Why the weight shows you a higher number and it's not fat
Everyone knows that. One day you jump on the scales, and thanks to the number on the display, you feel good about yourself and then the whole day is somehow more bathed in the sun and you feel really good. A day or two after that, you want to make sure you're still doing so well. You step on the scale and hope that the number on the display will be even lower. A moment of tension… "Well, are you making me a p ****?" When it comes to self-blame for failure, you have a hundred appetites to eat a whole rack of sweets from the pantry and a bucket of ice cream hidden in the freezer for emergencies.
Keep calm and read on. You will learn that you have to worry completely, that weight fluctuations in the range of a few kilograms are completely normal, that the number on the weight does not say anything in itself, that you know much better than you think and you definitely did not fail.
"The average adult can experience fluctuations in body weight during the day at rest of up to 3 kilograms. It is mainly due to body water and the part of the day when he steps on the scales, "says Dr. Heinberg of the Cleveland Clinic.
Is it possible to gain a few kilograms of fat in a day or two?
As soon as the weight hits you on a number three kilograms larger than the one that jumped on you two days before, you will automatically confirm that you have gained fat and it is the fruit and a piece of chocolate that you had for dinner.
The fruit and the piece of chocolate are innocent in that, and the fact that the weight shows 3 kilograms more is not an increase in fat, but something completely different. Just imagine how much food you would have to eat to gain 3 kilograms of fat. I'll help you with that imagination.
1 kilogram of fat hides approximately 7,700 kcal (32,240 kJ).
You get 7,700 kcal when you can eat: 17.7 large packages of French fries from McDonalds or 60.6 classic "white rolls" or less than 6.5 kilograms of cooked rice or drink less than 17 liters of Coca Cola.
In order to theoretically gain 3 kilograms of fat in 2 days, you would have to eat or drink three times as much. And I dare say that no one can make sense.
It's probably clearer why you couldn't gain three kilograms of fat in those two days, and it's completely useless to worry about such an assumption. It is even unnecessary to weigh each day because body weight fluctuates naturally. Just consider once or twice a week, and monitor other body parameters. But not until later. If you are more interested in fruit and which is best for weight loss, read our article Fruits and Weight Loss - Which Fruit Has the Lowest Calories?
The 11 most common reasons why weight shows a higher number and the culprit is not fat
"Most of us are not able to eat enough food to lose 4 kilograms of fat in a few days. When you notice such a dramatic increase in weight, body water is most likely to blame, ”says Dr. Anita Petruzzeli for Shape magazine.
Changes in body water can occur for several different reasons. The most common are the effects of nutrition, environment, physical activity, medications and phases of the menstrual cycle in women.
6 nutritional factors that affect weight fluctuations
1. Weigh yourself before a meal, the second time after a meal, but each meal also weighs something
When weighing under different conditions, the result will always be skewed. One of the prerequisites for successful monitoring of body weight development is weighing under the same conditions each time. In this case, ideal before eating.
Consumption of food logically causes an increase in body weight due to its weight. Water also occurs naturally in food, which in this form contributes to the "drinking regime". Energy from food is used to cover the body's energy needs, and in case of excess, it is stored in the form of glycogen or fat for later use. Waste products of metabolism are eliminated from the body every time you go to the toilet.
If you weigh yourself every hour during the day, you will probably always get a different result.
2. Contents of the intestines
It takes you a while to process the food and it is completely metabolized. You can record the highest body weight just before emptying and the lowest body weight after emptying. Even after emptying your digestive system, the remnants of yesterday's lunch pass. Normal digestion time is estimated to be between 40-60 hours, and a range of 24-48 hours is considered optimal.
Again, it is necessary to weigh always under the same conditions, ideally on the same day of the week after the toilet. You can improve the quality of digestion by focusing on enough fiber in your diet. You should eat about 30 grams of fiber per day. Food rich in fiber and water is "processed and excreted" faster than foods that are generally considered unhealthy. On the contrary, they contain little fiber, but an excess of fat and salt. You can also support the optimal digestive function with soluble fiber in the form of Psyllia. You can read more in the article Psyllium - beneficial fiber not only for proper digestion.
