Water Weight: How Certain Foods Can Change Your Weight

In this episode, we dive deep into the often overlooked topic of water weight and how certain foods can drastically impact your weight fluctuations. If you've ever found yourself puzzled by sudden changes in your weight despite sticking to your diet, this discussion between James Breese and Josh Kennedy will shed light on the mysteries of water retention and food intolerances. Their insights are not only enlightening but also relatable, making it a must-listen for anyone on a wellness journey.

Timeline Summary:

• [00:00:06] Introduction to Water Weight and Diet Impact
• [00:01:00] Normalcy of Daily Weight Fluctuations
• [00:02:00] Anecdotes of Personal Water Weight Experience
• [00:04:00] The Role of Food Intolerances
• [00:09:00] Managing Diet and Identifying Intolerances

Key Takeaways:

1. Daily Fluctuations Are Normal: Water weight can make your weight fluctuate by 1 to 5 pounds daily.
2. Personal Experiences Matter: James shares firsthand how his weight fluctuates significantly due to water retention, emphasizing the impact of food choices.
3. Food Intolerances: Recognizing and understanding your body's reactions to certain foods are crucial in managing water weight.
4. Importance of Food Diary: Keeping a food diary can help identify patterns and potential intolerances.
5. Making Informed Choices: Awareness and understanding of how certain foods affect your body can help you make better dietary decisions.
6. Not Just Calories: It's not only about calorie intake but also about how specific foods interact with your body.
7. Advice for the Journey: Don't get discouraged by weight fluctuations; understanding your body's responses is key to progress.

Websites and Links Mentioned:

• Strength Matters
• Strength Matters Training System

Quotes:

"Water weight can fluctuate by up to 5 percent daily, which is perfectly normal." - James Breese

"I am the world's worst for water weight retention." - James Breese

"You may be losing fat but getting disheartened because the scale isn't moving due to extra water weight." - James Breese

"Every now and then, you just want to live a little, despite knowing the consequences." - James Breese

"Understanding what foods cause water retention can significantly change your approach to dieting and weight loss." - James Breese

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Chapters

• 0:06 Introduction to Water Weight and Diet Impact
• 1:00 Normalcy of Daily Weight Fluctuations
• 2:00 Anecdotes of Personal Water Weight Experience
• 4:00 The Role of Food Intolerances
• 9:00 Managing Diet and Identifying Intolerances

Transcript

[00:00:00] James Breese: Strength Matters Media. Video. Print. Podcasts. 

[00:00:06] Josh Kennedy: Today's topic is water weight. How certain foods can change your weight. And I think this is something that's come up with a couple of clients recently. So it's important to, uh, to talk about because when people are trying to lose weight, they can potentially get a little discouraged if their, if their weight fluctuates up by a couple of pounds.

[00:00:24] So I think. It's good to talk about because it's important to realize that your weight can potentially, especially if you've got an intolerance you don't know about, fluctuate by one to four or five pounds a day. And this is something that you've experienced, isn't it, James? 

[00:00:40] James Breese: Oh, massive. I am the world's worst for water weight retention.

[00:00:43] I can give you specific examples from the last four to five days as well. So what One study suggests that your water weight can fluctuate by up to 5 percent daily. So that's good to know. So up to 5 percent daily is perfectly normal. That's what one of the studies shows. And then there's more anecdotal [00:01:00] evidence that shows water weight can make a person's weight fluctuate by as much as 1 to 5 pounds a day too.

[00:01:06] I can be part of that anecdotal evidence. And a very specific example is this. So on Friday, I went, I weighed myself. Cause I weighed myself back from South Africa. I put on one and a half kilos. I know from running before I weighed myself. So I weighed at 69. 7 kilos on Friday morning, Saturday morning, I weighed in at 71.

[00:01:28] 4. Right. 

[00:01:30] Josh Kennedy: So, see, if you were one of my clients and then you, you put that, you'd be messaging me saying, Josh, what's happened? I'm really upset. Why haven't I lost weight? 

[00:01:41] James Breese: Exactly, but I know, I know what happened is because I made a conscious decision to go and eat out the whole world of pick and mix, right?

