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What You Asked About:WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
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Find out what explains short term weight gain when you have been doing everything right.
It loves me, it loves me not. For so many people, that childhood verse sums up their relationship with the scale. Weighing yourself is an integral part of losing weight and maintaining weight loss. In fact, participants in the National Weight Control Registry, a database of over 5000 people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for a year or more, found that people who weigh themselves regularly are more successful at maintaining their weight loss. What the study doesn't tell you is how many times the scale was thrown against the wall, out the window or even in the garbage. 
Has this happened to you? It is 10PM and you're hungry. The only thing that is keeping you from going into the kitchen and emptying the refrigerator into your mouth is the anticipation of all the weight you are going to lose. As an act of inspiration, you hop on the scale. That number reminds you why you are doing this, and so you head to bed with a new resolve, determined to hang in there.
The alarm goes off and this is your "official"time to get on the scale, because you heard that the morning is the best time to get an accurate reading. Feeling good because you got a sneak preview last night of what the number will be, you get on the scale confidently, only to find that you've gained weight. GAINED WEIGHT. You do a quick mental replay in your mind looking for the moment where this weight gain could have occurred, only to find there wasn't any. So, what gives?
Don't worry, the good news is that your body is not conspiring against you. "Your body does not manufacture weight,"explains Dr. Richard Cheng M.D., Ph.D of Doctor's Weight Loss Centers, located in Fort Mill, SC."Our body weight change is absolutely the result of calories in minus calories out."The fact remains that it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound of fat. If you consumed 0 calories overnight, then the weight you gained wasn't fat, and the "weight gain"that you experienced overnight is temporary.
It probably wasn't muscle either. When lifting a heavy weight, small tears form in the muscle fibers (hence the soreness). As those tears heal, the muscle grows. According to Dr. Gary Miller, Associate Professor at Wake Forest University's Health and Exercise Department, the body builds muscle over a time span that can be measured in weeks or even months. Although you may soon feel stronger, new muscle isn't built over days, (even for the biggest body builders), and certainly not overnight.
More than likely the overnight weight gain that you experience comes from water.
A meal high in sodium will temporarily increase the water retained in your body. "For most people, you'll excrete that sodium over time as long as you drink enough water,"explains Dr. Miller. It is recommended that adults drink 8 glasses of water per day. Additionally, for women, hormonal changes will also affect the amount of water in the body. Again, the water retention will subside.
In addition, some of the water might be the effect of glycogen storage. Your body turns carbohydrates, your main source of energy into glycogen. Glycogen is a way of saving much needed energy for later, like an "energy bankÓ. Your body fuels itself later on these energy stores as you workout, or even go about your daily activities. "If you store about 1 gram of glycogen, you are going to store about 3 grams of water with that,"explains Dr. Gary Miller, Associate Professor at Wake Forest University's Department of Health and Exercise Science. As your body uses this glycogen, the water will disappear with it.
What is the best way to get an accurate read on the scale? Invest in a reliable scale. The one in the doctor's office is the most reliable, although there is a margin of error for every scale. In a recent Consumer Reports study, the top four scales of eleven scales tested were accurate within plus or minus 1 pound from 97 to 100 percent of the time. Keep your fingers crossed that for you the scale will err on the minus side.
Second, pay attention to your sodium intake. Be sure to drink enough water to maintain proper sodium levels. If you know you took in extra sodium the night before, avoid the scale in the morning.
Also, Dr. Miller advises that the best time to weigh yourself is "in the early mornings before you eat and right after you void."
Finally, and maybe most importantly, don't sweat the small stuff! "There are going to be day to day fluctuations,"reminds Dr. Miller. However, what is important is that we notice trends over time.
© 2010 Ericka Foster