Slightly baffled

Carnhot

I have been losing at a steady pace for 6 months and am now close to a normal BMI - having been 210 lbs @ 5'7" and well into obese I am now 162 pounds and about 2 pounds away from that magic zone. All well and very good. Last Friday I had an accident in the gym which involved me falling rather ignominiously off one of those jumping boxes and hitting my back and head on the way down. I have been waiting for the pain to go before returning to the gym - it's amazing how much we use our backs for! Because I haven't been exercising I have been netting my calories through diet alone and am losing hand over fist. Previously I ate more, through earned calories, eating back about half of my MFP logged burn. I am not complaining, but I don't understand why this change has happened. I weigh my food using a digital scale. I log truthfully. Any ideas?

DeguelloTex

Losing the water weight that was retained as part of the muscle repair process? Overestimating exercise calories?

Carnhot

Could be. That means it will come back when I hit the gym again, hopefully next week, doesn't it? It will be interesting to see. I am sure the machines / MFP do overestimate, which is why I only eat back half. Maybe I need to drop that proportion.

NatashaLP2014

I would say it's a mixture of losing the exercise water weight and less overall food in your GI track. Once you start exercising again and eating more volume again, both will go back up. (So don't panic when that happens!)

DeguelloTex

The water part, eventually, probably. Possibly not the overestimated exercise calories, unless you go back to eating the same amount.

Carnhot

I am finding I can manage on the diet calories alone, but it's not something I would want to do long term. Good job I am nearly there.

Carnhot

Well, the pattern has continued, meaning I have hit a healthy BMI 3 days before my 52nd birthday. I had hoped for this but not expected it, so I'm chuffed!

Orphia

Carnhot wrote: »

Well, the pattern has continued, meaning I have hit a healthy BMI 3 days before my 52nd birthday. I had hoped for this but not expected it, so I'm chuffed!

Congratulations! That's great!

MelodyandBarbells

Carnhot wrote: »

Well, the pattern has continued, meaning I have hit a healthy BMI 3 days before my 52nd birthday. I had hoped for this but not expected it, so I'm chuffed!

Congratulations

nvmomketo

That happened to me a few years ago. I had a back injury and had to stop all activities and exercise. About a week later I lost about 5-7 lbs in a matter of days, and it stayed off since I couldn't go back to exercise. I knew it was water, but it was fun to have happen... the losses, not the injury. LOL

lemurcat12

Congrats. I have had similar things happen too -- enforced period without exercise, increased loss. Likely water weight/less food in system, but it does make you feel less bad about the time off, although I've always wanted to get back to the exercise anyway.

lorrpb

Carnhot wrote: »

Well, the pattern has continued, meaning I have hit a healthy BMI 3 days before my 52nd birthday. I had hoped for this but not expected it, so I'm chuffed!

Awesome! Happy birthday!!

rwhyte12

It's great when your diet nets and your weight work without excessive amounts of exercise. May I suggest swimming until you get back to the gym?

Carnhot

Easing back into exercise today with a 3.5 mile walk. I can feel my back where I fell but am no longer incapacitated. I REALLY hope that weight whoosh stays off!

kshama2001

Carnhot wrote: »

Well, the pattern has continued, meaning I have hit a healthy BMI 3 days before my 52nd birthday. I had hoped for this but not expected it, so I'm chuffed!

Carnhot

Hey, that's my cat!