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I'm only about 10 pounds overweight and have been doing P90X and eating healthy. I've noticed that I'm really toning up since P90X. We just went on a vacation to the mountains and did some serious hiking. About 10 miles over 4 days of really strenuous hiking (I mean climbing ropes to get to overlooks and veritical down and up hill hikes into gorges). I'm pretty fit and found myself out of breath on this hikes. We would hike all together for about 6 hours a day and then head back to our vacation rental. We would be so hungry and tired that we would grab fast food on the way back. We were really hungry! I would bring almonds and a peanut butter sandwich on high protein bread for lunch...but dinner consisted of either taco bell, Jimmy Johns, or sonic. I know...so bad, but we were ravished. Breakfast was a glass of milk and a smart ones egg and cheese english muffin. I never eat at fast food on a regular basis!
I noticed when I got home that I had gained 8 pounds...not water weight, real weight. How is this possible. I felt like the fast food wouldn't be that bad since we were excercising so much?
Well exercise makes you bloated and the sodium load from the fast food will too. You gained water/salt weight. Go back to eating healthy and it should correct within the week. If it does not, you may be overeating. Have some electrolyte beverages and lemon water to help speed it up. I would start logging calories too. If you are only 10lbs overweight it can be really easy to overeat naturally when it comes to processed foods.
Very simple. While on vacation you stepped outside of your normal food routine, as everyone does. Eating out, you almost always consume more calories than when you prepare food at home. Your hikes weren't enough to offset the huge calorie increase.
Very simple. While on vacation you stepped outside of your normal food routine, as everyone does. Eating out, you almost always consume more calories than when you prepare food at home. Your hikes weren't enough to offset the huge calorie increase.
That still wouldn't explain 8 POUNDS in weight gain in a short period of time except for sodium causing water bloat. I know for a fact, for example, that BK's tripple whopper value meal larged size would have 1700 calories in total, the highest of any national chain fast food restaurant. The OP said he/she ate a sensible breakfast, sensible lunch, and it sounds like only one meal a day fast food. I doubt they got a tripple whopper calorie-sized meal each time, if at all, and it was only four days. Those hikes would be more than enough to offset the fast food calories in an average person, especially with hill variations and such. Even if it were the OP questioning 30 min to 1 hr workouts, I'd still wonder, because even getting a tripple whopper value meal large sized everyday would fall short of the calories needed for 8 lbs of fat. That would take 16 days of extra calories from a tripple whopper value meal large sized ON TOP OF calories already consumed that day to maintain weight. That's a lot of eating, and I doubt the OP would be able to.
I think it is sodium/water bloat and maybe a small amount of muscle in the legs. It's very like the OP got dehydrated on the walk, or their body was in the mode of fast water loss everyday, and wanted to hold onto water. Combined with salt, that's a good possibility. It would take a few days to adjust.
Fast food is very high in fat and sodium. If you eat it you have to do it in moderation, drink water (yes, you were very likely dehydrated), and perhaps take a diuretic or drink an herbal diuretic tea. Perhaps your weight has gone down by now. I don't think all of it was actual weight gain. Part bloat, part muscle gain, part weight gain. Your body also wasn't used to the fast food, so it "grabbed" it. They put crap in that food that is addictive and who knows what result it has. It makes you tired too. Stay away from it! (Except for the very occasional, of course.)
We would hike all together for about 6 hours a day and then head back to our vacation rental. We would be so hungry and tired that we would grab fast food on the way back. We were really hungry! I would bring almonds and a peanut butter sandwich on high protein bread for lunch...but dinner consisted of either taco bell, Jimmy Johns, or sonic. I know...so bad, but we were ravished. Breakfast was a glass of milk and a smart ones egg and cheese english muffin. I never eat at fast food on a regular basis!
I noticed when I got home that I had gained 8 pounds...not water weight, real weight. How is this possible. I felt like the fast food wouldn't be that bad since we were excercising so much?
Your body responds to the work required. When it perceives an increase in demands, it wants to store more energy to be certain it has it there when it needs it. It causes you to crave high-energy foods. It uses the intake, but makes certain it sets some aside for later.
That's why incremental changes to increase your workout, and decrease your intake, is more effective in the long-run.
Don't worry. Now that you are returning to normal, if you reduce your intake, and continue working out, your body will continue to use the energy demanded, and as long as you curb your intake, you'll drop the extra pounds.
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