3. You ate a predominant carbohydrate meal
Due to the possibilities and needs, the organism naturally stores carbohydrates in a repository, which is collectively called glycogen. The human body has about 450 grams of glycogen stores, which are used as a source of energy. Trained athletes have a little more glycogen in their muscles.
How is it possible that beloved pastries, Italian spaghetti or risotto can cause the hand to gain weight? The magic is that each gram of glycogen stored binds approximately 3 grams of water. The higher number on the weight is again due to water together with the weight of the food and the filling of the intestines, not fat.
450 grams of glycogen binds approximately 1,350 g of water. Your weight can thus "fly" due to the fact that you eat more or less carbohydrates, or engage in sports activities that deplete glycogen and water reserves. Everyone who has tried any form of low-carb diet has experienced this phenomenon and initial weight loss. Unfortunately, their joy is premature, because the first kilograms lost in a few days are just water and glycogen, not fat.
4. The amount of salt in the diet
More salt in the diet is responsible for more body water retained. Some people are more sensitive to salt intake and may perceive it as feeling swollen. You should take about 5 grams of salt per day, no more. Even if you are not one of those who need to salt every meal, you may have a problem with high salt intake.
The salt is hidden in various semi-finished products, frozen foods, cold cuts, cheeses, pastries, various grilling sauces and fast food dishes. You can easily limit its intake by eating as much fresh and minimally processed food as possible.
5. Irregular drinking regime
When you take a few more glasses of water than you normally do, it will result in a slight and short-term increase in body weight. It will return to normal as soon as your body copes with it - it will use water where it needs to and eliminate the rest.
On the other hand, there is an insufficient drinking regime and the resulting dehydration, which has a negative impact on human health and sports performance. How do you know if you are drinking enough fluids? A simple test of the color of urine, which should be optimally soft yellow. The darker the urine, the higher the level of dehydration. If you are interested in how to drink, read our article Hydration before, during, after training and how to avoid dehydration.
6. You drank alcohol
You've probably noticed that you go "small" more often when you have a beer or a few glasses of wine. This is because alcohol has diuretic effects. However, as soon as you replenish such lost liquids in the form of drinks or food, everything will return to normal.
But the following scenario is more likely. When consuming alcohol, it almost never stays with one glass. For most people, alcohol stimulates the appetite, especially for salty and fatty foods. Almost no one has a sweet dessert with a beer or wine, but chips, sticks, nachos or various fast food from the restaurant's menu. This means more energy intake from alcohol and these salty foods. As you well know, salt retains water, so you can see weight gain.
5 lifestyle and training factors that affect weight fluctuations
1. Sweat naturally during sports
We all sweat and not just in sports. It is the body's natural reaction to maintain an optimal internal temperature and prevent overheating. The degree of sweating is individual for each and depends on many external and internal factors. As a result, one person can completely sweat sportswear, while the other can have only small wet spots in the armpits.
Then you will have a logically lower body weight during sports thanks to sweaty fluids. As soon as you replenish the lost fluids, the balance returns to normal. Sweating more does not mean losing weight. Therefore, it does not make sense to try to intensify sweating during sports activities with several layers of clothing. To learn more about the relationship between sweating, training and weight loss, read our article Sweating and Training - Do We Have to Sweat to Make Exercise Sense?
2. You are engaged in intensive sports or strength training
Any form of well-built sports, and especially strength training, causes muscle damage, which is marked on the muscle cells by the formation of a microtraum. One of the parallel phenomena is local inflammation, when water is retained between and within muscle cells. This mechanism can lead to weight gain again.
You can subjectively recognize our body as a "muscle man". This delayed onset of muscle pain, aka DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), usually lasts 24-72 hours and is characterized by the difficulty that you have trouble climbing stairs after training your legs or raising your arms after training your shoulders.
3. Excessive stress
Excessive stress can also be caused by weight fluctuations on your body. Elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol are associated with water retention.
Even long-term caloric deficiency can increase plasma cortisol levels, which may contribute to some extent in body water retention.
