Have you ever popped onto the scale only to see that your weight has shot up 5 pounds since the last time you weighed?

Blame water.

Exercise Myths | Exercise At Work | Health Journals

"Most (day-to-day) fluctuation is fluid retention," said Dr. Jason Cisler, of Omaha's Gastro-Intestinal Associates.

No one is more frustrated by this phenomenon than a dieter.

"Water retention is sneaky," said Tori, who lives in Alexandria, Va., and asked that we not use her last name. She recently lost 40 pounds.

"I can eat well, employ proper nutrition, but step on the scale and be up a pound or two," she said.

Drinking May Not Add Water

But why are you holding onto water? The answer is likely both sides of the same coin -- you're either getting too much water or too little.

Most Americans are in the latter camp, getting too little noncaffeinated liquid in their daily diets.

"Are you always just drinking pop?" asked Judy Held, a registered dietitian at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa. "A lot of people don't get in a lot of water. They think because they're drinking coffee or pop (they're covered)."

But caffeine in those drinks pushes water out of cells, Held said, so they are really a wash when it comes to how much fluid is available for the body.

In fact, a study by Children's Hospital and Research Center found that sipping more water helped research participants lose more weight than people who drank low- or no-calorie drinks such tea and soda.

Diet, Weather Affect Water In Body

Sudden weight gains may also be a result of sodium or humidity, which can make people retain fluid. For women, hormones can make their bodies retain in the week around their menstrual cycle.

A chronic or temporary digestive problem could also put pounds on for a time.

Tour Your Digestive Tract

Generally, liquids move through your system quickly -- no surprise to anyone checking out for a bathroom break shortly after downing their morning latte. Food moves through the digestive tract at different speeds, depending on how dense it is and what nutrients it contains.

Cisler offered a timeline of how food moves through the body for a healthy person:

Mouth to stomach: The transit down the esophagus takes seconds.

Stomach: Primarily a storage unit, the stomach only begins to break food up using chemicals and muscle. Over about two or three hours, the stomach will release food into the small intestine, but only as fast as that organ can process it.

Small intestine: This 20-foot organ does most of the digesting, and that can take up to six hours. This is where cells pick up nutrients and the body gets fueled. It may also be where a doctor would go looking for an obstruction if your weight gain were sudden and significant.

Large intestine/colon: The main function here is to absorb water. It reduces the volume by 15 times. This process should take a day and a half, regardless of what you've eaten.

So, no matter how badly you feel about eating that super-sized value meal, you're not getting rid of it for a couple of days.

Bloat Can Mean Problems

If you're having a hard time linking your recent dietary habits to the weight gain, or if you notice swelling in the extremities, your bloat may signal a medical problem and you should see a doctor.

Cisler said the possibilities include irritable bowl syndrome, a blockage, thyroid disease or lactose intolerance.

It may also be that you're not getting enough fiber, or that you're not drinking enough water to allow the fiber to work.

Insoluble fiber, found in abundance in vegetables, acts like a broom in the body by absorbing water and pushing waste through the digestive tract, according to the American Dietetic Association's Complete Food and Nutrition Guide.

"By moving waste through the colon, insoluble fibers increase the rate at which wastes are removed," author Roberta Larson Duyff writes.

"Whenever you increase your fiber content, you better be increasing your fluid content, too, or you're to have the opposite effect," Held said.

Some people may react to the sweetener sorbitol, which is in a lot of sugarless products. Small amounts can contribute to swelling in your belly.

"Sorbitol pulls water into your large intestine, which can cause bloating and, in high enough doses, diarrhea," said Dr. Michael Cox, a gastroenterologist at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, told Shape Magazine. "One study published in the journal 'Gastroenterology' found that just 10 grams of sorbitol (the equivalent of a few sugar-free candies) produced symptoms."

Fight-Back Tactics

You can push the scale back down by using a few strategies.

First, weigh correctly. You wouldn't expect an accurate reading if you stood on the scale holding your lunch in a paper bag, so don't expect an accurate reading if your lunch has already been eaten.

"An average-sized meal can easily weigh a couple of pounds," according to CalorieKing.com. "The scale registers the weight of the food, not the weight you will have gained from the meal."

The same goes for what time you weigh. Dietitians recommend weighing each morning in the nude after emptying your bladder. Cisler suggested weighing just once a week, and under the same circumstances on the same scale, since different devices can give slightly different readings.

Aim for a "no-salt-added" diet, Held said. That means you never pick up a saltshaker. U.S. dietary guidelines from the Department of Agriculture suggest 2,300 milligrams a day -- or about 1 teaspoon of table salt.

High-sodium diets can make your kidneys work overtime to get rid of if, Duyff writes, and your body can fight to hang onto the water by retaining it. That can lead to swelling.

And don't forget, muscle weighs more than fat, so if you're hitting the gym hard, you may see the scale rise by a few pounds. To see if you should reward yourself for the gain, Held suggests using a tape measure to note body composition. That should make it easier to see that the scale isn't the only tool for tracking a healthy lifestyle.

Finally, the body needs time to process nutrition, so give yourself a break and allow the scale to float within a few pounds. If a couple of pounds start to stick around, you may need to reassess your diet and exercise routine. Blog Post:

Water To Lose Weight?

Other Links:

Find A Virtual Personal Trainer

Low-Cost Exercise

Secrets Of The Weight-Loss Industry

Find The Perfect Gym