T Nation

Why Am I Retaining Water All of a Sudden?

Supplements and Nutrition
#1

Hey All–

Just a few weeks ago I was pleased with my diet and how I looked-- was full and still lean. In the last week to 10 days I’ve looked bloated abdominally, thick/wider in the midsection (I’m working on keeping a tight waist while growing everywhere else), and soft in the belly (abs disappeared). My face looks bloated too.

Digestion hasn’t been great either.

Things that have changed, regardless of how trivial or weird they sound to mention:

  1. I went back on TRIBEX after 4 weeks off
  2. I opened a new container of creatine
  3. I upped my fiber intake this week, in the form of milled flax. I’ve been using this for a while, but I’ve tried to increase the number of scoops. The, uh, elimination I was accustomed to has been nowhere near as consistent/easy.
  4. I’m a teacher, so I returned to work after a 2-week break in which I was sleeping a lot and getting great rest.
  5. Noticed I’ve been peeing less this week, despite the same level of water.
  6. The weather has been hot and dry here in southern california.

Water intake: 1.5-2 gallons a day
Carbs: primarily from a high-fiber, low-sugar cereal from Kashi
Protein: Costco egg whites in a box, Costco canned chicken, Foster Farms ground turkey
Fats: raw almonds, extra-virgin olive oil

The diet hasn’t changed; when I was looking good a few weeks back I was eating all the same things.

The premade egg whites and the canned chicken have a fair amount of sodium, but this hasn’t been a problem until about 10 days ago. I figured the water intake would counteract it.

I’m 27 years old, 6’2", 208.5lbs on weighing in last night at the gym.

Either way, I’m pissed and would be grateful for any critique or help. Just want to get back to looking how I want to look. Thanks!

#2

Creatine makes you retain water, so will the carbs from the Kashi cereal.

You can cut all the carbs for two days and most of the water flushes out. You could just be gaining fat for some reason as well.

You also said you weren’t getting enough sleep nowadays, this is a HUGE factor. I look much better in a mirror after a few days of 10+ hours of sleep a night. No clue whether it is water or not but without enough sleep it can screw up a lot of different things.

#3

Is the new container of creatine from a different brand? If so, it is possible that you weren’t receptive to the previous brand of creatine for whatever reason (not pure, mixed with other shit) and now you are seeing the effects of it from the new batch.

#4

[quote]Higgins wrote:
Creatine makes you retain water, so will the carbs from the Kashi cereal.
[/quote]

The thing is, I was doing great on both the Kashi cereal and the creatine a few weeks ago…so I’m thinking those aren’t related, but we’ll see. Also, the water from creatine is supposed to be in your muscles, and this looks like subcutaneous water.

Does it sound like sodium could be a factor? With high water intake, is sodium much of a concern?

Going to work on getting some more rest.

#5

[quote]gutshot wrote:
Is the new container of creatine from a different brand? If so, it is possible that you weren’t receptive to the previous brand of creatine for whatever reason (not pure, mixed with other shit) and now you are seeing the effects of it from the new batch.[/quote]

Both are Biotest creatine. The texture of the new batch is different from the older one. Don’t know if it’s changed in some way.

I thought about what you said, which is why I mentioned that I just opened a new container when I noticed the problem starting. I’m going to drop the creatine for a few days, but I don’t want to flatten out.

#6

[quote]Higgins wrote:
You could just be gaining fat for some reason as well.
[/quote]

True, but worrisome. Any ideas what can cause sudden fat gain if diet/training have been consistent? Scale weight is consistent within a 3-4lb range.

#7

[quote]InCorporeSano wrote:
Higgins wrote:
You could just be gaining fat for some reason as well.

True, but worrisome. Any ideas what can cause sudden fat gain if diet/training have been consistent? Scale weight is consistent within a 3-4lb range. [/quote]

Shitty sleeps brings my progress in whatever I’m doing to a halt and if I’m just maintaining then it starts to have negative effects.

Sleep is VERYVERYVERYVERY important for me and quite a few other people, everyone is different but most people need that optimal level of sleep.

Also, they had the creatine become finer grained to help with absorption if memory serves me correctly. That shouldn’t be a problem if you’ve been taking it all along.

Try to get more sleep and see what happens.

#8

[quote]InCorporeSano wrote:
3. I upped my fiber intake this week, in the form of milled flax.
I’ve been using this for a while, but I’ve tried to increase the number of scoops. The, uh, elimination I was accustomed to has been nowhere near as consistent/easy.

  1. I’m a teacher, so I returned to work after a 2-week break in which I was sleeping a lot and getting great rest.
    [/quote]

Those are likely the reasons right there.

It sounds sounds like you a little overly concerned with keeping your abs sharp. The thing is life causes normal fluctuations and it doesn’t make sense to get too worried about them. After all, it looks like you know you haven’t gained fat, so why worry about it? Your body will likely adapt soon.

Don’t go changing things that aren’t a problem – like your Creatine intake.

#9

[quote]HK24719 wrote:
It sounds sounds like you a little overly concerned with keeping your abs sharp. The thing is life causes normal fluctuations and it doesn’t make sense to get too worried about them.[/quote]

I’m normally totally unconcerned with my abs and more focused on gaining balanced size and keeping a trim waist, so it was less the ab definition and more the bloating that had me worried.

The very unscientific pinch test tells me i haven’t gained sub-q fat, but I got a little panicked about visceral fat gain and hoped something didn’t go awry.