# How much weight can you gain in a binge-eating session? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-can-you-gain-in-a-binge-eating-session/731143 "2015-09-13T21:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gracefulfatsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@gracefulfatsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracefulfatsheba)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-can-you-gain-in-a-binge-eating-session/731143/1 "2015-09-13T21:16:04Z")
Let’s say you’re a 110 pound model who carefully watches their weight. You break down and eat a large amount of fatty foods like chocolate and ice cream in the span of 2 or 3 hours. Not enough to make you throw up, but enough to feel uncomfortable. How much weight can you conceivably gain from a single binge like this? How quickly does the weight gain come? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-can-you-gain-in-a-binge-eating-session/731143/2 "2015-09-13T21:35:38Z")
Well, if one doesn’t go to the bathroom immediately after eating all the food, the weight gain will be nearly the weight of the food eaten. This is temporary, of course. One rough measure frequently seen is 3,500 Calories per pound in the long run, but there are many variables that can influence that. ---
**Author:** ![gracefulfatsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@gracefulfatsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracefulfatsheba)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-can-you-gain-in-a-binge-eating-session/731143/3 "2015-09-13T22:21:52Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Well, if one doesn’t go to the bathroom immediately after eating all the food, the weight gain will be nearly the weight of the food eaten. This is temporary, of course. One rough measure frequently seen is 3,500 Calories per pound in the long run, but there are many variables that can influence that. Is water retention also a factor here? I’m wondering if overeating causes you to retain more water in the subsequent days which gives the illusion of gaining 3-5 pounds instead of just 1 or 2. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-can-you-gain-in-a-binge-eating-session/731143/4 "2015-09-14T21:30:32Z")
> [@gracefulfatsheba](#): > > Let’s say you’re a 110 pound model who carefully watches their weight. > > You break down and eat a large amount of fatty foods like chocolate and ice cream in the span of 2 or 3 hours. Not enough to make you throw up, but enough to feel uncomfortable. > > How much weight can you conceivably gain from a single binge like this? How quickly does the weight gain come? I don’t know of any studies of just a single meal but even 3 days of eating 1500 extra Calories a day doesn’t appear to result in fat gain: > **[Measurement of body composition in response to a short period of overfeeding...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25208693/)** > > This study suggests that TBW gain contributes to weight gain following a short-term overfeeding. > [@](#): > > BACKGROUND: > Obesity and overweight are increasing in prevalence in developed countries as a result of changing dietary habits and a lack of physical activity. **The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the changes in body composition during short-term overfeeding** using the three-component model, which is composed of fat mass (FM), total body water (TBW), and fat-free dry solids (FFDS). > METHODS: > **Ten healthy men completed 3 days of overfeeding during which they consumed 1,500 kcal/day more energy than consumed in their normal diets.** Body composition was evaluated at three time points: the day before and after their normal diets and the day after the 3-day overfeeding diet. > RESULTS: > Before and after their normal diets, there were no significant differences in body weight and composition, but \*\*after 3 days of overfeeding \*\*, body weight, TBW, and FFDS increased 0.7, 0.7, and 0.2 kg, respectively (P \<0.0001). **There was no significant difference in FM between the normal and overfeeding diets.** ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-weight-can-you-gain-in-a-binge-eating-session/731143/5 "2015-09-14T23:01:24Z")
Wait. They only ate an extra 4500 calories, which is supposed to net you less than 1.25 lb but two out of three gained a little over 1.5 lb? Maybe \*\*gracefulfatsheba \*\*is onto something with suggesting water weight being part of it.