Were you wearing the same clothes? Has your diet changed to justify the increase? Passler says to take an honest look at what you've eaten since you last weighed yourself. Let's talk about the most likely possibilities for your five-pound weight gain. James says that drinking water, eating late at night, and consuming extra carbs which your body stores in water can all influence the number on the scale.
So can your menstrual cycle. The most common cause for unexpected weight gain is sensitivity to certain foods: "Often people forget the importance of looking into food sensitivities when it comes to weight gain," says naturopath Laurie Brodsky, ND. Sometimes we don't even realize we have these sensitivities, so we continue eating the foods that cause them.
As our immune system constantly triggers reactions to these foods, the body becomes inflamed and retains water. James says she sees this frequently in women with gluten sensitivities who eat bread at dinner one night. Pay attention to how different foods make your body feel. If something makes you feel icky, don't be afraid to eliminate it from your diet.
When you notice a little bit of weight gain, your first course of action is to determine whether it is due to water or fat. Think it's the latter? Keep this in mind: "It requires approximately extra calories to gain a pound of fat," says Passler. If your weight increase was over a week, you'd have to eat a heck of a lot more for the weight to be fat. If it were over the course of three years, like me, this answer might be more likely. If you've thought it over and decided it is indeed fat, don't flip—there's an easy solution.
If you suspect it's a food sensitivity, Brodsky recommends getting checked by a doctor as soon as you can. Eating foods rich in digestive enzymes, like papaya and pineapple, can also help, along with consuming probiotics. To aid digestion and reduce bloating, Brodsky suggests taking a plant-based digestive enzyme or drinking detox water before meals to help boost your stomach acid levels.
Hydrate with "at least half of your body weight in ounces of water each day," says Brodsky. Now that we've got all of that out of the way, you can officially toss your scale in the trash and focus on better ways to evaluate your fitness. This means that a short period of eating more calories than your maintenance level may register as more of a slight glitch in your body, rather than having a major effect on your weight.
Calorie tracking apps can be used to monitor your daily intake Credit: Getty. In one study published in the American Journal of Physiology, eight men were put on a high-calorie diet for five days and then for 28 days. If you eat a carbohydrate rich meal , for example, your body will store these carbohydrates as glycogen in your muscle and liver. That involves some pooling of fluids around the muscle cells, which can make you puff up, she says. This does not mean you should skip those calorie-torching strength moves.
Just let your muscles recover and forget about the scale. For starters, alcohol has empty calories, so you can be taking in more calories than you realize without feeling full, Cording points out.
And, if you eat your usual amount when you drink—or tend to lean into the wine munchies pretty heavily—that can lead to a higher number on the scale. Booze messes with your cells, too. Try curbing your drinking for a few weeks and see how it impacts your weight loss and morning weight. That can lead to swollen ankles and a belly bulge from swelling in your intestines, she says.
Apart from the water retention, munching on salty snacks can cause constipation , too. Fiber is critical to keeping your digestive system working its best. So when you miss out on fiber from whole grains, fruit, and starchy vegetables, you're bound to get backed up, says Dr.
While Dr. Ellner recommends that anyone on a high-protein, low-carb diet take a fiber supplement to keep things moving, an even better option is to only reduce refined carbohydrates , like pasta, and keep whole grains, veggies, and fruit as part of your diet.
That leads to an increase in water weight once you start sipping, she adds. An intolerance to foods like dairy, fructose, eggs, shellfish, gluten, artificial sweeteners, soy, and many others can cause bloating and water retention, especially in your gut, says Dr.
If you notice that you feel heavier or actually weigh more after eating certain foods, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before eliminating them. All PMS-fueled binging aside, you can thank your hormones for pre-period pounds , says Dr. You'll start to gain water weight about five days before your cycle starts. But everyone can be a bit different.
If things are a little backed up , not only will you feel and look bloated, but your body will contain more weight than if you were to efficiently clear out the old to make room for the new. Make sure you're eating enough fiber , staying hydrated, and keeping active so that your bowels can do their thing. Part of that is thanks to all the salt we consume throughout the day; the other part is that we may not have fully digested and excreted everything we at and drank that day yet.
For the most accurate reading, weigh yourself naked right after you wake up and go to the bathroom. Hormonal changes right around your period can also increase fluid retention. Period-related weight gain will usually start five to seven days before your period and usually goes away by day three or four of the period, Hunnes says. Eating a modest amount of healthy carbs is good for you, but eating too many so that you exceed your calorie needs it's easy to go overboard accidentally can lead to both increased fat storage and extra water retention.
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