Why you Gain Weight Overnight？

For anyone trying to lose weight or maintain weight loss, seeing the number on the body weight scale increase even the tiniest bit can be disheartening. Especially when you're working toward a goal, the last thing you want to see is an unexpected bump in the number on the most accurate body weight scale after you've been diligently following a healthy diet and exercise plan.

But fluctuations in weight day-to-day are totally normal. If you weighed yourself every hour throughout the day, you’d see dramatic shifts on the accurate weight scale.

The reason you may feel like you magically gained weight overnight can vary. Here are the most likely causes.

1. You ate more sodium than you usually do.

Your body may retain excess water for a few reasons, but the most likely is related to your sodium intake. If you consume more sodium than normal on a given day, your body will retain more water. Some people are more sensitive to this: for example, if you typically eat very fresh, whole, clean foods and work out regularly, and then forgo a workout and eat a super salty meal, chances are your weight fluctuation will seem more drastic than someone who typically eats more salt. Mild dehydration can also cause your body to retain fluids. It sounds counterintuitive, but drinking more will help your body get rid of fluids more efficiently and flush excess sodium.

For most fluid-related weight gain, assuming you go back to your normal eating and drinking habits, the weight gain should really only last 24 to 48 hours, that is to say, the number on the weight scale machine will recover quickly. A lot of it will depend on how quickly your kidneys remove the excess water from your body, and whether or not you sweat out some of the excess fluid.

2. Your plumbing's a little backed up.

As you eat throughout the day, your weight may increase a few pounds until the next time you effectively empty out your bowels. If things are a little backed up, not only will you feel and look bloated, but the number on the smart weight scale will gain more than if you were to efficiently clear out the old to make room for the new. Make sure you're eating enough fiber, staying hydrated, and keeping active so that your bowels can do their thing.

3. You're weighing yourself at different times on different days.

It is possible to get different results with the same digital scale at the same time, let alone at different times.

We can weigh 5, 6, 7 pounds more at night than we do first thing in the morning. Part of that is thanks to all the salt we consume throughout the day; the other part is that we may not have fully digested (and excreted) everything we at and drank that day yet. We weigh the least amount first thing in the morning after we have used the restroom, for the most accurate reading, I go to the bathroom weighing scale naked right after I wake up and go to the bathroom. This will give me a true sense of my true(est) weight.

4. It's almost that time of the month.

Hormonal changes right around your period can also increase fluid retention. Period-related weight gain will usually start five to seven days before your period and the number on the electronic weigh scale usually goes down by day three or four of the period. How big these fluctuations are really depend on the individual, but are usually between 2 and 8 pounds.

5. You've been carbo loading.

Eating a modest amount of healthy carbs is good for you, but eating too many so that you exceed your calorie needs (it's easy to go overboard accidentally) can lead to both increased fat storage and extra water retention. For every gram of carbohydrate you store as glycogen, your tissues must retain 3 grams of water with it. Moreover, if you continue to overeat carbohydrates, the number on the small digital scale will continue to rise.

6. You're on the pill or taking medication that causes fluid retention.

Some medications include potential side effects of weight gain. In most, it’s due to a change in hormones causing an increased appetite and consuming more calories—aka true weight gain. However, there are some medications, like steroids, that cause water retention resulting in what may seem like weight gain but is simply a fluctuation due to fluids in the body. These fluctuations can be larger than those caused by diet-based water retention, and may not resolve until you go off the meds. You may see that the number on the weighing scales has been a little higher than before. With this type of water retention you’ll likely feel the physical side effects in your extremities, puffy feet and hands.