[00:01:51] From the cinema on Saturday, on Friday night. I went to see June 2. If you haven't seen this movie, what a great movie that was. The last third, I think is the most [00:02:00] epic of sci fi movies I've seen in a long, long time. So I absolutely loved it. It was really, really good. But I, for example, have intolerances to dairy.

[00:02:11] And a few other bits of wheat and other things that go in my body. My body just reacts badly to certain foods, and therefore I put on water weight and bloat immensely. That's my, that's the reaction I have. My body just reacts to it. Yeah, I think it's, 

[00:02:27] Josh Kennedy: Important to point out that even if you are within, uh, your maintenance or eating a deficit, if you eat certain things, your weight can still fluctuate.

[00:02:36] Because I think people are potentially listening to go, well, of course, if you ate a load of pick and mix, that's a lot of calories, you would have put weight on. Well, not necessarily because you might still be within your maintenance. 

[00:02:46] James Breese: And I was, that's really, that's a really good point because I knew I was going out and I was going to just binge that night because I do.

[00:02:52] So like. You may be thinking, well, James, if you're intolerant to dairy, why are you eating pick and mix and chocolate and stuff like this? Every now and then, guys, I just want to. That's [00:03:00] the best way to put it. Right? It is, because I want to, because I don't want to miss out on certain things in life. And you have to, you know, I make a conscious decision about when I'm going to do it.

[00:03:09] So I just now know that I'm going to put a couple of kilos on, it'll be water weight. I just eat sensibly the next couple of days and it goes again. So I just, I just know that cycle. So do I do it every week? No. Do I do it every day? No. You know, once, once in a blue moon, absolutely. I do it. So I just know it.

[00:03:26] So for me, it's information on the body. I know my body reacts to it and I put on literally about two to three kilos sometimes from what I've seen in the past of how it goes when I eat certain foods. And pick and mix as well, because of the chocolate and the dairy. That's why I don't eat milk chocolate 90 percent of the time, because it affects me in that way.

[00:03:45] So, you've got to understand that if you're seeing the weight scale not go down, and you're always feeling kind of bloated, well, look at the food you're eating. I know from personal experience that I put on weight when I eat [00:04:00] foods I'm intolerant to. But a lot of people I know aren't aware of foods that they may be intolerant to or aren't aware that certain foods affect them.

[00:04:09] So my question is, is for those people who like constantly feel bloated or feel like they're retaining water. What are the foods you're eating consistently? That it might be causing this because it might be something to do with the foods. Yes, it could be the environment too or something. I don't know.

[00:04:24] But if we're looking specifically at foods, right, what could that be doing to affect your weight? And it may be hindering your weight loss progress. You may be losing fat, but you're getting disheartened because the scales isn't moving because of this extra water weight. 

[00:04:40] Josh Kennedy: Exactly. So top things to look at obviously are dairy, wheat, gluten.

[00:04:46] Um, when you, are you allergic to tomatoes as well? I don't know how much that affects your weight, but that's something that, yeah, well, yeah, alcohol obviously is a huge thing. Alcohol will affect your, uh, Recovery, your sleep, which again also [00:05:00] has a big effect on, on weight loss as well. So you've got to look at that foods that are higher in salt, uh, are going to affect it, that's going to help you store water as well.

[00:05:09] So there's so much you need to look at. So essentially I think what we're saying is don't get discouraged if the, uh, if the scale isn't moving or if it has gone up a bit, you've got to look back and go, okay, what did I eat? What did I drink? Um, and look for, and look for patterns cause you may potentially have an intolerance in there that you don't know about.

[00:05:26] Would you, would 

[00:05:26] James Breese: you agree? I 100 intolerances, like, you know, my worst nemesis is pizza. Like, just think of that, like, literally, pizza, tomatoes, cheese, white bread, you know, it's like, it's everything, everything in one go. So what I do, what I do know is this, is if I eat something like a Domino's pizza, Right?

[00:05:47] Or if I go for a whole pizza, you think, why James? Why have you just done that yourself? Trust me, every now and then you just want to, right? Because like, it's like classic thing, you know. But I, I tend to 99 percent of the time avoid it. Because of our [00:06:00] process nature of the whole ingredients in there, I literally, I've seen myself go three to four kilos in one sitting.

