one4smoke

I'm 52 years old and 6'4". Back in February, I weighed 258. I started cycling again in March. About 5 miles a day at first, about 3 or 4 times a week. I progressed to anywhere from 20 to 40 miles a day for the last 2 months or so. I ride 10 miles in the AM, then about 15 to 30 miles in the late evening or night. I also cut out all soft drinks, eating past 8 PM, and and pretty much any junk food and sweets. I increased my fruits and veggies, fiber and drink primarily water, with some fruit juices and Gatorade. As of this last past Friday I proudly weighed in at only 215.

Then, this happens...

My family and I went out-of-town for the weekend to my daughters. First time I would not be able to ride in 4 months. And, I splurged a little. Ate a few meals a bit larger than normal, and had a few beers (that I haven't had in awhile). Plus a couple of doughnuts on the drive back home today. I'm thinking, well... I probably put on a couple of pounds that I will definitely need to take off again. I'm thinking probably 216 or 217 ...at the most. I get home, get on the scale, and I could not believe my eyes... 224.5!!! Almost 10 pounds in only two days!!! I kid you not. I WISH, I were joking.

How in the hell did that happen?!?!?!

Kindaslow

You did not actually gain 9+ pounds in 3-4 days. You might have been at the low end of a cycle at 215 and part of that 224.5 is likely liquid retention. Get back on the wagon and all will be fine in a week or so. Also, on the next break, indulge a little, not a lot. All things in moderation.

chasm54

Eating a lot of carbs and/or salt will cause your body to retain water. Go back to your previous regimen and you'll pee most of it out over the next few days.

GravelMN

Yeah, you didn't gain 10 pounds of fat in a weekend. Get back on the regimen that was working for you and you'll be back to where you were in a few days. Stay away from salty, greasy or high carb foods and focus on lean fish, poultry and meat; lots of leafy greens (chard, kale, spinach, mustard greens, collards, etc) and non-starchy vegetables and fruits (especially berries). Drink plenty of water. Plan lots of restroom stops for the next 72 hours.

Aladin

You REGAINED your bloat. More salt, SUGAR... your body is out of LOOSE mode and into storage mode... holding water.

DUMP fruit juices... get the carb calories LOW. Scan labels for carb content. consume enough protein. GREAT to read your riding log... your very dedicated. Get back to where you were...............

RR3

One long ride and a good movement and you will be down to 217-218.

You probably only packed on 2-3 pounds of fat.

gear64

I've never had a 10lb swing, but many instances of up to 5 over the years. Here's my totally unprofessional opinion. When excising and eating well the "tank" is only 1/2 to 3/4 full. When you go on a binge the "tank" is full to overfull. Going back to the normal routine will put the system back to its previous level. Over the last several years I've never had what I consider a long term significant increase. I've learned to eat in a way relative to my exercise that I have a slow year to year trickle loss. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if my scale is up to +/- 2 lbs on any given day; but all I really care about is the year to year average so not really a concern.

Drew Eckhardt 

Eating an extra 7000 - 10500 Calories in a weekend is extremely improbable without participating in a competitive eating event.

That's 12-19 Big Macs or 30-60 energy bars.

BadBurrito

Every vacation we take I gain weight. usually amounts to about a pound a day. It's all the salt, and huge portions they have at resturants and well the beer. In about 2 weeks after we get back from vacation, I'm down to my pre-vacation weight (sometimes quicker).

However, there was an exception. We went to France for 2 weeks to visit our daughter. Walked everywhere, had wine, bread, cheese all the time. Ate fantastic meals (the french aren't afraid of fat in the food). I thought for sure I'd gain 10-12 pounds - nope. Stayed the same. I think the big difference was most of the meals were smaller portions, definatly less salt, and the walking.

Snicklefritz

There's this book called "Why French Women Don't get Fat"...

What I recall from my extended travel in France (back when I was dating a french guy), they ate well, but there were lots of small portions of many items, rather than a huge amount of 1 or 2 things. Then everyone went walking after a meal.

tarwheel 

This happens to me all of the time, almost every weekend in fact. I don't gain 10 lbs, but often 3-4 lbs. Like others said, your weight gain is probably almost entirely due to water retention. I track my weight every day and my body follows a familiar cycle -- steady losses on weekdays followed by gains over the weekends. Over time, my weight has dropped 25 lbs over the past few years, but short-term spikes are common.

Water retention can be due to eating lots of carbs, eating a lot of salty foods, and exercising very hard and thus damaging muscles. I have weight spikes every day after I lift weights and every time I eat at certain restaurants that apparently season with a lot of salt.

RR3

I can eat that in one day. 20,000 Calories in a 3 day stretch is a piece of cakr

andr0id

It's glycogen stores being replenished.

Besides the fat that we know is about 3500 Calories a pound, we also store about 400* grams of glycogen for immediate energy needs. BUT... water is bound to this glycogen at about a 3-4:1 ratio, so you end up with 400 grams of glycogen and another 1.5 - 2Kg of water. This is not hydration which is water that can freely move around inside your bloodstream and cells, but is locked to the glycogen.

But if you go from empty to full you can easily put on 3Kg which is 6.6 lbs as well as re-hydrating.

https://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/56/1/292S.full.pdf

*That's average person, it may vary based on your size.

JerrySTL

Another possibility is that you were somewhat dehydrated when you were at 215 lbs. Many cyclists and runners are a little chronically dehydrated. So beginning a little on the low side from what your weight should have been if fully hydrated plus putting on a few pounds on the off days, that could explain the weight gain.

As others said, it doesn't mean all that much. Weight can fluctuate during a day much less a week.

Jarrett2

This.

I gain 8-10 lbs every weekend mainly due to water retention from eating salty foods.

Couple of days of clean eating and bike rides and its gone.