A minor success....

cokefloat1

Although I'm not sure how - maybe you can help!

So I've been watching my calories now since the beginning of Feb and cycling near enough everyday but didn't lose any weight at all although noticed my double chin going. I then fell ill last week and kept my calories up to around 1250 to 1500 (I couldn't actually stomach much more) via diet and done no exercise and in that week dropped 6lbs. Can anyone explain what may have happened?

I'm not complaining but a little perplexed as to what my body is up to...

kiwi_gros

Firstly, with exercising you have to remember, no matter what way you choose, exercise in general will not only help you burn fat, but also gain muscle. And when you are sick your body uses more energy to fight off viruses and infections and so on. Hope this was helpful

cokefloat1

I was wondering if the break in exercise had done anything. I know they say you should have a break from training but I'm using the bike to commute to the train station daily. Walking is too far and I don't have a car and my motorbike is broken so don't get recovery time usually.

vanessalillian82

Re. not losing weight to begin with, 1) what the oher poster said about gaining muscle, plus 2) a lot of people on here talk about plateauing, and then eating MORE and losing. Google "TDEE calculator" and "BMR" or look it up in the forums (there's a thread called "your guide to sexypants" or something similar) - it's an estimate of the amount of energy your body requires to function (total daily energy expenditure), and you should be able to find information on how to factor that in to weight loss. A lot of people on here recommend TDEE -20% rather than sticking to what MFP suggests. It will also depend on what you eat - I find my body hangs on to water weight if I'm eating processed foods or things that contain salt or sugar, but the second I switch to eating just vegetables and lean meat and drinking water, BAM it comes off.

Re. the 6lb loss, eh *shrugs* it's probably a combination of using more energy to fight the bug, and dehydration. I had a double whammy of gastro and tonsilitis a couple of years back, and I was nauseated even thinking about food let alone being unable to swallow, so I just drank water (and not much of it). When I finally crawled out of bed I was thinner and my clothes were looser on me, but I was soooo shaky and weak so obviously it wasn't the best way of going about it. The weight slowly came back over the course of a week or so (haha, mind you, it was Christmas week!), so don't be disheartened if it does. But bonus if it stays off!

shannonbun

I had like a 4 day period where my school was closed due to snow days and I couldn't go to the gym, eat well or even weigh myself. When I started working out again, I'd lost like 4 lbs. That was my first break from every-day exercising for a month + a bit, so I think there is some good to taking a break every now and then from exercising. Since you were sick, your weight loss might have also been a contributor from your body working hard to fight the illness. Either way, just hop back on it when you feel up to it and maybe test the theory another time when you aren't sick