I have noticed the last few times I’ve run longer distances than usual (45-60mins) I have felt somehow bigger the next day. Now I am quite capable of imagining that I’m bigger even when I’m not, so this hasn’t been something I’ve really focused on that much. Yesterday, however, I really felt like I was swollen…my jeans were tighter, and the muscles in my legs felt bigger. Before I am written off as delusional, I actually found an answer to this experience and it seems it is not all in my head!
I have managed to lose the site I found this on (I didn’t bookmark it, which was kind of silly seeing as it took me about an hour of googling and searching faq pages on various running sites!) but apparently your muscles need 4 molecules of water to store one molecule of glycogen. This really doesn’t mean much to me, but what it apparently means is that when you increase the amount of exercise you usually do, your body is liable to react by storing extra water in preparation for the next round of hard exercise. The site I read said that this can result in up to 4lbs (a bit under 2kg) of weight gain on the scales the day after hard exercise! Wow. The good news is that within 4 or so weeks the body adjusts to the next level of exercise and weight/ fluid shifts go back to usual; if calories burnt have been higher than usual, weight would also start to go down at that point.
I am relieved to know I wasn’t imagining things 🙂 And, I am pleased to say, this isn’t even close to putting me off running; I figure I can live with a month of swollen days every now and then, especially knowing that it’s temporary.
On to other things…exercise yesterday was cycling outside (perfect weather; 27’C) and today it was gym work minus running. I thought I’d give my swollen muscles a day to calm down. hehe. Usually when I’m at the gym I do about 50mins of cardio spread over different machines; today it was the cross-trainer, rower, and walking on an incline on the treadmill (7.2km/hr, incline between 4.5 and 6.5%).
I don’t have many pictures of my food today…but I did snap my dinner just before. I tried a new flavour of tinned salmon which I thought looked exciting:
But…it was a bit disappointing. It was fine, just nothing special. I couldn’t really taste the mango or the chilli (although it tasted of something other than plain salmon).
I had it with some cooked leek, carrot and red pepper, and a microwaved potato:
I also had half a grapefruit on the side.
I was keeping it fairly light on purpose, because I’m saving myself for some of this afterwards…
I really love carob and the fact that this brand makes sugar free stuff (without artificial sweeteners instead) makes me happy. I have to say though, the phrase along the top, “goodness in every bite”, kind of cracks me up. Nutritionally speaking, it’s not all that different from chocolate (minus trans fatty acids, which I admit is a huge plus), but as with most so-called “health foods” it is automatically labelled “healthy”, even if it’s really not 🙂 But I still like this stuff, so clearly I’m not complaining too much; I’ll still enjoy my carob later on!
As I started reading your post the thoughts that immediately came into my head were those of “muscle storing water after running.” I’m so glad that you found the answer to your Q! This is completely normal and I have felt that way a lot in the past! Try to stay off the scale if your jeans feel a bit tighter because of any swelling from the running… it’ll just screw with you more.
Know that you are doing a great thing for your body by exercising and fueling it well.
I certainly enjoy reading this blog, Thankyou
Thanks – I’m glad to know my unreferenced information was correct! And that others experience this too 🙂 I will definitely avoid the scales the day or so after running/ feeling swollen…like you said, no need to screw with my mind any more than necessary!
Love this blog I’ll be back when I have more time.