How soon do you gain weight after eating?

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Immediately. As soon as you put a bite of food in your mouth, your weight equals however much you used to weigh plus the weight of that bite. In fact, gasp, you could say you gain weight just by holding the food you're going to eat. Here's an experiment:

Stand on a scale (ideally an accurate one that continuously adjusts to weight and doesn't freeze).

Grab an unwrapped piece of food that you can eat whole (a sandwich) and hold it while on the scale. The scale will now register your weight plus the weight of the sandwich.

Eat the sandwich. Your weight on the scale will not change- your new body weight now equals your old weight plus the weight of the sandwich! Omg, you've just gained weight! Drink a liter of water, and you'll gain 2.2 pounds!!

Clearly this change is not entirely permanent. Your body processes the food and burns the calories to keep everything running smoothly. You'll soon excrete much of what's left of the food, and expel the moisture through sweating or urination. The point is that body weight is constantly fluctuating throughout the day. There isn't some magic time at which you instantly find yourself a pound heavier or lighter. When people are concerned with weight gain or loss, they're talking about large, sustained changes over time.

First answer by Tymothy. Last edit by Tymothy. Contributor trust: 666 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 10 [recommend question]