

There's obviously other factors at play here - water retention, different clothing, food in your stomach, etc. could all play a part.

RobAMerc

isn't the crappy ( but lovely ) food you eat on your way home ( and maybe next day ) laced with salt causing you to retain water and hence weight more ?
I don't believe something you ate today would make you heavier tomorrow unless it physically weighted a lot !

Nervous Wreck

RobAMerc wrote: »

I don't believe something you ate today would make you heavier tomorrow unless it physically weighted a lot !

Science!

rubadub

Your scales might have a sticking point. e.g. 12 stone might indicate 12 stone but then it might read 12.5stone when you put 12.25 stone on it.

Hydration/dehyrdation can easily do it, up or down.

Just weigh yourself at the same time, same scales etc once a week and in the same state (i.e. hydration, after going for a piss etc).

FarmerH

Surely its hydration?

I dont drink often but i've noticed if I drink Guinness, my weight is down 3-4 lbs the following morning, and if I drink lager my weight is up 3-4 lbs and I'm bloated.

Everything goes back to normal within two days

Doesn't bother me in the least but I think its interesting

Hanley

I always wake up a bit leaner after nights out during hard dieting - I assume it's a water retention thing.

Either that or I'm beer goggling myself.

Mellor

Hanley wrote: »

I always wake up a bit leaner after nights out during hard dieting - I assume it's a water retention thing.

Either that or I'm beer goggling myself.

I find that too.
My reasoning is, i'm eating low cal. Stomach is empty, alcohol had a diuretic, effect. So im the morning im 1 or 2% dehydrated.

on the other hand, if that night out includes a burger and chips, or pizza. All that salt, as well as the reintroduction of those type of foods is going to cause some water bloat/retention.

TimeToShine

the alcohol dehydrates you, so the next day whatever you drink your body retains it more than normal and hence a temporary weight gain.

don't worry about it.

GoldDustWoman

undergroundvibe wrote: »

Hi,

ive noticed lately after a night out my weight increases by about 5 pounds, it goes back to normal after about a week.

Im finding it hard to lose weight lately even though im eating fairly healthy and exercising every day.

Could it be water retention? If so what is the best way to fix it.

I was injured last year and put on a stone in weight approx 6% body fat and im trying to lose it, im training just as hard as before and eating the same diet but just cant seem to shift it.

Having suffered from this, not being a smart ass, but the best way to get rid of water retention is to seriously reduce the amount of salt in your diet while increasing the amount of water you drink (to at least 2 litres per day). I was really bad with this and found this small change made a world of difference.

The Davestator

For me it depends on the type of alcohol too.

Beer - im a fat head for a week but Wine makes the scales go down. I reckon I'm severly Gluten intolerant so thats why beer bloats me big time

traco

This is interesting as I've been really concentarting on diet since Jan and its working. Having siad that there has been a few cheat days and I have notice 1-1.5kg on the scales the next morning but everything falls back into line and the weight loss continues. I have been tracking everything so I understand when the spike happens and make sure to get the overall calorie intake back inline for the given week.

I apologise if hijacking the thread slightly but my question is, if you eat really clean and decide that once a month your going to go out for a slap up meal, indian couple of beers desert etc as a reward for the good work, how much damage can you do?

As in can the body actually absorb all the excess calories and store them or will it hit a limit in the 8 hours that the food is in the body and beyond that the excess just passes through? Or to put it another way, is one cheat day a week worse than one complete bender a month however I think I know the answer?

TimeToShine

traco wrote: »

This is interesting as I've been really concentarting on diet since Jan and its working. Having siad that there has been a few cheat days and I have notice 1-1.5kg on the scales the next morning but everything falls back into line and the weight loss continues. I have been tracking everything so I understand when the spike happens and make sure to get the overall calorie intake back inline for the given week.

I apologise if hijacking the thread slightly but my question is, if you eat really clean and decide that once a month your going to go out for a slap up meal, indian couple of beers desert etc as a reward for the good work, how much damage can you do?

As in can the body actually absorb all the excess calories and store them or will it hit a limit in the 8 hours that the food is in the body and beyond that the excess just passes through? Or to put it another way, is one cheat day a week worse than one complete bender a month however I think I know the answer?

Yes, I'd say if you go for a big cheat day once a month you'd be better off. you can only do so much damage in a day in the grand scheme of things but doing it weekly can really do harm to your overall caloric deficit.

SteelyDanJalapeno

I actually lol'd when I read the title! nice one op.

I actually find the opposite after a night out, I'm dehydrated the next day and i'd have a lot more definition that usual! A night out for me is just alcohol thou, No kebabs or binges the next day!

Mellor

traco wrote: »

I apologise if hijacking the thread slightly but my question is, if you eat really clean and decide that once a month your going to go out for a slap up meal, indian couple of beers desert etc as a reward for the good work, how much damage can you do?

As in can the body actually absorb all the excess calories and store them or will it hit a limit in the 8 hours that the food is in the body and beyond that the excess just passes through? Or to put it another way, is one cheat day a week worse than one complete bender a month however I think I know the answer?

It's not going to deviate much from the total calories in. The body will take in everything, pretty much.
Eating 2000 cals a day and once a week hitting 2500 with a cheat meal, is roughly the same as 2000 everyday and 4000 with a cheat day once a month.

Don't worry about the figure on the scales around cheat meals or cheat days. The food in your stomach, glycogen refilling, water wtc will cause a "non fat increase" on the scales.
Structure it so that your weekly weigh-in is a good few days after a cheat meal/day.

traco

Mellor wrote: »

It's not going to deviate much from the total calories in. The body will take in everything, pretty much.
Eating 2000 cals a day and once a week hitting 2500 with a cheat meal, is roughly the same as 2000 everyday and 4000 with a cheat day once a month.

Don't worry about the figure on the scales around cheat meals or cheat days. The food in your stomach, glycogen refilling, water wtc will cause a "non fat increase" on the scales.
Structure it so that your weekly weigh-in is a good few days after a cheat meal/day.

OK so bascially the body will absorb everything (of couse it would!) and if you are going to treat yourself it needs to be in moderation. So its really worth keeping the brekkie, lunch etc right down on a day you expect to be heading out or intend to cheat and even then restraint will be required.

As for the weigh ins, I check in the morning and have checked after a carb cheat out of curiosity. If its one I am going to log I make sure its after a period of clean eating so its consistent and a meaningful result.

Thanks for confirming.