How To Deal With Water Weight Gain
Almost all of us have experienced it at some point or another. We’re doing great with our diets and are seeing the scale move downwards, when one day we step on and notice a 3 pound jump in the other direction.
For some people this may be enough to send them off into a whirlwind of panic wondering what they ever did wrong. Others will be smart enough to realize that it’s just water weight and will work towards doing something to get rid of the water weight ASAP.
By understanding what causes water weight you can better equip yourself with the knowledge of how to deal with it. It’s quite an unpleasant experience – you’re often bloated, your abs go into hiding for a brief period of time, and even though you mentally know it’s just water, it still hits you psychologically at least on some level.
Here is what you can do to deal with water weight gain on your fat loss program.
Increase Intake of Salty Foods
The most common reason why water weight gain occurs is because of an increase in salty foods. Whenever you eat a salty meal your body is going to start holding extra water to help maintain the fine balance that’s needed for good health.
Really the only way to deal with this is to either avoid the salty foods to begin with, or make sure you’re drinking plenty of water after consuming them.
Another technique you can use is to sprinkle potassium salt (commonly referred to as a salt replacement product) on your foods to help combat the effects the salt has on the body. This will work well but you’re better off just avoiding the salty foods to begin with.
Decreased Fluid Consumption
The next thing you can do to prevent water weight gain is to watch your fluid consumption. Again this relates to the salty food issue in that when you’re not drinking enough the body won’t be flushing itself out properly and this can actually in some cases lead to bloating as well.
It seems opposite that you’d want to drink more if you are experiencing water weight gain but that’s just what you do want to do.
Dehydration will make you look leaner – that is the truth, but this is assuming salt intake is also very low.
Time Of The Month
For females, the time of the month is the other main thing that will influence water weight gain. Almost all females can attest to this as at some point or another we’ve experience an increase in weight due to the monthly cycle.
Males are lucky in not having to deal with this and for the females, again, drink water, watch your salt intake, make sure you’re consuming plenty of potassium rich foods, and take comfort in knowing it’s only going to last a few days.
Increased Carbohydrate Intake
Finally, the last reason you may experience a water weight gain is due to a rapid increase in carbohydrate intake. This will be more predominant in those who were eating low carbohydrate diets and then all of a sudden had a larger influx of carbs coming in (such as in a carb-up or a cheat meal).
For every gram of carb you consume the body is going to hold so much water in the system, so don’t be all that surprised if you do wake up heavier.
Again, realize that this water weight should leave the body within a day or two so don’t stress too hard provided you’re getting back to your usual diet once again.
It’s important to realize the difference between water weight gain and true fat gain since it will help keep your motivational levels high when it’s only water gain.
If it is fat gain, then that’s a signal you need to take action immediately, making adjustments to your weight loss diet or workout program to ensure that you don’t continue along that path and continually keep gaining body weight.
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