What was my gain?

kpkitten

I have been eating at about a 20% cut for three or four weeks now, and after 2 weeks of reasonable losses (1-2lb), I lost 8lb last week after a diarhoea and vomiting bug. This week I gained about 2lb.
I assume this is because my body replaced water or some other useful thing after losing it when I was ill, as I have definitely been eating at a big enough deficit to have earned a loss. I know nobody can tell me for sure why I gained, but is it reasonable to chalk this down to "recovering from illness"?

Jennbecca33

Even without knowing any of your history or stats, a 20% cut is pretty steep. EM2WL doesn't suggest anything more than a 15% deficit, otherwise your deficit is too large. With that being said, a 1-2 lb loss for two weeks in a row is a lot, and then to get sick and lose 8 additional pounds, which of course was mostly fluids, is A LOT. So did you gain back 2 lbs of the 8 you lost when you were sick or did you gain all 8 lbs plus 2 pounds more? Of course either way, your body is replacing fluids and possibly reacting to the stress of calorie deficit/being sick. But if you only gained 2 pounds back from the 8 you lost while sick and still managed to lose 6 pounds that week, I'm not sure why you would even question a gain or be concerned with losing at that point? After being that sick, just try to replenish your body with fluids and recover. The most we really expect to lose on a deficit is .5 to at the most 1 pound a week on average - some weeks you lose, some weeks you don't, but it's sustainable that way. You can't really expect to see the same loss every week as it will vary. But I would suggest moving to a 15% rather than 20% which will increase your calories a bit.

kpkitten

Jennbecca33 wrote: »

Even without knowing any of your history or stats, a 20% cut is pretty steep. EM2WL doesn't suggest anything more than a 15% deficit, otherwise your deficit is too large. With that being said, a 1-2 lb loss for two weeks in a row is a lot, and then to get sick and lose 8 additional pounds, which of course was mostly fluids, is A LOT. So did you gain back 2 lbs of the 8 you lost when you were sick or did you gain all 8 lbs plus 2 pounds more? Of course either way, your body is replacing fluids and possibly reacting to the stress of calorie deficit/being sick. But if you only gained 2 pounds back from the 8 you lost while sick and still managed to lose 6 pounds that week, I'm not sure why you would even question a gain or be concerned with losing at that point? After being that sick, just try to replenish your body with fluids and recover. The most we really expect to lose on a deficit is .5 to at the most 1 pound a week on average - some weeks you lose, some weeks you don't, but it's sustainable that way. You can't really expect to see the same loss every week as it will vary. But I would suggest moving to a 15% rather than 20% which will increase your calories a bit.

I'm currently 240lb with a goal weight of about 140lb, so 1-2lb a week seemed like an OK amount to me for the first couple of weeks - I was aiming to try to slow it out at about 1lb a week after first few weeks but obviously being ill screwed that up. But I'll try cutting it to a 15% deficit and see how that works. I do feel like my current calorie intake (1900-2300 depending on activity that day) is quite difficult to sustain and hit my macros, so eating more seems a bit daunting!

I gained 2lb of the 8, so in the last two weeks had a net 6lb loss. I know the 8lb was a crazy amount to lose, and I wasn't too happy about it, but I guess I just wanted a bit of reassurance that it wasn't anything wrong with what I'm doing that made me "gain" this week, it was my body naturally responding to illness.

Jennbecca33

Ok, that information is helpful! Yes, you were probably dehydrated and hungry so it's just your body replacing those fluids. I'm surprised you did not gain quite a bit more of it back, but I suppose you weren't able to eat or keep anything down. 1-2 pounds a week would be ok for you right upfront, but you will want to slow it down to no more than 1 lb per week as you keep going! EM2WL is the best approach, even if you have more weight to lose. I started out at 210 and it's worked great for me and I've been able to maintain and keep going without getting too hungry/worn down. You'll do great.

kpkitten

Jennbecca33 wrote: »

Ok, that information is helpful! Yes, you were probably dehydrated and hungry so it's just your body replacing those fluids. I'm surprised you did not gain quite a bit more of it back, but I suppose you weren't able to eat or keep anything down. 1-2 pounds a week would be ok for you right upfront, but you will want to slow it down to no more than 1 lb per week as you keep going! EM2WL is the best approach, even if you have more weight to lose. I started out at 210 and it's worked great for me and I've been able to maintain and keep going without getting too hungry/worn down. You'll do great.

Thanks
I'm weighing again tomorrow (limit myself to once a week with maybe a sneak peek halfway through at the wrong time of day!) and I'm not sure whether to expect a loss or a gain or just staying the same! I'm still feeling pretty fit and energetic at the moment, probably in part from good changes to my diet generally, but I know I need to ease back a bit soon!