[00:06:06] I have a scene that happened overnight and I retain this water for about four to five days afterwards. Now, if I have a really fresh Italian pizza, it's homemade, freshly made. it mitigates the effect. It's more like a kilo I put on the following day. So the quality of ingredients and the type of ingredients makes a big part, plays a big part of what I'm doing and the water weight I do put on.

[00:06:31] So, but the first thing is awareness. You may not be aware that you're retaining water and you may not be aware that you're retaining water from certain foods. So the question is, is you've got to start thinking about this and thinking about this process. Go, what caused this to happen? So if one day you're feeling great and you're feeling, Oh my God, I'm feeling really slim looking yourself in the mirror going, yeah, I'm looking great.

[00:06:51] Then the next day, oh my god, I'm retaining water. Why am I retaining water? Could be multiple reasons, but start off with the food and see, think about what you ate the night before. [00:07:00] And if it's a consistent pattern, be aware of that. 

[00:07:03] Josh Kennedy: Or maybe, or maybe two days before you got, I think the best way you don't necessarily have to track as in calorie track, but track as in keep a food diary.

[00:07:11] Uh, would be a good thing to do. So you know exactly what you've eaten and drunk. Cause it could have, won't necessarily happen the day after it depends on how long your digestive cycle is potentially. It Could have been two days, what you ate two days ago. So you got, I think a food diary would be a really good, good way to go.

[00:07:26] I was just going to say, James, if somebody wanted to talk to you and get information from you, they'd just like feed you pizza, I think would be the way to go. 

[00:07:33] James Breese: Milk and cream would be the worst milk and cream and ice cream. If you want to see instant reactions in terms of vomit being coming up everywhere, that's how badly I react to those things.

[00:07:42] It's crazy. Like it is, it's mental how it badly affects me. I think somebody accidentally gave me a. a coffee with dairy milk in it, not the chocolate as in just dairy as in milk. So that's just a milk, real milk into, yeah. I tasted it and I was like, this tastes a bit off. Is [00:08:00] it, is it oat milk? And then within a couple of seconds, boom, straight back up, straight back up.

[00:08:05] Josh Kennedy: Yeah. That's a severe intolerance that is, which you may not get. 

[00:08:10] James Breese: Exactly. It is. And then also, as my mum is trying to call me on my phone right now, uh, I had a conversation with my little nephew, Theo. He is suffering really badly from intolerances, like horrendously so. So he has got intolerances to dairy and a mixture of other things, but so much so that if he just touches somebody who's had these things, it comes up, it comes up in hives.

[00:08:32] It comes with a massive rash of them. Yeah, honestly, it's horrendous. Like it's, the poor little kid, it's got worse intolerances than me. Worse intolerances than me and my dad. So yeah, he's inherited them, but in a much worse state. So, um, eggs, dairy, you name it, like it's off the charts. 

[00:08:51] Josh Kennedy: You got eggs. Yeah, sorry.

[00:08:52] I missed out on that. That's obviously another one people can be intolerant to as well. Yeah, absolutely. So I think. What we're saying is [00:09:00] if you see your weight fluctuate a few pounds or a couple of a kilo or two up and down, you say, don't get discouraged. Keep a food diary, track what you're eating because you could be potentially looking at, uh, a food intolerance doesn't mean it's a severe one, but you know, it could be a minor intolerance, which makes you store water weight.

[00:09:16] So, um, yeah, make some, make some changes. You might have to cut a couple of things out, but, uh, ultimately that's, uh, that might be for the best. Would you agree, 

[00:09:24] James Breese: James? I agree. And just, like I said. Learn from somebody's mistakes here and also experience with it. Who's lived with it his entire life, pretty much.

[00:09:34] So it's, I didn't really understand that until later on in life. And I started looking at nutrition and playing with my own nutrition because I thought it was all normal. I thought it was just like, yeah, just, just always carry that little bit of, always used to carry that little bit of water weight, always did.

[00:09:48] But it wasn't until I realized what foods caused it that I started to go away. 

[00:09:54] Josh Kennedy: Exactly. So, uh, start finding out your food triggers. Uh, that is it for today. Please don't forget to rate, review and [00:10:00] subscribe. And if you want to find out more about our system of training, go to strengthmanners. com forward slash system.