Have you ever stepped on the scale in the morning, only to find you “gained” 3 pounds overnight?

It’s beyond frustrating, right?😫

Here’s the deal though — Just because the scale goes up overnight does NOT mean you gained fat overnight. In fact, unless you ate an excess of 3500 calories yesterday (in addition to the cals you burned), you did NOT gain fat!

Check out 12 of the most common reasons for overnight weight gain:

🏋🏻‍♀️ You exercised yesterday. After a hard workout, you develop tiny tears in your muscles which cause inflammation. These microscopic tears are needed to become stronger. More inflammation = a higher number on the scale.

🍷 You drank alcohol last night. Alcohol dehydrates you, which leads to water retention. Also, the drunk munchies tend to hit!

🥨 You ate salty foods yesterday, which leads to water retention.

💩 You ate less fiber than normal or your bathroom habits aren’t normal (for you). If you have more poop in your intestines, it’s going to show up on the scale!

💦 You are dehydrated. If you’re not drinking enough water (0.5-1oz per lb of bodyweight), your kidneys tell your body to retain fluids.

📅 Monthly hormonal changes (or PMS) can cause you to retain water. Plus, cravings make it tempting to eat less healthy foods.

🍕 You ate more carbs than normal. When you cut back on carbs, your body’s carb stores (glycogen) becomes depleted. As soon as you eat more carbs, your body starts storing glycogen in your muscles and liver, along with H2O. The sudden influx of those two nutrients after a long stretch of being lower-carb could leave you bloated

😰 You’re stressed. Your body releases a hormone called cortisol when stressed, which can cause water retention and temporary changes to your metabolism.

⏰ You ate later than normal last night. When you eat later than normal, your body is still digesting your food when you step on the scale the next morning.

Did any of these reasons for overnight scale fluctuations surprise you?