What about that? Try techniques to reduce stress, such as yoga, mindfulness, or relaxation and wellness treatments, such as sauna, hardening or massages. During weight loss, regularly include a refeed day once every 14 days, when you increase your energy intake by 5-10% above your balanced energy balance.
4. You are a woman and your body weight changes naturally during the menstrual phases
Studies show that body water retention peaks during the first day of menstruation. You can observe that your body weight is slightly higher than normal due to the changed hormonal environment. The weight will return to average over the next few days.
"How big this weight fluctuation is is very individual. It usually represents about 1-3.5 kilograms, "adds nutritionist Amanda Foti. There is no need to make wrinkles on your forehead. The solution can always be to weigh in the same part of the cycle.
5. You have a disease and are taking medication
Fluctuations in body weight can be affected by untreated thyroid disease, diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease. Therefore, it is important to tell your doctor in the event of a sudden and excessive change in your body weight.
There are drugs that contribute to greater retention of body water or increase appetite. Such drugs include those commonly used to treat diabetes, high blood pressure, mood disorders or migraines. If you are taking such medicines and suspect that they affect your weight, talk to your doctor.
Are there any other factors that affect the number on the scale?
It may be a little funny, but not every floor is the same level. If you weigh yourself in several places, you will always get a slightly different result.
Even if the batteries in the balance run out of energy, distorted measurements can occur.
Therefore, always weigh yourself in the same place, under the same conditions and with charged batteries.
How to properly monitor progress and how often to weigh yourself?
The number on the scale does not tell the whole truth, and as you can see, it is often very distorted. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor several physical parameters over time and, based on this, get an overall picture of how you are doing or not succeeding in meeting your goals.
Weigh yourself once a week or two, always under the same conditions. Ideal in the morning after the toilet and before meals.
Also observe body circuits in the same way you weigh - always under the same conditions. Focus on the circumference through the hips, abdomen, waist and possibly other areas that you want to watch.
Watch for changes in clothing. Will you wear old jeans even if the weight hasn't moved? Then you dropped some fat first and gained muscle.
Write down the values in a diary or notebook and always write down a note about how you feel in your clothes. Are your pants or t-shirts looser? Great, write it down and brag.
On this "check day" of yours, you can take a peaceful and progressive photo in the mirror. You can look back where you have come.
If you want or have the opportunity, use devices that measure the composition of the body (muscle mass X body fat) and tell you what specific changes have really taken place.
The number is growing in weight, but you are poorer. How is it possible?
This phenomenon has a simple explanation. When the number on the weight does not move or grows, while you are objectively slimmer and your clothes are looser, you simply gained muscle mass until you got rid of a decent amount of body fat.
A kilogram of fat is more voluminous than a kilogram of muscle, although they both weigh the same. It's a similar situation to imagining a kilogram of feathers vs. kilogram of iron. But this is a matter of weeks and months, not days.
Does weight matter at all?
Body weight is affected by many factors and in itself will never tell the whole truth about the success, failure of weight loss or overall change in body composition. The healthy goal of weight loss is to try to lose weight at a rate of 0.5-1 kilograms per week.
Especially if you are doing strength training, you do not have to observe changes in weight at all. But you will definitely notice smaller body circumferences, better sitting clothes and more visible muscles on your body. Other factors that indicate that you are really doing well include better sleep and skin, a better sex life and more energy during the day. You can easily find yourself feeling healthier and happier. Your own self-esteem should not depend on the number on the weight you may be clamping on.
What do you get out of it?
A weight number may tell you how you're doing with losing weight or gaining muscle, but it never tells the whole truth. Weight fluctuations over days are completely natural when you consider food, drinking, exercise, hormonal effects and medications used, or current medical condition. Even during the day, body weight can vary by up to 3 kilograms, which is perfectly normal.
Weigh once a week or two, each time under the same conditions, and monitor body circumference values as well. Together, these values will tell you much more than a single number on the scale.
Don't spoil the number on the scale to start a new day.
Žiadne komentáre:
Zverejnenie komentára