Enough With the Scale Shaming: Why Overnight Weight Gain Is Usally Water, Glycogen, Salt and Timing

If you went on a strict fitness kick for a week and as a reward went on a carb-heavy meal for one day - did you gain that weight from eating all that food overnight?

No. The scale was reading a shift in glycogen, water, salt, and bowel contents from yesterday's meals. It has no idea of your body composition.

Why the scale jumps overnight

Night is water, glycogen, salt and gut contents time. And when you do not know what you are doing with the scales or are confusing short-term changes with body changes, you get scary results.

Night is glycogen and water time

First off, you have to know that glycogen and glucose are not the same thing. Your body uses glucose for energy, but stores the glucose inside glycogen in your liver and your muscles. Your hard, brawny muscles may seem full of glycogen, and they have to be if you are going to use them in a workout.

But glycogen in your liver is where the storage really happens. Liver glycogen stores vary, and excess intake can expand them. That extra is water-bound glycogen. The correlation? For every extra gram of glycogen, your body holds on to another 3g of water.

So when you say "why did I gain XYZ lbs overnight after eating too many carbs?", the answer is that your body was storing carbs, so it holds on to those carbs in your muscles and liver - and the water it holds them with.

Night is salt time

Dietary sodium can cause short-term fluid retention. And once again, that does not necessarily correlate with fat gained or fat loss.

Night is bowel contents time

If your food moves slower through your gut, you will hold onto it overnight and add that weight to your scales too. Fiber affects digestion speed, which can alter scale weight. Removing that water, glycogen and fiber holds onto that food before your body puts it to use or eliminates it.

And fiber is not the only reason. If you sit down to a huge dinner or eat a large meal, your scales the next day will also be reading your body weight alongside those gut contents.

Why yesterday’s food is not yesterday’s fat

Fat is not that fast. Your health is measured in weeks or months, not in a single day. When you are assessing yourself after a soda and a burger or any meal, or any bad week, you are (likely) seeing the short-term results of foods like water, glycogen, sodium, and gut contents - not fat.

You do not need to obsess over every big drop or gain. In general you should only see a change in body fat after a few weeks of low-carb food or weeks of dietary changes. Your body fat does not change by 1-2 kg all at once.

What to do before you panic

You only need to do two things when you are assessing your scale:

• Pick your weighing habit
• Stick to it

You need to weigh yourself at the same time, with the same scales, in the same location, on a flat surface - every single time. That means weighing yourself after you wake up, not when you feel like it.

And that means using your bathroom before you get on the scale. Every time. Consistently. Because gut contents vary and can also affect your weight.

What the scales can and cannot tell you

OK, you stay consistent. But how strong is what you observe? Well, the scales can only tell you your weight.

That is it. And that matters, but only as a trend. Chasing a number or being focused on a day's weight after your Friday night out can be a sure way to make the numbers go up, not down.

Judge by differences, not with absolutes

You finally go to the doctor or your trainer because hey, you've been putting in work and you want to know whether the scales are giving you the "right" number. But the scales are not a choice.

So you need to know up front, OK? The scales will read your weight. At that moment. Plain and simple. They are not wrong, because they are so classic. But they are not your friend.

What you need to do is look at your weight daily. And since you are weighing at the same time, in the same location on a flat surface (after you use the bathroom), with the same scales on the same location, what you are observing is YOU.

And guess what? Weight changes happen, OK. But if you were consistent and the bump you got was from overdoing it on sweets, it is water and glycogen weight - not fat, which is a healthier thought.

So keep going. Ignore the irregularities, OK. Look for improvements. And treat the rewards in between.

Your doctor and your coach did not get into this career choice for their love of obesity and failure. They track progress.

So you need to keep going, stop chasing a number, and enjoy the results of your habits that have pushed you closer to your goals.