# 4 pounds in 3 days?! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-pounds-in-3-days/293425 "2005-03-07T20:40:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wasson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@wasson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wasson)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-pounds-in-3-days/293425/21 "2005-03-09T19:36:53Z")
I do appreciate all the tips and tricks, even the obviously unhealthy ones. The point of this contest is to see who can lose the most weight over the course of 3 months, so on a week to week basis its not all that important how much I lose. I drank a ton of water, peed out even more, and I’m now down 6 pounds from when I weighed in on Monday, so a 2 pound loss in a week. Anyway, a 4 pound gain is discouraging to myself and my teammates, so I’m glad no one but me saw it, and I’m glad you guys had some advice to get rid of it quickly. I’ll be using your other tips in the last week of the challenge for sure. I need to learn to ignore the scale like I did last time I lost a bunch of weight, but its difficult when a cash prize rests on whatever that little machine says. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-pounds-in-3-days/293425/22 "2005-03-10T02:21:30Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I said 2-4 cups of coffee. Sweet with a bit of cream if you like it that way. > > You must have missed the part where I mentioned, Swim-30min, Cycle/Spin-1 hour, Run-30min. And this is not a pick one scenario. I mean, do all three, back to back. I burn about 2000 calories doing this kind of routine. Is that enough of an increase in calorie expenditure? > > Drinking too much while exercising, I don’t mean a casual stroll around the block, will give you cramps and shorten your workout. > > Replace lost water by drinking. You don’t have to replace the entire volume lost during exercise in one damn gulp. Drink through the day as your body demands. Thirst is a pretty good guide unless you are in extreme conditions and are suffering dramatic dehydration due to exposure. > BTW, coffee is liquid and counts. With 2-4 cups a day, you are also contributing to hydration. Quicksilver, I am sorry if I sound snippy but I honestly felt like you were giving dangerous advice. History of drinking, eating hi salt foods and having a barbeque combined with 3-4 pound weight gain would indicate **wassan** was retaining water because he was dehydrated. The body has many fascinating ways of dealing with fluid balance. One way of coping is to conserve sodium which in turn pulls water into the extracellar space. So he gains weight because the fluid is not circulating but he becomes even more dehydrated then. Coffee while indeed a fluid is also a diuretic. Can you see where this is going? The treatment for water retention due to dehydration is increased oral fluid. Water is best. By the time you feel thirsty you are already down a few liters. Water deficits must be replaced orally; the kidneys can only work to prevent water loss. Add to this hi sugar hi caffiene and no proteins to balance it and you may have blood sugar ups and downs. It’s better to get the electrolytes in balance and the fluid will balance in turn. **wasson** any unexplained weight gain should be treated as possibly dehydration. Any sudden weight gain combined with lower extremity edema and SOB should be reported to doctor immediately. [sub]As always, I am an RN but my comments should not be interpreted as medical advice nor are they intended to replace the advice of your primary physician[/sub] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-pounds-in-3-days/293425.md?page=1)