Dehydration causes your body to retain excess water, which can lead to 5 pounds of weight gain overnight (5). When you feel thirsty and drink a lot of fluid at once, you'll absorb the extra fluid quickly and it shows up on the scale within 24 hours.
Daily weight fluctuation is normal. The average adult's weight fluctuates up to 5 or 6 pounds per day. It all comes down to what and when you eat, drink, exercise, and even sleep. Read on to learn more about how these factors affect the scale and when to weigh yourself for the most accurate results.
However, fast weight gain can be a sign of an underlying health condition, such as a problem with the thyroid, kidneys, or heart. Anyone who experiences rapid, unexplained weight gain should see their doctor to determine the underlying cause and develop a treatment plan.
Since many people can't eat enough in a day or two to actually gain 5 or 10 pounds, if you notice a dramatic increase on the scale, chances are it's due to water, says Anita Petruzzelli, M.D., owner and medical director of BodyLogicMD.
"Food eaten at night is more often stored as fat because we tend to be less active, so we increase fat storage at that time, especially depending on the composition of the food you ate later in the evening," says Dr. Covington. Carbs, specifically, if not burned, are then stored as fat, she adds.
Dehydration causes your body to retain excess water, which can lead to 5 pounds of weight gain overnight (5). When you feel thirsty and drink a lot of fluid at once, you'll absorb the extra fluid quickly and it shows up on the scale within 24 hours.
You should step on the scale first thing in the morning. That's when you'll get your most accurate weight because your body has had the overnight hours to digest and process whatever you ate and drank the day before.
Dehydration and Weight Loss
Hypohydration (low water intake) can also lead to increased body weight. In addition, dehydration decreases your metabolic flexibility (how well you utilise lipids and carbohydrates) which leads to weight gain.
It can be useful to remember that, just as one day of dieting will not cause a person to lose weight, a day of binge eating will not cause weight gain. Although an episode of overeating can happen to anyone occasionally, some people have a binge eating disorder, which usually requires professional attention.
Sudden weight gain -- 2-3 pounds in a day or more than 5 pounds a week -- could mean it's getting worse. You also might have swollen feet and ankles, a faster pulse, heavy breathing, high blood pressure, memory loss, and confusion. You might want to track these symptoms so you can tell your doctor about abrupt changes.
The length of time that it takes to lose water weight depends on how much water you're retaining, the cause of the water weight gain, and the action taken to lose it. If you have one high-sodium meal and then return to normal, healthy dietary habits, you'll likely return to your normal weight in 1-2 days.
"Women and men of average height need to gain or lose about three and a half and four kilograms, or about eight and nine pounds, respectively, for anyone to see it in their face.
"We can weigh 5, 6, 7 pounds more at night than we do first thing in the morning," Hunnes says. 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.
Any extra water being held in the body is referred to as “water weight.” When water builds up in the body, it can cause bloating and puffiness, especially in the abdomen, legs, and arms. Water levels can make a person's weight fluctuate by as much as 2 to 4 pounds in a single day.
Drinking at least 64 ounces (eight cups) of water every day may help with weight loss. Downing liquid is not the only way to meet this goal. About 20 percent of your hydration needs can be met through your diet, says Caroline Susie, RDN, a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
If you push on your skin with your finger or thumb and your skin remains depressed, you're probably experiencing water retention. Fat cells are more springy, so the skin will bounce back. Do you feel bloated after eating?
People who drink too much water might gain weight suddenly due to swelling and excess water in the bloodstream. If you're drinking more than 10 cups of water each day and notice swelling or discoloration in your hands, lips, and feet, consider cutting back on your water intake and see if your symptoms subside.
One easy way to tell the difference between bloat and belly fat is to note belly fat does not cause your stomach to expand wildly throughout the course of a day; bloat does. One other way to tell the difference between bloat and belly fat is you can physically grasp belly fat with your hand, you cannot with bloat.
“Your skin is the largest organ in the body and absorbs fluid easily,” says Dr. Keith Kantor, a leading nutritionist and CEO of the Nutritional Addiction Mitigation Eating and Drinking (NAMED) program. “After a swim or a shower, your body can absorb 1 to 3 cups of water, increasing your true weight by a few pounds.”
Since you're not eating or drinking during the night (unless you get the midnight munchies), your body has a chance to remove extra fluids (that's why you pee so much in the morning when you wake up). So weigh yourself in the morning ... after you pee. 2.