Question: Hi!
My weight goes up a lot after exercise. It's really annoying. I go to major lengths to reduce my backpack weight by 0.1 kg, then my weight goes up by 1.5 to 3 kg caused by the exercise.

I'm assuming it's water retention - I can't see what else it can be. I can't be sure where the weight sits - you'd think 2 to 3kg would be visible! Maybe on my stomach, I think my tummy is bigger after exercise but I'm not certain.

I am 42 years old, healthy (as far as I know), and quite fit - an 8 hour vigorous hike on the weekend is common for me. I'm under a bit of stress lately - work is quite stressful, my Mum has cancer, and I'm coming out of 5 years of PTSD and insomnia from a bad childhood experience and triggered by an accident when somebody died in 2010.

The only medications I am taking are zopiclone sleeping tablets (averaging about 2mg per night, ie about 1/3 of the XXXXXXX recommended dose), plus melatonin. I think I tend towards low electrolytes, rather than too much (online search suggests too much salt as a possible cause, however I do lots of exercise and I don't really like salty foods that much - I often have to add extra salt to my diet after exercise because of getting cramps). I have been eating a ketogenic diet for 15 months now. The weight fluctuations have happened for years, ie preceding the keto diet and stressful experiences, however they may be getting worse lately.

If this program lets me I will attach a file showing my weight daily over several weeks.

My questions are:
1) Is this normal? Like, are there some other (fit, healthy) people who have this same effect?
2) What's actually going on in my body with this weight gain?
3) Could this be an indication of a problem? (My Mum has ovarian cancer, could this weight gain be an indication of something like that?)
4) What can I do to reduce the weight gain during exercise? So that I don't have to lug so much weight uphill, and can keep up with my friends more easily.

Thanks!
xxxxx