what causes bloatedness or water retention

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Hello,
This is kind of a weird question but I am hoping someone can help me.
I have been on a bodybuilding and fat loss diet for almost a month now. I have noticed that my upper lip and cheeks tend to bloat or retain water or something. Either way, it gives a puffy appearance. My face is naturally thin. I usually have sunken cheeks and high cheek bones etc.. but I have been noticing, even though I am losing weight or fat, that my face looks rounder or puffy. You would think my face would be very thin or tighter since I have been eating well and losing weight. What could be causing this?
I realize that salt/sodium will do this, but I hardly eat any salt, and plus the salt I do intake, gets flushed out by the gallon and a half of water I drink every day. Dairy is another fact that may cause this.

Could it be that drinking too much water is causing this?
Here is my diet I stick with, and maybe you can tell me if what I am eating may be contributing to it.

8:00 am - 100% natural oatmeal with 1 scoop of whey protien

10:00 am- 3 oz chicken breast and half cup brown rice (no salt added)

12:00 pm- Tuna sandwhich on whole wheat bread with a tbsn of mayo, half cup cottage cheese, tbsn of walnuts (salted), and a medium salad with light dressing

2:00 pm- bannana shake: consisting of 1 bannana, 1 cup skim milk, 1/2 scoop whey protien, 2 eggs, and a 1/2 tsp safflower oil.

4:00 pm- 40 30 30 zone nutrition bar

7:00 pm - 1 scoop whey protien, broccoli and or 1 oz cheese

That's it. This is what I usually eat every day consistantly. I was thinking maybe it's the bananna shake that could be contributing to it, but then again, I'm not eating that much dairy or salt.

Is there a remedy or preventative treatment I could take or do in order to rid of this puffy face and lips?
I know it's not fat because some days I am a lot thinner then others. but the days I have the problem, I can hardly see my upper lip or sunken cheeks.
I'm also wondering if maybe this is just a temperary problem my body is going through as I am losing weight and getting healthier, and hopefully when I achieve a low body fat %, this problem will go away and I will have a tight, structured face and lips again.
What do you think? Any comments welcome. Thank you.
 
not exactly sure. How are you feeling? Are you getting ill at all?
 
Lyndaheather29, do you know what foods I may be taking that have hidden sodium? More importantly, do you know what causes homonal fluctuations, how I can prevent that, and if there is something I can take to treat it or to treat puffiness?

Thank you!!!
 
hidden foods and stuff

Cheese has plenty of sodium as do nuts. Also the zone bar has sodium...what do u season chicken with? and Mayo has sodium. Sodium is not bad really....but it does cause your body to retain fluid.....however most times this is retained in the legs , rarely is it in the face.
Drink plenty of water..it flushes the sodium out.

As for hormonal fluctuation...diet causes it...excersize...I know that when I walk on the tread mill, My fingers and my face gets a little puffy. Once I cool down though, the puffiness subsides.
Is there anything new you have recently ingested? A new nut or food? You could also be allergic to something you are eating. What i would do is document what you eat and when you begin to bloat. Check or take time to notice other signs and symptoms you may be having...
 
Holding Water ....

i think i hold one hell of a lot of water because i only pee like 3 times a day max! and i always feel really bloated and heavy after eating or drinking a big drink.

are there any water retention tablets that i am able to use even though i am currently on the contraceptive pill (UK).

also is it true that by taking water retention tablets that it would help shift some of the weight?

thanks :)
 
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There are over the counter dieretics that you can use...but personally I find pushing water all day & using natural green tea as well as eating things like asparagus work the best & have the least amt of side effects. You can over use the pill form and can cause dangerous even life threatening side effects...try the water & the green tea first...that helps me
 
i agree, up the amount of water you drink...if you dont like plain water try it w/ lemon or crystal light(if you have that there)diuretics deplete your body of necessary water not something you want(its probably why your retaining water in the first place bc your not taking in enough)surprisingly enough to get rid of water you have to drink water ;) good luck!
 
Water Weight

What are some reasons why the human body may retain water (aka water weight) other than an increase in sodium consumption? For the ladies like myself --> Do you gain a few pounds during menstruation? How long before and after will this weight be apparent on the scale?
 
Some women retain water right before or after their period, and as far as I know, its different for everyone. Water retention will also go up if you don't get enough water, because your body can't be sure that it will get any more and will hold on to it as long as possible - so if you've drunk tons of pop instead of water for a long time, right after switching you'll put on water weight, and then after a few days it'll just exit the system in droves :)

Other than those two, and the sodium increase you mentioned, caffine is also really bad for water retention.
 
Water weight is crazy! Thank you guys for the help. I'm definately going to buy a digital body fat percentage calculator and use that every day instead of a scale. HAHA! I'll channel my obsession over the scale to the body fat calculator instead.
 
1 Pint of Water = 1lb. OMG!

I didn't know this. I watched a and the guy was talking about how people weigh themselves on a daily basis and they see that their weight has increased a few pounds in just a few days. And then he said that it doesn't mean anything unless you've eaten out of control. 1 pint of water = 1 lb. This is fascinating to me because I have started weighing myself on a daily basis and I see increase in weight and I get SOOO frustrated about it. Now I understand that it's probably just water weight.

Just thought ya'll should know, in case some of you were getting as frustrated as me, weighing yourself everyday.
 
If you weigh yourself daily...

... use it only as a guide. There are days where you know you are losing weight and there are those where you know you are not. Use a weekly weight to trend as it gives a good average and takes out things such as water intake, etc.
 
I've gone up 2.5 kg (5lb) in a day because of water in the past. Just recently I went down by as much in a day (which was a pleasant surprise!).
 
I've lost 5 pounds in 1.5 hours before at football practice in August due to sweat. I wasn't fat either, I was the starting running back.
 
Retaining Water / Sodium question

Hi everyone!
I have been eating right, exercising every day, abstaining from alcohol (which was VERY HARD for me to do) but I am retaining - I think - a LOT of water! I just made homeade lox which is very salty and have been eating it 2ce a day (morning and night)... I am thinking that I can answer my own question, but I would like some others input, b/c maybe the lox really isn't that bad? Can someone tell me why they think the scale has been going up since I've made the lox? I went up 3 lbs. in just about 2-3 days (my lox was ready to eat 3 days ago).

Now if it is, in fact, the salt from the lox, is that water retention? I hate sounding so misunderstood, but does salty foods make you retain water? If I took a water pill (along w/ potassium, of course) would that 'allow me', so to speak, to eat the salty lox???

I hope this made a sort-of-kind-of sense.

Thanks, Nikki
 
Water retention, salty foods and water pills?? Question!

Hi everyone!
I have been eating right, exercising every day, abstaining from alcohol (which was VERY HARD for me to do) but I am retaining - I think - a LOT of water! I just made homeade lox which is very salty and have been eating it 2ce a day (morning and night)... I am thinking that I can answer my own question, but I would like some others input, b/c maybe the lox really isn't that bad? Can someone tell me why they think the scale has been going up since I've made the lox? I went up 3 lbs. in just about 2-3 days (my lox was ready to eat 3 days ago).

Now if it is, in fact, the salt from the lox, is that water retention? I hate sounding so misunderstood, but does salty foods make you retain water? If I took a water pill (along w/ potassium, of course) would that 'allow me', so to speak, to eat the salty lox???

I hope this made a sort-of-kind-of sense.

Thanks, Nikki
 
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