Hi. I noticed that my weight has started going up like crazy over the past four days. I was 76.5 kg on 26 April 2023 and I weighed 80.2 Kg this morning (30 April 2023). I usually weigh myself after going to the toilet in the morning, around the same time, before eating or drinking anything and wearing only my "birthday suit". Gaining 3.7 kg over 3 days is definitely unusual and alarming. This afternoon I also noticed that my feet were swollen and felt a bit numb.

Then I remembered that I've been eating a lot of pickles that my wife made for me. I read somewhere that there is a strong connection between increased dietary salt intake and weight gain due to water retention but the studies were all inconclusive. The recommendations were to just drink a lot of water, exercise and wait it out.

Anyone experienced a similar situation and how long did it take to get back on track? It is frustrating that I'm experiencing this while I'm only 6 kg from my goal weight.

Edited April 30, 20233 yr by omrhsn

I'm nowhere near goal weight but as a professional yo yo dieter for many many years, it sounds to me like classic water weight retention. Swollen feet is a sure sign and the fact you have been eating increased amount of sodium. It's frustrating but temporary.

3 hours ago, omrhsn said:

The recommendations were to just drink a lot of water, exercise and wait it out.

^^Good advice^^ and reduce your sodium intake. Good luck reaching your goal.

it was the pickles. Yes - sodium makes some people retain water like crazy. Plus there is no way you'd gain 3.7 kg of real weight in three days. To do that, you would have to eat 28,000 more calories than your body needs in those three days. So yea, no. It's just water.

I agree. I think it was the salty pickles too. Awful feeling though when you see those higher numbers on the scale & wonder what you’ve been doing wrong. Over time you’ll discover things that make your weight fluctuate a little more than usual. I’m up a little at the moment because I’ve been eating my chicken & barley soup - an extra serve of carbs & the extra fluid does it every time for me but it will be gone in few days.

Try adding lemon juice to your water or drink some tea - both will make you pee more & help flush out the excess fluids.

I had a similar gain of around 1.5kg recently, and it was due to an injured knee (played basket ball on a knee that's still not 100% after breaking it late last year ?). The knee swelled up noticeably, and after a fortnight of compression and rest, the swelling finally went away and took the 1.5kg gain with it. I'm back to slowly losing again.

14 hours ago, BabySpoons said:

I'm nowhere near goal weight but as a professional yo yo dieter for many many years, it sounds to me like classic Water weight retention. Swollen feet is a sure sign and the fact you have been eating increased amount of sodium. It's frustrating but temporary.

^^Good advice^^ and reduce your sodium intake. Good luck reaching your goal.

Thanks! Hopefully this will go away soon. Good luck to you too. You are doing great!

10 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

it was the pickles. Yes - sodium makes some people retain Water like crazy. Plus there is no way you'd gain 3.7 kg of real weight in three days. To do that, you would have to eat 28,000 more calories than your body needs in those three days. So yea, no. It's just water.

Thanks for your feedback! 28,000 calories in just three days is insane even for the old me haha

3 hours ago, Arabesque said:

I agree. I think it was the salty pickles too. Awful feeling though when you see those higher numbers on the scale & wonder what you’ve been doing wrong. Over time you’ll discover things that make your weight fluctuate a little more than usual. I’m up a little at the moment because I’ve been eating my chicken & barley Soup - an extra serve of carbs & the extra Fluid does it every time for me but it will be gone in few days.

Try adding lemon juice to your Water or drink some tea - both will make you pee more & help flush out the excess fluids.

Thanks for tips. I have been drinking a lot of tea since yesterday. I'll turn it into an iced tea with lemon juice to maximize the effect. I was really shocked when I saw the scale going up. I've learned my lesson now haha. No more pickles for me

1 hour ago, Smanky said:

I had a similar gain of around 1.5kg recently, and it was due to an injured knee (played basket ball on a knee that's still not 100% after breaking it late last year ?). The knee swelled up noticeably, and after a fortnight of compression and rest, the swelling finally went away and took the 1.5kg gain with it. I'm back to slowly losing again.

I hope you are feeling better now. Hopefully my "swelling" will go away soon.

Here is an update. I've been drinking a lot of tea and water since yesterday as per the advice I found on the internet. I'll add some lemon juice to my tea and turn it into an iced lemon tea. I was 80.6 kg this morning and my face is more round now and my cheeks are fuller. I think the water is retained on my thighs haha. I never thought I will see these numbers again but here we are. No more pickles or salty foods for yours truly after this.

I truly hope that it is just water retention from the pickles and you body will be able to reset. Have you noticed that your body retains water because of the hot weather? Or maybe you are just more aware now that you are a lower weight? Just a thought. Good luck with everything.

9 minutes ago, Possum220 said:

I truly hope that it is just Water retention from the pickles and you body will be able to reset. Have you noticed that your body retains water because of the hot weather? Or maybe you are just more aware now that you are a lower weight? Just a thought. Good luck with everything.

Thanks. It happened to me in the past (foot and face swelling etc) but I was not paying attention to my weight then. That was before the WLS. I've been going through what I ate over the past few days and it include salty food, processed / canned food, chicken soup from a restaurant that I know uses bullion cubes in their soups to make it more flavorful (hello MSG!). So I think it was just a bad food combo that resulted in the water retention. I hope this goes away soon.

Water retention is absolutely a thing; I actually had the exact same thing happen with pickles! I woke up the next day and had gained 3 pounds because the day before I had decided that the 35-calorie each halved dill pickles would make a great guilt free snack and ate a few of them the day before. So much salt! Take it easy for a day or two, drink some extra fluids and if that's what it was, it'll go away in a few days once you get things flushed back out.

I tend to suffer from water retention even after surgery (albeit not as often), mostly when sitting for prolong times, drinking too much water, drinking too little water, walking all day or the inevitable plane ride. I use dandelion tea which is a natural diuretic and increase my water intake to avoid dehydration. If it is too extreme, usually after flying, I will take a furosemide that my doctor prescribed but a water pill will work as well.

14 hours ago, pintsizedmallrat said:

Water retention is absolutely a thing; I actually had the exact same thing happen with pickles! I woke up the next day and had gained 3 pounds because the day before I had decided that the 35-calorie each halved dill pickles would make a great guilt free snack and ate a few of them the day before. So much salt! Take it easy for a day or two, drink some extra fluids and if that's what it was, it'll go away in a few days once you get things flushed back out.

I'm drinking a lot of water and I think (hope) it is getting better. My face looks slimmer and I can see the wrinkles / excess skin on my thighs which is a sign that the swelling is less now. I've avoided the scale this morning. Otherwise, I will go crazy if I saw a number that is higher than yesterday's. Pickles are banned in my house now haha

10 hours ago, NP_WIP said:

I tend to suffer from Water retention even after surgery (albeit not as often), mostly when sitting for prolong times, drinking too much water, drinking too little water, walking all day or the inevitable plane ride. I use dandelion tea which is a natural diuretic and increase my water intake to avoid dehydration. If it is too extreme, usually after flying, I will take a furosemide that my doctor prescribed but a water pill will work as well.

I think sitting all day also added to the problem. My job is office based with occasional site visits etc. This past week not much was going on site because of the heavy rain and public holiday. So I was mostly sitting on my desk